All News (Page 24)

Leaders from Gulf and South Asian countries called US President Donald Trump to ask him to call off strikes against Iran after Trump posted about his planned attack on Truth Social, Politico reported on Friday morning.

The calls came from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Pakistani defense chief Asim Munir, who assured Trump that a preliminary agreement, which would pave the way for more detailed talks, was at hand.

A Trump administration official told Politico that these countries have influence over Tehran and Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, adding that their assurance of a deal led the President to walk back his plans to attack.

Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday, announcing that “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, canceled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”

He added, “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved.” However, shortly after his post, Fars, a semi-official publication in Iran, reported that the country hadn’t agreed to any deal. 

Israeli sources told Channel 12 that Israel does not recognize reaching an agreement.

Trump claims a deal has been reached and war is over 

On Thursday night, Trump held a virtual tele-rally for Burt Jones, saying, “I don’t know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today, and they agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon.”

Iranian state media reported that Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, said that while large parts of the negotiating text have been finalized, Iran would not compromise on its red lines, Reuters reported.

“Iran has not yet reached a final conclusion on an agreement,” he said.

Many diplomats were skeptical that Khamenei had actually agreed to anything. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” one Arab diplomat said, according to reports from Politico.

The Prime Minister’s office said that Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for Trump’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement with Iran, which “will include the removal of enriched nuclear material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and an end to Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”

Israel is not part of the US’s memorandum of understanding with Iran.

A prominent Palestinian doctor captured by the Israeli military in Gaza in late 2024 and held in detention ever since appeared by video link at a High Court of Justice hearing in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Hussam Abu Safiya appeared in the video to have lost weight since being captured at a Gaza hospital. The media were briefly allowed into the courtroom before being ushered out as proceedings got underway.

Abu Safiya’s brother, Muafaq, said in April that the family learned through his lawyer that he had lost 40 kg. (88 lb.) in prison and suffered four fractured ribs and other ailments. An Israeli rights group has said Abu Safiya is among a group of Gazan doctors held by Israel who have been denied adequate food.

The Israel Prison Service has denied those allegations.

The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal from Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, challenging his detention. The court is expected to announce its decision later on Wednesday.

Abu Safiya has been held without charge, according to the Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), an Israeli rights group, for more than 500 days. His appearance before the court on Wednesday, by video link, was the first time he has been seen publicly since February 2025, the group said in a statement.

IDF does not provide evidence for Hamas accusation

Abu Safiya was captured by the IDF from the Kamal Adwan Hospital ​in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, and is accused of being a member of Hamas.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry and Hamas ​have denied the allegation.

Following the hearing on Wednesday, Odeh told reporters his client was handcuffed and shackled throughout the proceedings and said he was being held in solitary confinement.

Odeh also claimed that Abu Safiya was not receiving medical treatment, including for what he described as severe neck and back pain caused by an assault during detention, or medications for what he said was needed to treat a chronic illness.

Abu Safiya also had his eyeglasses confiscated and was experiencing vision problems as a result, and his hands were showing signs of skin disease, which Odeh said was widespread among Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

IPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Abu Safiya’s treatment in detention.

Palestinian doctors denied medical care, food, rights group says

During the hearing, Abu Safiya could be seen handcuffed and wearing a white t-shirt and grey tracksuit pants, clothing commonly worn by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Abu Safiya is among 14 Palestinian doctors captured in Gaza by the IDF and detained for over a year without charge.

PHRI in April called for their release, saying they had been denied adequate medical care and food and subjected to physical abuse while in detention.

IPS at the time said it rejected all allegations that the doctors had been mistreated in ⁠prison.

The Japanese city of Utsunomiya captured a wild black bear on Tuesday after a dramatic, multi-day search that gripped the nation, with local schools closed and residents urged to stay indoors.

The city closed all 94 municipal primary and middle schools for a second straight day on Tuesday after its first-ever bear sighting on Saturday evening. Authorities decided to keep schools closed again on Wednesday due to a report of a possible second bear roaming the city, an official said.

Bear attacks have spiked in Japan, including in urban areas, prompting the government to set up a task force this year to reduce incidents. In fiscal 2025, the country reported a record 238 casualties, including 13 deaths, according to the environment ministry.

With about 500,000 residents, Utsunomiya, in Tochigi Prefecture, is part of the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan region, about 100 km north of the capital.

When the bear resurfaced in a residential area early on Tuesday afternoon, police cars and other vehicles involved in the search promptly blocked off the vicinity. For more than an hour, police officers milled about, with some holding long sticks and others holding metal shields, as national broadcasters aired live footage from helicopters.

City has yet to decide what to do with captured bear

The adult bear, which was estimated to weigh about 100 kg, was eventually shot with a tranquilizer gun, loaded onto a cage on a truck, and driven away. The city has yet to decide what to do with it, an official said.

About 100 km to the northeast, Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture also suspended classes at three schools on Tuesday in a neighborhood where a black bear was spotted a day earlier.

Last week, a bear attack in Fukushima city left at least four people injured, with security footage in one incident showing the animal chasing a man and throwing him to the ground.

Asiatic black bears are listed as a globally vulnerable species, but their numbers are estimated to have tripled in Japan since 2012, aided by a decline in hunting.

Experts say climate change has reduced harvests of natural bear food like acorns and beechnuts, while the depopulation of rural areas and the proliferation of abandoned farmland have emboldened them to seek nourishment near human settlements.

Physicians at Clalit Health Services’ Beilinson Hospital have successfully performed Israel’s first intrauterine (prenatal) surgery to remove a rare placental tumor that threatened the life of an unborn child, Clalit announced.

The 25-week pregnant mother was rushed to the Petah Tikva medical center after a routine anatomy scan revealed a growth developing on the placenta’s surface.

Follow-up ultrasound examinations indicated that the tumor was disrupting the blood circulation between the mother and the fetus. The severe circulatory changes had already triggered fetal heart failure, placing the unborn baby in immediate, life-threatening danger.

Because the pregnancy was at an early stage, delivering the baby prematurely carried severe developmental risks.

Consequently, the medical team opted for an emergency in utero intervention.

The operation was led by Dr. Yuval Gielchinsky, Director of the Fetal Medicine Center at Clalit-Beilinson, alongside Dr. Kinneret Tenenbaum, Head of the Twin Pregnancy Clinic.

“In advanced stages of pregnancy, delivery can sometimes be the solution,” Dr. Gielchinsky explained. “But in this case, the patient was only 25 weeks pregnant. The only remaining option was an endoscopic fetal intervention, which is only possible when the tumor is located in an accessible area of the placenta, as it was in this case.”

A minimally invasive procedure

During the minimally invasive procedure, surgeons entered the uterus, pinpointed the precise blood vessels supplying the tumor, and used advanced cauterization techniques to seal them off, effectively starving the tumor of its blood supply.

Placental tumors are generally rare, according to experts at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). While many remain benign and develop too slowly to interfere with a normal pregnancy, severe cases can dangerously divert blood away from the fetus. This can lead to serious complications, including fetal anemia, low platelet counts, extreme excess amniotic fluid, and preeclampsia in the mother, a study from the NLM explained.

Following the milestone surgery, the mother was monitored closely in Beilinson’s maternal-fetal medicine unit. The hospital confirmed that she has since been discharged home in stable condition and will continue to receive specialized outpatient follow-up care at the Fetal Medicine Clinic.

