Haaretz english edition
Netanyahu to join Board of Peace; won’t attend Davos ceremony due to ICC warrant
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that he will join U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. However, Netanyahu will not be attending the inauguration ceremony on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos after...
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Police used unapproved spyware for years to collect data illegally
The Israel Police have used intrusive technology for years, hacked into private devices without permission and extracted information from them unlawfully, according to a state comptroller report released on Tuesday. Among the report’s findings, the...
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Two infants dead, 53 others injured in Jerusalem daycare as police probe cause
Two infants died on Monday in a private, unlicensed daycare center in an ultraOrthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israeli emergency services reported. An additional 53 infants were evacuated to hospitals for examination, with many experiencing...
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Gov’t: High Court can’t rule on nature of Oct. 7 inquiry Settlers raid, torch tents in Bedouin village in West Bank
Israeli settlers raided a Bedouin community near the Palestinian village of Mukhmas in the central West Bank on Saturday, setting fire to vehicles and buildings. “There was arson, there are casualties and some are missing,” a local resident told...
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Court slams police over mishandling of BibiLeaks case
The judge presiding over the case involving leaked classified documents to a German newspaper slammed the police on Wednesday over its apparent failure to act on relevant information. Consequently, it may have enabled suspects to engage in obstruction...
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AG: Gov’t ignoring court ruling on Haredi military service is danger to democracy
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said on Monday that the government was seriously endangering Israeli democracy by violating a High Court ruling, in what her office had called a constitutional crisis. The attorney general submitted her position as...
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Set on regime change in Iran, Trump could curb Israel’s actions
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to predict how successful a public protest will be. There is no intelligence agency or algorithm that can foretell how a large group of civilians will act when on one hand there is an attempted coup from the...
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Three men shot dead in suspected conflict between crime gangs
Three men were shot dead on Wednesday morning in the northern city of ShefaAmr. Police suspect that they were murdered over a conflict between two local criminal organizations. One of the men, Yasser Hujirat, 53, is a resident of Democrats party...
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One killed, three wounded as bus runs over Haredi anti-enlistment protesters in J’lem
A protester was killed and three others were wounded after a bus ran over demonstrators at a mass demonstration against mandatory ultra-Orthodox enlistment, in Jerusalem on Tuesday. A health official said the protester killed was likely a teenager,...
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In Gaza, IDF drones infiltrate every moment of Palestinians’ lives
For more than two years, the sound of drones has been a constant in Gaza City – even when the streets are empty, and despite the cease-fire that went into effect in midOctober. For 24-year-old Mohammed Abdel Hai, the buzzing sound from above has...
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Ben-Gvir pledges support for police after Bedouin killed in raid in southern village
Israel Police officers fatally shot an Arab Israeli man during a raid overnight into Sunday in a Bedouin village in southern Israel, as residents challenged police assertions that he posed a threat to the officers. Police alleged that they shot...
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142 retired judges condemn Smotrich’s attacks, over 700 academics call for ouster
More than 700 faculty members at Israeli universities and colleges have signed a petition calling for the dismissal of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his prosecution for incitement to violence, while 142 retired judges, including all...
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The year that was: A gruesome war and a volatile region reshaped in Trump’s shadow
On its way to the United States on Sunday, ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with Donald Trump in Mara-Lago, the prime minister’s plane Wing of Zion took a longer-than-usual route to avoid the airspace of countries where he might face arrest. In...
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Trump, next to Netanyahu, on Iran: ‘We’ll knock the hell out of them’
U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, said he hopes the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza will happen “quickly.” During a Q&A with the press pool preceding the...
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Netanyahu to meet with Trump in Mar-a-Lago to discuss Gaza and Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet U.S. president Donald Trump Monday at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss Gaza and Iran, amid Israeli concerns about Trump’s attitude towards Netanyahu. The U.S. president confirmed earlier this month...
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IDF imposes curfew on West Bank town after two killed in terror attack in the north
The police and the Shin Bet security service said Saturday that they arrested two brothers of the assailant who carried out a deadly ramming and stabbing attack in northern Israel on Friday that left two people dead. The two brothers, aged 30 and 33,...
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Knesset advances political Oct. 7 probe as bereaved parents protest
The Knesset on Wednesday approved, in a preliminary vote, a bill backed by the government to establish a commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre that would be controlled by politicians. During the Knesset debate, bereaved parents watched...
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‘Clashes’ are a form of W. Bank annexation
What is brewing in the West Bank these days is not just another “spat of clashes,” nor some seasonal event having to do with the autumn olive harvest season, nor some local outburst of violence that can be contained or framed as a local problem. This...
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PM: Oct. 7 inquiry will probe Oslo Accords, pro-democracy protesters
The government-controlled probe into October 7 “will investigate decisions made from [the Oslo Accords] to the insubordination during the judicial reform period,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to sources familiar with the...