British Jewish groups say they are alarmed about revelations that a fraternal society for Muslim police officers published a policy paper that described Zionism as a form of anti-Muslim hatred and called the Israeli army a “Zionist terrorist group.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews called the paper posted by the National Association of Muslim Police “disturbing” in its presentation of Jewish identity, history and the nature of antisemitism.

“If this is being circulated among officers, it poses a direct challenge to the integrity of policing and it should be withdrawn immediately,” the group said.

NAMP has distanced itself from the report and, in a statement, rejected any allegation that the group “supports Hamas.”

The 39-page paper titled “From Past Prejudices to Present Policies: Confronting anti-Muslim hatred and Promoting Human Rights,” was written by NAMP’s then-vice president, Khaldoun Kabbani, and published in July 2025. It says “Zionism represents one of the manifestations of anti-Muslim hatred”; likens the war in Gaza to the Holocaust; and disputes facts about Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, including that Israeli children were killed.

The Spectator, a right-wing British newspaper, drew attention to the report in a piece published on Friday that said the report illuminated “the disturbing truth about the National Association of Muslim Police.” The group has a formal affiliation with 16 of 43 police departments in the U.K. and says it represents more than 20,000 officers.

Kabbani, a forensics officer, was briefly the chair of the Scottish Muslim Police Association but planned to move abroad after retiring earlier this year, according to a post by the group on LinkedIn.

The revelation of the NAMP report comes at a time of heightened tension over policing in the UK, amid both a surge in anti-Jewish crimes and a renewed uproar over a December murder that has fueled allegations of “two-tier policing” that treats some victims differently from others. The Spectator referenced the victim, Henry Nowak, in the column about NAMP.

Rising number of antisemitic incidents in the UK

The NAMP report has spurred distress for many British Jews who are on edge amid a string of violent incidents targeting Jewish communities. The Campaign Against Antisemitism, a watchdog group, said its polling shows that 83% of British Jews do not think the police are doing enough to protect them — and that the report suggested their concerns were well founded.

“The people responsible for publishing this extremist screed on the official police.uk web domain are unfit to be police officers and must be immediately investigated by their respective forces’ professional standards departments and dismissed,” Steven Silverman, CAA’s director of investigations and enforcement, said in a statement.

“British Jews have long suffered two-tier policing that sees antisemitic crime go unpunished,” he said, adding that CAA would press the British government “ensure a clear message is being sent. This cannot pass with the document being quietly deleted.”

The report was removed from NAMP’s website over the weekend. The group distanced itself from the report in a statement published on Tuesday, saying that it had removed the report “immediately” after learning about its existence and emphasizing that the author was “no longer associated” with NAMP.

“We understand that the publication of this document has affected several communities, and we regret any concern, discomfort, or misunderstanding it may have caused,” the group said.

It added, “NAMP categorically does not ‘defend’ Hamas or any other proscribed organisation. We condemn all forms of terrorism and extremism.”

Responses from British Jewish leadership

The document is “deeply troubling,” a spokesperson for the Jewish Leadership Council, which coordinates British Jewish groups, said in a statement.

“This document appears to falsely associate an ideology held by the majority of Jewish people as a threat to Muslims. It also engages in deeply troubling Holocaust inversion and denial of some of the worst atrocities carried out by Hamas on October 7th,” the spokesperson said. “At a time of rising antisemitism including violent attacks on British Jews, this document further threatens community cohesion and police forces should be clear in distancing themselves from it.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it plans to speak with the “relevant” government and police departments to discover the paper’s provenance, how it’s being used and “how to ensure that the valued relationships of trust between British Jews and the police are not being undermined.”

The Metropolitan Police of London, the largest police department in the UK and a formal NAMP affiliate, declined to comment on the report. The department has recently stepped up policing in Jewish communities in an effort to stem antisemitic violence.

What was reported as another collateral hit in an “open area” during the Iranian missile attack on Israel earlier this week turned into a personal and professional disaster for the Simantov family. Missile interception fragments that fell during the night between Sunday and Monday struck the unique white lily plot at their Seeds from Zion nursery, causing severe damage to a rare preservation project developed over more than two decades.

The initiative began in 2004 during the excavation of the Carmel tunnels. Bulbs of white lily uncovered during the engineering works were transferred to the Simantov family with approval from the Nature and Parks Authority to save the rare plant. Using tissue cultures, they produced thousands of new bulbs – some returned to the wild in the Carmel, while others were kept at the nursery for propagation and conservation.

“When we started, there were only a few dozen bulbs,” Zion Simantov said. “Today we have tens of thousands of bulbs. We are practically the only place in the country that holds the original white lily from the Carmel – not a commercial variety but the real natural plant that returns from here to its natural location in the Carmel and to other suitable places in Israel.”

According to Simantov, the plot reached its peak just a month and a half ago.

“After 12 years of waiting, we saw an amazing bloom. Flowers about a meter tall. Thousands of people came to see, photograph, and be moved. We expected a large seed harvest that would allow us to continue and expand the project.”

The morning after the missile attack, the harsh reality became clear.

“Our dedicated Thai workers called and told me to come to the site immediately,” he recalled. “We found a huge crater, about six meters in diameter, right inside the plot. Parts of the area were blown away, and the damage is scattered over hundreds of meters.”

Shortly after, police officers and Border Police fighters arrived.

“They saw the hole, documented it, collected the fragments that were on the ground, and left,” Simantov recounted. “But so far, no government officials have arrived to inspect the damage itself.”

Representatives from the Property Tax Authority are expected only next week.

“And that’s exactly the issue,” he said. “This is not like an orange grove where you can count how many trees were hit and calculate their value. This is something unique, with almost no parallel in the country. You need an expert to examine what happened above and below ground.”

Hidden damage and uncertain future

The difficulty, he explained, is that much of the damage is underground. The lily bulbs take many years to mature and bloom.

“We still don’t know how many bulbs were destroyed,” he said. “It could be hundreds, it could be thousands. Only in months or even years will we know the full extent of the damage.”

Hila Friedman, Zion’s daughter who manages the nursery with her father and husband, said this is more than a financial loss.

“This is not just an agricultural plot. This is heritage, this is nature conservation, this is something my father dedicated decades of his life to.”

A long road to recovery

While waiting for the official damage assessment, the family hopes that some bulbs survived.

“We do not intend to give up,” Simantov said. “But it is clear that the path to restoration will be very long. What was destroyed in an instant took us more than twenty years to build.”

Amid a brief round with Iran, which ended in a “hand-tying” by US President Donald Trump, who also said he is unsure whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will run in the upcoming elections, as well as the coalition’s accelerated legislation promoting a law equating Torah students with IDF service members, the Likud party is dropping this week by three seats to just 22, according to a Maariv poll published on Friday.

This is Likud’s lowest figure since August 2025, when it received 21 seats in a Maariv poll. However, the coalition bloc maintained its strength from last week at 50 seats, after the Religious Zionism party again passed the electoral threshold. The Zionist opposition bloc remained at 60 seats, and the Arab parties received an additional 10 seats.

In the opposition, Gadi Eisenkot’s strengthening trend continued, with his party Yashar! jumping three seats this week to a record 20. Conversely, the Together party, led by Naftali Bennett, fell by two seats to 21. In effect, a three-way race has emerged for the title of the largest party among Likud, Together, and Yashar! Drama is intensifying in the opposition bloc, with the gap narrowing between Together and Yashar!

In response to the question, “If elections for the Knesset were held today, which party would you vote for?” the answers were: Likud 22, Together 21, Yashar! 20, the Democrats 10, Yisrael Beytenu 9, Otzma Yehudit 9, Shas 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Hadash-Ta’al 6, Ra’am 4, Religious Zionists 4.

Blue and White (1.9%), Balad (2%), and the Reservists (1.7%) did not pass the threshold.

Bennett, Eisenkot beating Netanyahu for PM in poll

The poll also showed that Bennett leads Netanyahu in a hypothetical prime minister match-up, 43% to 39%.

Eisenkot widened his lead over Netanyahu with 44% compared to 40% for Netanyahu.

Against Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu leads 41% to 37%, but the gap has narrowed significantly from the previous poll, where Netanyahu led the Yisrael Beytenu chairman by a double-digit margin (48% to 29%).

The survey found that half of Israelis (50%) believe Trump will act in Israel’s interests in the confrontation with Iran, while 43% have low or no trust in him on this issue, and 7% are unsure.

The poll, conducted June 10–11 by Lazar Research under Dr. Menachem Lazar, in cooperation with Panel4ALL, included 500 respondents, representing a representative sample of Israel’s adult population, Jewish and Arab, aged 18 and over. The maximum sampling error is 4.4%.

The 32-year-old man who killed a high school student from Nahariya after he accidentally stumbled upon the scene of an attempted assassination in January 2020 was sentenced on Wednesday in the Haifa District Court. 

Halal Khlo from Acre was given 25 years in prison following his conviction for the murder of the 17-year-old. He was also sentenced to 12 months in prison, on probation, and the maximum possible compensation to the victim’s family.

After more than six years of a complex trial, largely based on circumstantial evidence, Khlo accepted a plea deal arranged by defense attorneys Uri Ben Natan and Zohar Arbel for the Haifa District Attorney’s Office.

Khlo pleaded guilty to an amended indictment and was ultimately convicted of intentional murder, attempted murder, carrying a weapon, recklessness, and negligence.

What happened in the run-up to the student’s murder?

According to the amended indictment, Khlo and others conspired to harm Muhammad Rubai, 28, while he was in Nahariya. They intended to shoot him from a passing vehicle as he walked. They opened fire on the target, who was wounded, but one of the bullets also hit the high school student who happened to be walking nearby.

The 17-year-old was taken to the hospital and died due to his wounds a few hours later.

The case was reportedly close to a conviction when the defense attorneys requested a plea deal. Prosecutor, attorney Muhammad Molla said that “examining the evidentiary difficulties that emerged during the trial and involving the families of the deceased and the injured in the incident, the prosecution came to the conclusion that this was a proper and balanced arrangement.”

The defense’s arguements for the deal

The defense emphasized that Khlo was not accused of shooting or driving the vehicle, but rather of committing the offenses along with others, as the prosecution was unable to determine which of the individuals involved had hit the deceased and the injured.

Attorney Tomer Ben Hamo, who represents the family on behalf of the SNA program, the assistance for families of victims of homicide, said in court that agreeing to the settlement was a “very difficult decision” after six years of conducting a trial, but the family preferred the certainty of convicting the defendant of murder and bringing the case to an end. 

According to him, financial compensation was not a consideration for the family.

American rapper Ye’s (Kanye West) upcoming Prague concert was cancelled after the venue set to host him pulled out, marking the latest in a series of cancelled concerts for the controversial artist, PrahaIN.cz reported on Thursday.

The concert, organized by Slovak producer Hugo Varga and scheduled to take place on July 25 at a horse-racing track, was nixed by venue owner Zuzana Rambová, who said that the arena “terminated the organizer’s contract” but didn’t mention specific reasons for doing so. 

Varga was one of the organizers of a Slovakia rap festival scheduled for the summer of 2025, where Ye was due to perform. Ultimately, after local protests against the event as well as concerns about preparations, Ye withdrew from the lineup and the entire festival was canceled.

At the time, Varga said the failure of the festival was due to financial regulations, and that Ye shouldn’t be blocked from performing due to past missteps, in a statement to Forbes Slovakia.

Rambová also echoed the sentiment that Ye should be free to perform despite antisemitic remarks he made in the past.

Multiple events featuring Ye scrapped as of late

The Prague concert is the latest in a string of cancelled performances since Ye began making antisemitic statements publicly.

In April, plans for a July appearance at the UK’s Wireless Festival were scrapped after Ye was denied a visa.

A week later, the artist postponed a June concert in Marseille following opposition from several French politicians, including Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan.

Additional concerts, including ones planned for Poland, Italy, and other countries, have also been aborted in the recent past.

In October 2022, the rapper began making blatantly anti-Jewish statements on social media, leading to a wave of cancellations from sponsors and partners. In May 2025, Ye, who has attributed his antisemitic remarks to untreated bipolar disorder, said he had abandoned anti-Jewish ideals and apologized publicly.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A combined rescue operation took place on Tuesday morning, as lifeguards worked to save a loggerhead sea turtle that was entangled in a fishing line.

The turtle was found by three lifeguards from the Haifa Municipality’s Coastal Department, and the rescue was quickly joined by Professor Roee Diamant, head of a laboratory at the University of Haifa’s School of Marine Sciences.

The teams worked together to successfully retrieve the turtle from the sea after contacting the Israel Nature and Parks Authority hotline. Within half an hour, marine unit inspector Ilya Baskin arrived at the beach and took the turtle for further treatment at the National Sea Turtle Center in Mikhomoret.

Professor Diamant explained that he often works in the area of the coastline where the giant sea turtle had been found, and “There is a very large amount of ghost nets, fishing lines, and hooks that people leave behind. This is a very problematic and dangerous hazard, and unfortunately, it is not surprising to encounter sea turtles in this area that are harmed by the abandoned equipment.” 

The turtle was named Halil (Flute) after one of the team members who took part in its rescue.

Haifa Municipality addresses ocean pollution

Representatives from the Haifa Municipality spoke about the operation, praising the rescuers for their quick instincts and response. Director of Haifa Municipality Beaches Department, Rita Sassi, said, “Our lifeguards are not only responsible for saving the lives of bathers, but also show responsibility and commitment to the marine environment and the animals living in it. The alertness, sensitivity, and quick response they demonstrated apparently prevented serious harm to the sea turtle, and I am proud of them for their work.”

Haifa Mayor, Yona Yahav, said, “Halil, the sea turtle that was rescued off the coast of Haifa, reminds us all of how beautiful, exciting, and vulnerable the nature around us is. I am proud of the Haifa Municipality rescuers, who, with vigilance, responsibility, and extraordinary compassion, were not content with their role of saving human lives, but also acted resolutely to save an animal in distress. I would also like to thank Prof. Roy Diamant, student Ron Banjo, the staff of the Nature and Parks Authority, and the National Center for Sea Turtle Rescue for their quick and professional cooperation.”

Yahav added, “Along with the exciting story, it is important to remember that fishing lines, nets, and waste thrown into the sea can become a deadly trap for marine animals. The responsibility to protect the sea and the life in it lies with all of us. Haifa is a city of the sea, and we are committed to doing everything we can to protect our unique marine environment, so that future generations can also enjoy it. I wish Halil a full recovery and hope to see him return to the sea soon, healthy and free.”