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Ben-Gvir proves his incompetence as homicide rate hits record high
Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the Ministry of National Security with great fanfare in late December 2022, with promises to “restore governance on the Arab street” and “show them who’s boss.” However, Ben-Gvir ended his first year in office with an all-time...
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A haunting Hanukkah candle-lighting as Down Under community remembers its dead
SYDNEY – It could have been a Hanukkah scene from anywhere across the Jewish world. A giant menorah towers above the thronging crowd. Sufganiyot, the traditional festival doughnuts, are handed out. Chabad rabbis hawk passersby to don tefillin....
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Albanese rejects PM linking Bondi attack to Palestinian state
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that he rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s linking of Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state with Sunday’s Bondi Beach terrorist attack. “Overwhelmingly, most of the world...
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IDF exploits ‘free’ chance to strike Hamas but risks angering Trump
Raed Saad, whom Israel assassinated in Gaza on Saturday afternoon, was one of the small group of senior Hamas officials who planned the October 7 massacre, and one of the last who was still alive. The Israel Air Force struck the car in which he was...
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Neonate deaths in Gaza rose in 3 months prior to cease-fire
During the last three months of the war, the number of babies dying on the day they were born in the Gaza Strip was 75 percent higher than the number of such deaths before the war, according to figures released Wednesday by UNICEF. According to the...
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Body of last foreign hostage returns home
Just before 10 A.M. on Tuesday, the farewell ceremony began for Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai national murdered on October 7 near Kibbutz Be’eri, whose body was taken to Gaza and returned to Israel last week. The Israel Defense Forces’ 8th Armored...
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MKs push bill decriminalizing leaks to PM
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s members discussed a bill on Monday which would decriminalize passing on classified security information to the prime or defense minister without authorization. The bill, sponsored by Likud MKs Hanoch...
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PM: Expect second phase of Gaza deal soon, it will be ‘more difficult’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the second phase of the agreement ending the war in Gaza would be implemented soon. “Phase one, we are almost there,” the prime minister said in a joint press conference with German Chancellor...
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Katz blocks IDF officer’s promotion over anti-gov’t protest activity
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Friday that he was “rejecting outright” the IDF chief of staff’s recommendation to promote a senior officer over his alleged calls to refuse to serve in the military during the 2023 judicial overhaul...
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Trump’s Gaza plan shifts gears as Netanyahu haggles over details
Behind Wednesday’s dry announcement by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories that the Rafah crossing would be open only for those leaving the Gaza Strip lies a dramatic development: U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace...
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Hamas returns body it says is one of last two hostages
Human remains from Gaza arrived Tuesday afternoon for identification at Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv. Earlier on Tuesday, Hamas said it was handing over the body of one of two remaining deceased hostages taken from...
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Herzog says PM pardon plea ‘unsettles’ Israelis, vows fairness
President Isaac Herzog said Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a presidential pardon “deeply unsettles” many Israelis, but stressed he would weigh the matter solely by “the good of the state and Israeli society.” “I understand...
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Netanyahu submits pardon request to Herzog
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally submitted a request for a pardon in his corruption trial to President Isaac Herzog, according to a statement from the president’s office. Netanyahu has been indicted on three criminal charges: bribery,...
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IDF chief Zamir: Leaders can admit failure
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said Wednesday that Israel needs “leadership that can acknowledge failure,” in remarks reflecting tensions with Defense Minister Israel Katz over senior IDF appointments and the army’s handling of the October 7...
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Hamas returns body of hostage; displaced Gazans face flooding
Israel received a body that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said belongs to one of the three remaining deceased hostages in Gaza on Tuesday. The groups transferred the coffin to the Red Cross on Tuesday afternoon. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Thai...
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Zamir warns Katz’s appointment freeze could harm army readiness
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir criticized Defense Minister Israel Katz’s decision on Monday to freeze military appointments for 30 days, saying it could hurt the army. “Halting the appointments will harm the IDF’s capabilities and the process of...
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Trump lauds Mamdani despite NYC mayor-elect’s Israel criticism
WASHINGTON — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, holding his hotly anticipated first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, reiterated his highly scrutinized position that U.S. taxpayer funds should not aid Israeli...
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‘Brought back from hell:’ After 11 years in Gaza, fallen soldier Hadar Goldin laid to rest
Lt. Hadar Goldin is being laid to rest in central Israel on Tuesday, two days after his body was returned to Israel after more than 11 years in captivity in the Gaza Strip. More than a thousand people gathered at the military cemetery in Kfar Sava for...
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IDF report on October 7 inquiries show systemic failures over many years
Five out of 25 inquiries conducted by the Israel Defense Forces into the failures of October 7 are unacceptable, found the committee established by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to examine the inquiries. Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, who headed the...