Halil is currently undergoing rehabilitation in Mikhomeret. The rescue center stated that his injured limb is in a state of necrosis, but X-rays revealed that it was not broken.

The sea turtle is expected to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation process before hopefully being released back into the sea.

Hundreds of relatives with loved ones among Mexico’s near-135,000 missing people marched in Mexico City on Thursday, using the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup to rally support and call out what they described as a lack of government action.

Protesters from grassroots organizations known as “madres buscadoras” (mothers who search) bused into the capital from several other states late on Wednesday to take part in a candle-lit vigil and a larger march on the Mexico City Stadium ahead of kickoff.

Hector Aguila, 59, who organizes Jalisco-based searchers’ group Luz de Esperanza (Light of Hope) and has been looking for his son since 2023, said families were being re-victimized by long, fruitless bureaucratic processes.

“We’re not against the World Cup, we’re not against people coming here to enjoy the party,” he said outside a massive fan party in the main square. “We are against that they invest so many millions of pesos in this while we are left in oblivion.”

Alexandra Campa, 40, who has been searching for her younger brother for over a year and is a member of several collectives in Jalisco, one of Mexico’s most violent states, told Reuters she considered seeking help from the state a waste of time.

“Every month they change the lawyer,” she said. “There is never a solution and there are thousands of cases like mine.”

Cartel-related disappearances cause uproar

The day’s protests began peacefully with collectives wearing white shirts or green Mexican football jerseys printed with posters of their missing loved ones. Later in the day, however, some groups tore down fences and clashed with security forces, and hundreds of riot police deployed on streets around the stadium.

The government attributes the disappearances mainly to cartels and says many went missing in violence tied to former Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s militarized “war on drugs” from the late 2000s. It says locating them is a national priority.

But critics say weak state support and institutional backlogs force families to search alone in dangerous areas, where some activists have been killed. They also argue the high number of unresolved cases obscures the scale of deadly violence in Latin America’s second-most populous country.

Ahead of the inaugural match, activists put up thousands of missing posters on roundabouts and along the tracks of the train that leads to the main stadium and graffitied over walls and bus stops with protest slogans such as: “The ball is coming home, but when will our children?”

At the Angel of Independence, one of the city’s most famous monuments, tourists took photos and a performer danced to Shakira and Burna Boy’s World Cup anthem while in the background, “heroes” was crossed out on the statue’s stone tablet, replaced with “desaparecidos” – the disappeared.

Campa said she felt left behind and hoped the protests would rally international support for the search efforts.

“We’re here so if our relatives can see us, they know we’re looking for them, we love them and we miss them very much,” she said.

Former Taliban commander Haji Najibullah, 50, has been sentenced to 42 years in prison and five years of supervised release on terrorism charges, the United States Department of Justice said on Tuesday. 

The charges are based on his role as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan, on the border of Kabul, leading attacks against US serviceman and allies, between 2007 and 2009. 

These attacks include the deadly June 2008 attack that killed three US Army servicemembers and their Afghan interpreter, as well as injuring several others.

A few months later, he led an attack against an Afghan National Police outpost which reportedly resulted in the death of three Afghan police officers.

Additional charges came from Najibullah’s actions against civilains, including taking an American New York Times journalist and two Afghan nationals hostage in 2008 and 2009.

The three were held for seven months under constant armed guard before eventually succeeding in escaping.

In April 2025, Najibullah pleaded guilty to taking hostages and supporting acts of terrorism that resulted in death.

According to the DOJ, he spoke of the men who had served under him and the acts they had done proudly, stating that the men were “ready to die” and “put on a belt and blow themselves up if we ask them.”   

US will ‘hunt down, bring to justice’ those who harm Americans

“Those who harm Americans and engage in acts of terrorism will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche. “As a Taliban commander, Najibullah supported brutal terrorist attacks that killed American servicemembers and orchestrated the savage hostage-taking of an American journalist and Afghan civilians.”

“Today’s sentence delivers justice for the victims and their families.”

FBI Director Kash Patel added that Najibullah will “pay the price” for his past actions, and that the “men and women of the FBI will not forget when Americans are killed or taken hostage by terrorists.”

“However incomplete, today’s sentence delivers long‑awaited accountability and a measure of justice to the families of the victims, said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

Najibullah caused “unimaginable harm to the victims of his crimes and their loved ones,” added US Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “Today’s sentence sends a clear message that there will be dire consequences for those who aim to harm Americans and our brave military personnel through acts of terror.” 

“Our Office, and our dedicated partners in law enforcement, will continue to investigate, prosecute, and bring to justice terrorists around the world.” 

Clayton praised the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and thanked the New York and New Jersey Port Authority Police, the US Department of Defense, and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division for their efforts and aid in the investigation. 

He also thanked the Ukrainian authorities and the International Affairs Office of the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division for their assistance in Najibullah’s arrest and transfer.

The annual Tel Aviv Pride Parade will take place as planned on Friday, despite recent security concerns surrounding the war with Iran, organizers announced.

The parade, as well as assorted other pride events, will take place between approximately 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

It is planned to begin on Shalag Street, near Gordon Beach, with the route passing along the city’s promenade before ending at Charles Clore Park.

Israel Police added that for the duration of the parade, starting at 6:30 a.m., several streets will be closed off to traffic, including:

Rokach Boulevard: westbound, starting at Ibn Gabirol street.

Hayarkon street: southbound, starting at Jabotinsky street, and northbound from Yosef Halevi street to J. L. Gordon street.

Herbert Samuel street: southbound from Shalag street to Yehezkel Kaufman street, including service roads.

Yehezkel Kaufman street: northbound from Eilat street to Yosef Halevi street.

Nahum Goldmann street: northbound from Eilat street to Yosef Halevi street, and from Yossi Carmel Square (Clock Square) to Kaufman.

Eilat street: westbound from Eliphelet street.

Eliphelet street: northbound from Derekh Shalma.

Derekh Shalma: westbound from Eliphelet street.

Mapu street: from Yeho’ash street to Hayarkon street.

Frishman street: from Dizengoff street to Herbert Samuel street.

Trumpeldor street: from Ben Yehuda street to Herbert Samuel street.

Ness Ziona street: from Ben Yehuda street to Hayarkon street.

Ge’ula street: from HaKovshim street to Herbert Samuel street.

Nechemiah street: from HaKovshim street to Herbert Samuel street.

Carmelit street: from HaKovshim street  to Hayarkon street.

Israel Police added that it is possible additional streets will be closed during the event, in order to allow it to take place safely.

It added that no parking will be allowed along the parade’s route, and recommend using public transportation.

Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor and LGBTQ Affairs Portfolio Holder Meital Lehavi announced on X/Twitter that transportation to and from the parade’s endpoint party will be available through a “Pride Shuttle” bus that will run every nine minutes.

מחר, יום שישי ב 13:00 טיילת הרברט סמואל תתמלא בגאווה, בתקווה ובאהבה.
אנחנו דאגנו שגם הדרך לשם והדרך הביתה יהיו נגישות לכולם.ן 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

כדי שתוכלו להגיע, לחגוג ולחזור הביתה בקלות, הפעלנו את קו 700:
״שאטל הגאווה״ של ״נעים בסופ״ש״ – מנקודת הסיום והמסיבה בתדירות מוגברת של כל 9 דקות!… pic.twitter.com/6eyNvfElnd

— מיטל להבי- Meital Lehavi (@Meital_Lehavi) June 11, 2026

Additionally, public transportation will run on an enhanced schedule after the event, to allow for attendees to leave the area.

Previous years’ saw cancellations, this year will feature heavy police presence

Israel Police announced that over 1,000 police officers, undercover and Border Police officers, and volunteers will be deployed throughout the event to ensure the safety and security of all participants. Special units, including the Israel Police’s air and maritime units, will also be deployed.

Police sources said security plans for the event were developed in coordination with production parties, the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, MDA, and others.

“The Israel Police is working to enable the event to take place in an orderly and safe manner, with the security of the participants and the crowd coming to the parade being the central mission before us,” said Tel Aviv District Commander, Chief Haim Sargaroff said in a briefing.

As part of this, police have said that the entry of two-wheeled vehicles of any kind, weapons, glass bottles, alcohol, and animals (except for guide dogs in training or on duty) to the parade and the party at Charles Clore Park will be prohobited.

Previously, the parade had been canceled in 2024 and 2025, due to the wars against Hamas and Iran, respectively. As such, this year’s iteration will be the first time the parade has been held since before the October 7 attacks.

There are few places on earth as intimate as a tank.

Four soldiers sealed inside a steel box, breathing the same air for days, sleeping inside the hull or underneath it in the field, with no privacy, no personal space, and no door to close. Anyone who has spent time with Armored Corps crews knows that the tank is less a vehicle than a shared body.

That steel box is now the site of the most serious confrontation between the IDF and the religious Zionist world in years. Last month, the High Court of Justice ordered the army to launch a pilot program by November examining the integration of female combat soldiers into the Armored Corps.

In response, the heads of 12 hesder yeshivot – institutions that combine Torah study with military service – published a letter declaring that service in the corps under such conditions is prohibited by halacha (Jewish law) and that they will no longer send their students to tanks.

Within days, the number of yeshivot grew to 25.

The IDF answered that no option under consideration involves men and women serving in the same framework, and a senior officer described the dilemma with brutal honesty: a few female soldiers each year, weighed against dozens of hesder soldiers in every draft cohort.

“The High Court has put us in an impossible position,” he said.

Female tank soldiers helped defeat terror on Oct. 7

Before anyone fires the next letter, ultimatum, or petition, it is worth remembering a morning that everyone in this dispute has conveniently forgotten.

At 6:30 a.m. on October 7, female tank crews from the Caracal Battalion’s armored force on the Egyptian border were woken by the red alert. They raced 35 km. to the Gaza envelope, broke through the gate of Kibbutz Holit, and fought for 17 straight hours, killing some 50 terrorists at Holit and Sufa.

Their brigade commander credited them with breaking the attack and preventing it from rolling further south. They were the first all-female armored crews in modern military history to fight in battle.

Read that again: all-female crews. The most celebrated women in the history of the Armored Corps proved themselves in exactly the kind of separate framework the army’s own regulations promise religious soldiers.

October 7 should have been the morning both camps declared victory. The advocates of women in armor got their proof of competence, written in fire at the gates of Holit. The rabbis got their proof that separation and combat excellence can live in the same tank.

Instead, the war shelved the pilot, the shelving produced the lawsuit, the lawsuit produced the court order, and the court order produced the boycott. Everyone escalated past the solution that was already working.

IDF is not the army Ben-Gurion imagined

How did we get here? Because we keep talking about the IDF as if it were still Ben-Gurion’s melting pot, and it has not been one for a long time. Israel no longer has a melting-pot army. It has a coalition army.

The melting-pot army took farm boys and immigrants and pressed them into one new Israeli. The coalition army draws its combat power from distinct communities: religious Zionists, secular, Druze, traditional, Bedouin trackers, and, soon, if the state is serious, haredim (ultra-Orthodox), each of which arrives with terms, as parties do in coalition talks.

The hesder track, the pre-military academies, Netzah Yehuda, the all-female border tank companies: these are not exceptions to the system. They are the system.

And like any coalition, this army survives on negotiated frameworks and dies from diktats, whether the diktat comes from a courtroom or from a yeshiva office.

Once you see the coalition army, the behavior of both sides becomes legible, and so do their mistakes.

The High Court is ruling as if the melting pot still exists, applying the equality jurisprudence of the 1995 Alice Miller case to an army whose sociological base has been transformed since 1995.

Equality is a security value, but in a coalition army that needs 12,000 combat recruits, so are cohesion and motivation. The rabbis, meanwhile, are behaving like a coalition partner threatening to bolt before the negotiation begins.

Declaring an entire corps forbidden by halacha before the pilot’s parameters were even drafted is preemptive escalation, and it hands ammunition to everyone who claims religious soldiers are conditional citizens.

Worse, it sets a precedent: if 25 roshei yeshiva (heads of yeshivot) can veto the Armored Corps, what stops the next letter from targeting female instructors or combat medics?

Their distrust is earned; anyone who watched yeshiva students gradually squeezed out of the Artillery Corps despite assurances understands the letter’s origins. But earned distrust does not justify using against the army the very weapon they accuse the court of wielding: coercion in place of conversation.

And no coalition partner has earned a seat at this table like religious Zionism.

Channel 12’s Amit Segal has estimated that some 45% of the fallen in this war came from that community, which makes up roughly 12% of the population. Settlers, about 5% of Israelis, account for roughly 16% of the dead.

There is hardly a religious Zionist school or synagogue without a name on a memorial wall, and the men of this community have logged hundreds of days of reserve duty since October 7.

Even Uri Zaki of Meretz wrote that it is impossible to ignore the price this community has paid. These are people asking to keep serving in the corps where their sons fought and fell in Gaza and asking the army to honor a promise it made in writing.

The Joint Service Order states that in every mixed combat unit, a soldier who requests it because of his religious way of life must be able to serve in a gender-separated framework at the company level, from enlistment through reserves.

A tank is the one place where that promise either holds completely or collapses completely.

The stakes run beyond armor. The state is demanding, at this very moment, that haredim enlist in their tens of thousands. You cannot tell Bnei Brak that the IDF will respect its way of life while signaling to Elon Moreh and Yeruham that their red lines are negotiable.

Every haredi rabbi watching this dispute is learning a lesson about what the army’s guarantees are worth.

None of this turns Israel into a halachic state. Nobody is proposing to close mixed units or roll back what female combat soldiers have achieved; the women of Holit settled that argument forever.

Single-gender tank companies for women and for hesder soldiers alike would simply extend the model that already saved Israeli lives on the worst morning in our history.

The court should let the army manage its coalition. The rabbis should withdraw the ultimatum and return to the table.

And the IDF should say plainly what it half-said this week: the army of the people will make room for all the people, because all the people – in the tanks at Holit and in the freshly dug graves of Gush Etzion and the Galilee – have more than earned it.

An Iranian reservoir for drinking water located near the Strait of Hormuz was reportedly struck by the US earlier this week following renewed strikes on the region, Iran’s semi-official news agency, Mehr News reported on Wednesday.

Mehr had cited a local official claiming that water was cut off to about 20,000 residents of nearby towns and villages due to the strikes.

Additionally, the outlet posted images of the destroyed drinking water reservoir, as well as photos of munition fragments that a CNN report claimed appeared to be from a US bomb, according to experts. 