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Body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin returned to Israel after 11 years
The body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, an Israel Defense Forces soldier killed and taken captive by Hamas in 2014, was returned to Israel on Sunday after over 11 years, the Prime Minister’s Office announced. Hadar’s parents, Leah and Simcha, spoke to the press...
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Hamas claims to have found body of Hadar Goldin, held in Gaza since 2014
In Israel and the United States, the hope is that the number of hostages’ bodies that remain in Gaza can soon be reduced to three. On Friday evening, Palestinian Islamic Jihad returned the remains of Lior Rudaeff, the deputy security coordinator of...
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Remains of soldier Itay Chen returned; Hamas hands over body
The body of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, who was killed and abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, was returned to Israel late on Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office. On Wednesday night, Hamas handed over the apparent body...
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U.S. proposes to UN: Int’l force will disarm Hamas, secure Gaza
Hamas returned to Israel another body it said belonged to one of the eight remaining hostages in Gaza on Tuesday evening. The coffin was due to be taken to the National Forensic Institute for identification overnight. Meanwhile, the United States has...
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Bodies of slain soldiers Omer Neutra, Asaf Hamami and Oz Daniel returned to Israel
The bodies of three IDF soldiers handed over by Hamas on Sunday were identified on Monday morning as Col. Asaf Hamami, Sgt. Oz Daniel and Israeli-American Capt. Omer Neutra. “We got Neutra, you know, from New York, from the United States. I spoke to...
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Embattled top IDF lawyer goes missing for hours; PM: Sde Teiman leak is PR disaster
IDF Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was found alive on Sunday evening after being reported missing since morning, after hours of searches along a beach in central Israel. According to a police statement, she was found safe...
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Spain celebrates first rabbinical ordinations since Inquisition
Yael Cobano, a founder and leader of the only nonOrthodox congregation in Madrid, is the first woman to serve as a Reform rabbi in Spain. But that alone does not explain why her ordination was so ground-breaking: As far as local community leaders have...
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IDF renews cease-fire after dozens of Gazans, soldier killed in flare-up
The Israel Defense Forces announced that it was resuming the cease-fire with Hamas at 10 A.M. on Wednesday, in accordance with directives from senior military officials, following air force strikes on Tuesday night and early Wednesday against targets...
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Israel strikes Gaza after Hamas reneges on body, shoots at troops
Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces exchanged fire on Tuesday in the most significant test of the cease-fire since it took hold earlier this month. Hamas targeted IDF troops near Rafah with sniper fire and an antitank missile, prompting the army to...
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Yossi Sharabi, killed in Gaza after being taken hostage on Oct. 7, laid to rest in Kibbutz Be’eri
Slain hostage Yossi Sharabi, whose remains were returned to Israel earlier this month as part of a Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal, was laid to rest in Rishon Letzion on Monday. Sharabi, 53, a Tel Aviv native who moved to Kibbutz Be’eri, was the...
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Red Cross, Egypt, Hamas search for hostage bodies in IDF-controlled Gaza
Israel is allowing Red Cross and Egyptian teams on the Israeli-controlled side of the Israel Defense Forces’ yellow line in Gaza to expand humanitarian access in the area, a government spokesperson said Sunday. Additionally, with Israel’s approval,...
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Countries sending reps to Kiryat Gat, but no one wants to get their hands dirty in Gaza
After the city of Kiryat Gat became a pilgrimage destination for senior American officials and military advisers from around the world last week, one could describe the Civil-Military Coordination Center that was established there at great speed as...
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After 746 days, bodies of hostages Arye Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar returned
The bodies of Arye Zalmanovich and Master Sergeant (Res.) Tamir Adar were returned to Israel from Gaza late Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office overnight into Wednesday. The two bodies were handed over by Hamas to...
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VP Vance: U.S. ‘won’t force’ foreign troops on Israel, Turkey to play role
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said at a press conference in Israel on Tuesday that the U.S. will not decide for Israel which forces will be deployed in the Gaza Strip. “We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends,” Vance said, while adding...
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Speaker opens last Knesset session before election with attack on judicial system
The Knesset’s winter session and the last before elections opened on Monday in the presence of President Isaac Herzog, with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana attacking the judicial system. Ohana, who introduced Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, who was...
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Two soldiers killed in Rafah; IDF strikes Gaza, says cease-fire holds
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday evening that it will continue to enforce the cease-fire in Gaza, after a day of widespread airstrikes on the Strip triggered by the killing of two soldiers near Rafah, in southern Gaza. Maj. Yaniv Kula, 26, a...
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ISRAEL’S LEADING DAILY NEWSPAPER
Einav Zangauker, mother of released hostage Matan, speaking at a rally at Hostage Square on Saturday.