Around the time of the strikes, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X/Twitter that it had conducted strikes near the strait with “precision munitions from the US Air Force and Navy fighter jets.”

The US began striking Iran on Tuesday following the downing of a US Apache helicopter. 

The photo posted by Mehr appeared to show the components of a GBU-39 series bomb, a precision-guided munition produced in the US, according to CNN, citing munitions experts Trevor Ball and N.R. Jenzen-Jones. The former is a US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member, and the latter is the director of Armament Research Services.

US error very unlikely, says expert

Ball added that the reservoir’s remote location makes an error very unlikely.

“The munition precisely hit this building, which is in a fairly remote area,” he told CNN. 

A commercial satellite image taken on the morning of June 9 shows structures consistent with those described by Abdul Hamid Hamzehpour, the head of the provincial water authority, according to a Wednesday New York Times report.

“Two concrete water-storage reservoirs with a combined capacity of 2,500 cubic meters in the Bamani district were struck by missiles and completely taken out of service,” Mehr quoted Hamzehpour as saying. 

It is still unclear whether the US strikes were intentionally aimed at the facilities, NYT reported, adding that if deliberate, the attack could constitute a war crime under international law. 

CENTCOM confirmed to CBS News that it is aware and looking into the reports. 

The US military was three hours away from striking Iran when US President Donald Trump announced that a deal with Tehran had been agreed upon and canceled a planned attack, NBC reported on Thursday, citing two US officials familiar with the matter.

According to the officials, the military had received orders from Trump to attack Iran Thursday night, and that US Navy ships had already adjusted their operations and readied munitions for the strikes when they were called off.

Per the officials, the planned strikes were meant to be “very similar” to those that happened on Wednesday. 

Iran’s Kharg Island was also not on the target list, the officials added, despite Trump’s earlier threats of military action.

In fact, the two noted to NBC that the US military had for months readied plans to strike and invade Kharg Island should it ever become necessary, though the president had never approved the plans. 

The US had last struck the island in April, targeting military infrastructure, including Kharg’s air defenses. 

According to one of the officials, Trump’s early Thursday threat to strike Kharg Island didn’t align with “any of the planning or action” the US military had prepared to take on.

However, even with the threat, the officials claimed that the military had been “even more surprised by Trump’s post canceling the strikes than they were by his comments about big strikes coming tonight and taking Kharg Island.”

Two other officials shared with NBC that the cancellation of the strikes had happened after Trump had met with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine to discuss options on Iran.

Trump says agreement with Iran approved by all parties involved

Trump announced that he had canceled scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran on Thursday night, after a deal with Iran had been agreed upon.

The deal was approved “both in concept and great detail” by all involved parties, including the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and multiple other Middle Eastern countries, Trump wrote.

The blockade will remain in place until the deal is finalized, Trump said, adding that a military operation against Iran’s Kharg Island is off the table for now.

No date was given for the signing, but Trump said it could happen this weekend in Europe, with US Vice President JD Vance set to attend.

Notably, Israeli sources told Channel 12 that Israel does not recognize reaching an agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Thursday night, as Trump confirmed in comments to the press. Reportedly, Trump’s announcement took Netanyahu by surprise, CNN reported.

However, the Prime Minister’s office said that Netanyahu expressed his appreciation for Trump’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement with Iran, which “will include the removal of enriched nuclear material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and an end to Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”

Israel is not part of the US’s memorandum of understanding with Iran.

Danya Saperstein, Amichai Stein, Yonah Jeremy Bob, Ariella Roitman, and Reuters contributed to this report.

US President Donald Trump and his allies are pushing lawmakers to pass a resolution aimed at voiding his first-term impeachments, a White House official said on Thursday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Trump was impeached twice by the US House of Representatives during his first four years in office. The first alleged an abuse of power, and he was acquitted in early 2020. The second accused him of incitement of insurrection over the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

Trump escaped an ouster from power in both cases, and his anger over the impeachments helped fuel his 2024 presidential campaign in which he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris.

The Journal reported that Trump and his team want lawmakers to pass a resolution aimed at voiding the impeachments.

White House officials have strongly urged forward progress on this issue, the White House official told reporters.

Trump attempting a ‘symbolic victory’

The Journal said the resolution would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory on a matter that has dogged him since his first term, but would have little legal significance since the Constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment.

“It’s no surprise that sane individuals are recognizing these sham efforts and are interested in undoing those shameful actions,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson when asked for a comment on the story.

Thailand‘s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendira Debyavati, the eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, has died at 47, the royal palace said on Friday, after multiple health problems and nearly four years in a coma.

The princess was hospitalized in December 2022 after a sudden loss of consciousness caused by a heart condition while visiting the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. Bajrakitiyabha was flown by helicopter to the capital Bangkok for treatment.

She died on Thursday evening, after her condition worsened due to an intra-abdominal infection, colitis, low blood pressure, arrhythmias, and blood-clotting disorders, the palace statement said.

Bajrakitiyabha, popularly known as Princess Pa, was born on December 7, 1978, to the then Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and his first wife, Princess Soamsawali.

In Thailand, she will be remembered for her prominent role in public life, her efforts to improve the livelihoods of female prisoners, and her diplomatic career.

Princess Pa’s many roles

She studied law at Cornell University, obtaining a Master’s degree and a Doctorate, and worked as an attorney in the Thai Office of the Attorney-General between 2006 and 2011.

From 2012 to 2014, she was Thailand’s ambassador to Austria, Slovenia, and Slovakia, before returning to the attorney-general’s office in Bangkok.

She also founded a charity promoting the rights of female inmates, particularly those who were pregnant while in jail.

In 2017, Bajrakitiyabha was appointed as the goodwill ambassador for the rule of law in Southeast Asia by the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

She transferred to the army in 2021, where she was bestowed the rank of a general and served as a chief of staff in the Royal Security Command.

The princess was one of King Vajiralongkorn’s three children who have formal titles and are eligible to take the throne under the constitution.

In October last year, Thailand’s Queen Mother passed away at 93.

The palace will hold royal funeral rites, while the government is expected to declare a period of national mourning.

The preliminary passage of Basic Law: Torah Study should be remembered as one of the ugliest moments in the Knesset’s long history of dressing political surrender in sacred language.

This is not a law about Torah. It is a law about power, money, and avoidance. It is a last-minute effort to turn a coalition crisis into a constitutional shield for draft evasion, at the very moment when soldiers and reservists are carrying an unbearable national burden.

The bill passed on Wednesday in its preliminary reading by 56 votes to 43. Likud MKs Dan Illouz and Yuli Edelstein, New Hope MK Sharren Haskel, and Religious Zionist Party MK Moshe Solomon broke ranks and voted against it. Solomon later paid a political price for refusing to lend his hand to what he called a moral injustice. His explanation was the only honest one: He could not look bereaved families in the eyes and vote for a law implying that Torah and military service need not meet.

The original version reportedly went even further, seeking to equate the status of long-term Torah learners with that of IDF soldiers. After fierce criticism, that explicit comparison was removed, according to reports.

But the remaining wording is still dangerous. It declares Torah study a fundamental value in Jewish heritage and a basic right in Israel, and says the state views those who dedicate themselves to long-term study as making a significant contribution to the state and Jewish people.

Torah belongs to all of us

There is nothing offensive about honoring Torah study. Torah is not the property of the haredi parties, their rabbis, or their political brokers. It belongs to all of us. It has shaped Jewish law, memory, culture, and moral imagination for millennia. Precisely because of that, using it as a cynical instrument to preserve a chosen and privileged life outside the draft is a desecration.

The insult is sharpened by the timing. Israel is over two-and-a-half years into a war that has drained its soldiers, exhausted its reservists, and bereaved families across the country. The IDF has repeatedly warned of a severe manpower shortage. The High Court has pushed the state to enforce the law against draft evaders and revoke benefits that cannot legally continue without a draft framework. Instead of confronting that reality, the coalition is trying to rewrite the moral equation.

Everyone outside the narrow political machinery can see what this is. The haredi parties are trying to minimize damage before elections and preserve their standing inside their own communities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing the collapse of his coalition, appears ready to grant them almost anything in exchange for time. Reports of a broader package involving the election date, daycare subsidies, and other haredi demands only sharpen the picture.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned the haredi public that the bill would gravely harm Israel and them, saying that without a functioning economy and army, Israelis simply will not be able to live here. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, responding after MK Moshe Gafni invoked the Warsaw Ghetto, said his father sat in the ghetto, and his grandfather died in a concentration camp because the Jewish people had no army. He called the bill what it is: not Torah, but money for evasion.

Torah bill ‘a desecration of everything holy’

Yoaz Hendel went further, calling it a desecration of everything holy here. He is right. Thousands of religious and Torah-learning Israelis serve, proving daily that devotion to Torah and responsibility for the state are not opposites. The claim that its study requires permanent exemption is not piety; it is politics.

There are arguments to be made against the state, and arguments to be made about the relationship between religion, coercion, and citizenship. But there is no legitimate moral excuse for living here while fighting the very branch that protects your life and the lives of your children.

This bill will not strengthen Torah; it will cheapen it. It will turn sacred language into a loophole, and a people’s inheritance into a sectoral bargaining chip. A government that cared about Torah would not use it to divide soldiers from students, mourners from politicians, and Jews from one another.

The Knesset should bury this bill before it becomes law and stains the Torah it pretends to honor today.

A US judge on Thursday allowed an Iranian-born engineer to be released on bail just days before his trial on charges linked to a deadly drone attack on a US military base in Jordan carried out by Iran-backed terrorists in 2024.

US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston had previously declined to release Mahdi Sadeghi, a dual US-Iranian citizen, from custody, citing the risk he might flee to avoid trial. He is charged with conspiracy to illegally procure technology used in a navigation system for Iran’s military drones.

Prosecutors say that the system was used in ​a drone ⁠that struck a US outpost in Jordan called Tower 22, near the Syrian border, in a January 2024 attack that killed three Army Reserve soldiers and injured 47 others.

But Talwani on Thursday said the situation had changed since Sadeghi, a former Analog Devices employee, was arrested in December 2024, pointing to the war in Iran, which began in February when the United States and Israel launched strikes.

She said the conflict made the prospect of Sadeghi and his family returning to Iran “less attractive” and that it would be difficult for him to do so.

A ‘Different political world’

“It is just a different political world,” she said.

She noted Sadeghi’s wife had made clear that she wanted their family to remain in the United States, where they reside in Natick, Massachusetts, something Sadeghi would risk losing if he fled rather than contest the charges.

She ordered him released on Friday on a secured $500,000 bond subject to strict home detention with a GPS ankle monitor. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Sadeghi has pleaded not guilty to participating in a scheme to violate US export control and ​sanctions laws by illegally procuring technology for Iranian businessman ​Mohammad Abedini’s company, which ⁠counted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a client and made a navigation system used in Iran’s Shahed drones.

Sadeghi is slated to face trial on June 22 alone after Italian officials last year ⁠released Abedini, who had been awaiting extradition to the United States, following the detention by Iran of ​an Italian journalist it also released.

When the US squad suits up Friday night to face off against Paraguay in its opening contest in the 2026 World Cup, one Jewish player will be in the mix.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner is not only the lone Jew on the US team but he could well be the only Jewish player in the entire tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada starting on Thursday. It’s the first edition of the tournament to be hosted by three countries, and the first to feature 48 teams.

Israel did not qualify for the World Cup and hasn’t since 1970 — due, in part, to geopolitics that pushed its soccer federation to compete in the talented European body, not in Asia.

Jewish players DeAndre Yedlin and Daniel Edelman, who both play in the MLS and have previously played for the national team, are not on the roster this summer. Yedlin played with Turner in the ‘22 tournament in Qatar, where Turner, 31, was a star.

Turner, a New Jersey native, discovered his Jewish heritage by finding his paternal great-grandmother’s emigration papers that had allowed her to flee Lithuania during the Holocaust.

“Once I found the documents, I was certainly very, very excited,” Turner told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2023. “America, in general, it’s a melting pot, and everybody has those roots elsewhere. So to understand your story, your history, a little bit is really nice.”

The revelation allowed him to obtain a Lithuanian passport, which made it easier for the goalie to pursue soccer opportunities in Europe. It also changed his relationship to his Jewish identity.

Turner says he feels ‘more connected’ to his Jewish background

“The more my father and I dug, the more we learned, the more connected I felt to my Jewish side, the Jewish culture of my family,” Turner said at the time. “It really changed a lot of me.”

Turner, who now plays for the New England Revolution in MLS, started all four matches in 2022 for an American club that advanced to the Round of 16. He was the first American goalie with back-to-back shutouts in a World Cup since 1930.

Turner has 53 career appearances with the US national team, with a 29-16-8 overall record, including 27 matches in which the opposing team did not score at all. He has also played in the Premier League and was the 2021 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

This time around, he is seen as less likely to start, following the ascent of a teammate to the top goalie slot. Still, he says he is moved to be part of the national team once more.

“I’ll probably cry when the national anthem goes,” he told FOX Sports. “It’s just such a huge honor — overwhelming honor — to be granted that responsibility to be on this team to do our best in those roles and ultimately, change soccer here forever.”

Although there are few Jews on the field during the 39-day tournament that ends July 19, one familiar Jewish face — or more accurately, voice — will return this year. Legendary Argentine broadcaster Andres Cantor, whose famous “Goooooooal” calls have helped popularize the sport in the United States, will be calling his 12th consecutive World Cup.

Cantor was born in Buenos Aires to a Romania-born mother and a father whose family fled the Nazis in Poland. He moved to the United States as a teenager and has publicly embraced his Jewish identity.

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a letter on Thursday protesting what he described as the exclusion of ultra-Orthodox communities and local authorities in the West Bank from a new government plan related to settlement development in the area.

The letter, sent urgently after appeals reached his office from the mayors of Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit, and Emmanuel, concerns item B on the government’s agenda, under which a proposal is expected to come up to establish “temporary sites in rural communities in the West Bank.” According to Goldknopf, the ultra-Orthodox local authorities are not included in the proposed framework.

“On the eve of the government meeting scheduled for tomorrow in the city of Nof HaGalil, I find it necessary to turn to you urgently and in deep pain, on behalf of 200,000 ultra-Orthodox residents of Judea and Samaria,” Goldknopf wrote to Netanyahu. “Once again, we are faced with an outrageous reality that cannot be explained: the ultra-Orthodox public in Judea and Samaria is once again being sidelined, excluded, and completely pushed out of this plan.”