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3 more slain hostages returned
Yael Freidson, Bar Peleg and Jonathan Lis The bodies of three hostages were returned to Israel by Hamas on Tuesday night – Uriel Baruch, Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy – their families said Wednesday morning, following forensic...
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WELCOME
BACKFor over two years, Hostages Square has become an inseparable part of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. All this time, we have waited together, and we'll keep waiting until everyone comes back.
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All living hostages set to be released by Hamas, handed to Israel starting early Mon.
Hostage families were informed on Sunday that the release of the hostages is expected to occur at 8 A.M. on Monday. The Israel Defense Forces estimates that the hostages will be released from three locations – Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and the central...
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Trump says hostages will be released Monday
U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight into Saturday that the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip will be released by Hamas on Monday, and he will be visiting Israel shortly on the day of their expected return. Speaking to reporters at the White...
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Trump: May visit Middle East soon, ‘good chance’ for cease-fire
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that an Israel-Hamas deal to end the war in Gaza is “very close,” adding that he might go to the Middle East within days. “Our final negotiation is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. We’ll let you...
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Trump shifts into high gear to end war, and Netanyahu knows he can’t stop him
Donald Trump has shifted gears. If since returning to the White House on January 20, the U.S. president mostly prattled about his desire to end the war between Israel and Hamas, a sea change manifested following last week’s joint press conference with...
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Hamas agrees to release all hostages as part of Trump deal; Israel prepares to renew talks
Hamas announced on Friday evening that it is willing to release all Israeli hostages, alive and dead, as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the nearly two-year war. Hamas added that it is ready to begin negotiations over the details...
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Trump forced him into a deal, but PM will use the same old tactics to thwart it
If this movie had been premiered a little more than a decade ago, we would have dismissed it as utterly implausible. An old man – formerly an eccentric and controversial New York real estate tycoon – stands in the White House briefing room and spouting...
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IDF, Shin Bet using Gaza militias in exchange for pay and territory
The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service are using Gaza-based militias to carry out military operations in exchange for pay and control over territory in the Strip, according to testimonies from Israeli soldiers and commanders...
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IDF launches ground offensive in Gaza City, 101 reported killed
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it had begun its ground incursion into Gaza City overnight, which, along with an increase of artillery and aerial strikes, killed at least 86 people in the city, local medical officials said. A total of 101...
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‘Super Sparta’: PM admits Israel faces isolation, calls for self-reliance
Israel is currently in a “type of isolation,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Monday, adding that nearly two years into its war in Gaza, the country must adapt. Speaking at the “Fifty States – One Israel” economic conference hosted by...
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Trump is the only one who can keep PM from leading Israel into disaster in Gaza
Israel is about to embark on a major expansion of ground warfare in Gaza City. Despite overwhelming opposition from the defense establishment, led by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to move forward with...
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Report: Trump sees PM’s Doha strike as attempt to derail talks
The leaders of Muslim and Arab states will convene in Doha Sunday to discuss legal and diplomatic measures in response to the Israeli airstrike in the Qatari capital last week. Participants, including the heads of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the...
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Qatari PM calls Doha strike ‘state terror,’ vows a regional response
Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the most senior mediator between Israel and Hamas in the hostage and cease-fire talks said Wednesday that there will be a regional response to Israel’s strike on Doha Tuesday targeting Hamas...
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IDF strikes Doha in bid to kill Hamas leaders
Israel attempted to assassinate Hamas leaders on Tuesday while they were meeting in Doha, Qatar’s capital, the Israel Defense Forces said. A security source said the attack was carried out by Israel Air Force fighter jets, and included 10 strikes on...
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Six killed, 20 wounded in J’lem shooting; bystanders kill gunmen
Six people were killed and two were seriously wounded on Monday morning after two gunmen opened fire near a bus stop at Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction, Israeli authorities said. The shooting attack in the northern neighborhood of Ramot also left six...
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Two lightly wounded after drone from Yemen hits Ramon Airport
The army said on Sunday that a drone from Yemen struck the Ramon International Airport in southern Israel, wounding two people lightly and prompting authorities to temporarily shut down airspace in the area. Yemen’s Houthi rebels later confirmed that...
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Army fears Gaza offensive may harm hostages, endanger soldiers
Israel intensified over the weekend offensive maneuvers meant to signal an imminent ground operation in Gaza City. Families of hostages, especially of live captives who are being held within the city, have received disturbing warnings from the Israel...
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Residents recount deadly night as IDF set to conquer Gaza City
Gaza City awoke on Wednesday morning to scenes of devastation and disbelief, after what residents described as one of the heaviest nights of Israeli bombardment in recent weeks. Residents described fire raining down on tents, ambulances and homes, with...
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Gaza City operation has begun as reservists mobilized en masse
The Israel Defense Forces has begun its operation in Gaza City, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said Tuesday, as tens of thousands of reservists were mobilized. At least 76 people were killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours, including...
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