Goldknopf pointed out that, of roughly half a million residents of Judea and Samaria, close to 200,000 are ultra-Orthodox, and that Modi’in Illit and Beitar Illit are among the largest urban centers in the area. In his view, a public of that size cannot be excluded from government programs addressing development in Judea and Samaria.

According to him, the heads of the ultra-Orthodox local authorities approached him “with a bleeding heart,” and he passed their claims directly to the Prime Minister. “Why is it always them [ultra-Orthodox] who are left behind?” he wrote.

“How is it possible that the budgets, development, and benefits that reach the other communities never reach the ultra-Orthodox population centers in Judea and Samaria? Is the blood of the residents of Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit, and Emmanuel less red? Are half the residents in the area invisible in the eyes of the government?” Goldknopf added.

He also explained that among the ultra-Orthodox public in Judea and Samaria, there is growing concern that this “exclusion is not accidental and is intended to prevent support and benefits from a certain public.”

Goldknopf says ultra-Orthodox movement ‘can’t accept such discrimination’

“We cannot accept such discrimination,” he wrote. “The ultra-Orthodox public is part of the settlement in the Holy Land and a full partner in strengthening, developing, and flourishing the settlement, despite conditions of overcrowding and terrible housing distress.”

He said the residents of the ultra-Orthodox cities in Judea and Samaria “are entitled to every benefit and assistance as a matter of right and not as a favor.” At the end of the letter, Goldknopf appealed to Netanyahu “as the Prime Minister of all the citizens of Israel,” and asked him to reconsider the item before it is approved at the government meeting, and to ensure that any plan, benefit, or establishment of centers in the area applies “in a full and equal manner also to the ultra-Orthodox authorities and residents.”

Goldknopf’s appeal underscores UTJ’s demand of Netanyahu, ahead of a government meeting intended to emphasize the government’s commitment to settlement in Judea and Samaria, to include the area’s ultra-Orthodox cities and communities in development plans and in the distribution of resources, and not leave them off the map of budgets and benefits.

In Goldknopf’s office, people have in recent days been speaking of growing frustration in the ultra-Orthodox leadership over what is seen there as continued disregard for the needs of the ultra-Orthodox authorities in Judea and Samaria, at a time when the government is advancing broad plans to strengthen settlement in the area.

Beni Sabti, an Iranian researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), implied that Israel is a US proxy, just as Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy, and criticized the American strategy amid the exchange of blows between the United States and Iran during an interview for 103FM.

Sabti addressed the attack on military infrastructure carried out by the Americans on the orders of US President Donald Trump, against the backdrop of the exchanges between the United States and Iran, and argued that Trump’s current strategy is fundamentally mistaken.

“President Trump is playing into their hands because he is creating South Lebanon or Vietnam,” Sabti said. “Continuing the war at this level plays into the hands of the Iranian regime. It gives them an excuse to remain in a state of emergency, not to take care of the public’s needs, to waste resources, and to transfer money to Hezbollah. We are entering some kind of Iranian quagmire.”

Sabti also said that the effect of heavy economic pressure and damage to infrastructure on Iranian civilians is low and doesn’t push the Iranian people to rise up against the regime. “We’ve seen this movie in Gaza. Did it matter to Yahya Sinwar or Mohammed Deif that we were bombing and destroying the buildings? Do we want to take a risk and wait a year until the public goes out into the streets?

Eliminate Iran’s leadership with one swift move

“The only solution for the Iranian regime is to eliminate the senior officials and produce a result in a short period of time,” he pointed out.

To illustrate his point, Sabti detailed the decision-making structure in Tehran: “Mojtaba Khamenei is one link, and he is the weak link. If you uproot and destroy the 15 people around him, you solve the problem. These are the operatives and the thinkers who make the decisions in Iran today.”

“Mojtaba sits in a tunnel and does not even know whether his orders are being carried out. When you neutralize the people who actually make the decisions, like Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ahmad Vahidi, you achieve a decision.”

Fighting in Lebanon restricted by the US

The discussion later turned to the fighting in Lebanon and the American restrictions on strikes in Beirut.

While the IDF has made gains against Hezbollah and inflicted severe damage to the organization, Sabti made clear that it must cut off the head of the snake.

“I kiss the hands and feet of the soldiers who are doing an amazing job,” Sabti said.

“But as long as you do not strike the head of the enemy, you are really giving it life. This effect of being in a war is good for them. Instead of going to the source, we are killing the mosquitoes one by one.”

Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), or naval drones, are increasing their role in military affairs. This is part of the much larger unmanned or drone revolution that is taking place at all levels of the military, where the use of drones is becoming the norm.

From infantry forces using quadcopters to large surveillance drones and the new US LUCAS system of one-way attack drones, drone warfare is increasing exponentially. This is important for Israel, as it is a pioneer in drone technology.

The use of a naval drone to rescue two US Army pilots recently is an example of how this technology is becoming increasingly relevant.

According to Naval News, “The US Navy drone task force picked up two downed pilots using a Saronic Corsair unmanned surface vessel yesterday in Middle Eastern waters during a first-of-its-kind rescue mission.”

The report went on to say that, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, “two Army pilots patrolling regional waters near Oman were rescued after their AH-64 attack helicopter went down. A social media post from US President Trump stated that Iranian forces downed the drone and pledged American retaliation.”

US used naval drones in latest rescue mission

It is significant to note that within the US Central Command (CENTCOM), there has been a focus on using and learning about new drone technology. This is particularly true in the maritime realm. For instance, the US Navy’s Task Force 59 has been focused on using new drones.

Naval News noted that “the US Navy’s Task Force 59 used its recently procured Saronic drone boats to pick up the pilots, marking the first known use of USVs to conduct a search and rescue mission. A CENTCOM release stated that the rescue took two hours and that the pilots were in stable condition.”

Saronic’s Corsair USV is described as “capable of operating at ranges over 1,000 nautical miles and can support 1,000-pound payloads.”

The BBC noted that according to US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, “the crew members were rescued by an uncrewed surface drone – a US Navy Corsair – that was operated by Task Force 59” and added that “it was the first time the US military publicly confirmed that type of vessel was used in such an operation.”

Back in 2022, the US Navy announced it was launching Digital Horizon, an event focused on unmanned systems and AI.

A Navy report at the time stated that “Digital Horizon will advance the command’s efforts to integrate new unmanned technologies while establishing the world’s first unmanned surface vessel fleet by the end of next summer. US 5th Fleet’s efforts are focused on improving what US and regional navies are able to see above, on, and below the water.”

“I am excited about the direction we are headed,” said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, current head of CENTCOM, who was then the commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces.

Back in 2022, he said that “by harnessing these new unmanned technologies and combining them with artificial intelligence, we will enhance regional maritime security and strengthen deterrence. This benefits everybody.”

Cooper had established Task Force 59 on September 21, 2022. The goal was to focus on new technology for the US 5th Fleet’s area of operations. Operational hubs were established in Bahrain and Aqaba.

“Digital Horizon will include 17 industry partners bringing 15 different types of unmanned systems, 10 of which will operate with the US 5th Fleet for the first time,” the Navy had said.

Among the systems noted at the time, which would be examined by the Navy, were unmanned aerial vehicles, including two vertical take-off and landing systems: Aerovel’s Flexrotor and Shield AI’s V-BAT, as well as Easy Aerial’s tethered UAV.

The unmanned surface vessels included the Elbit Systems Seagull, Exail DriX, L3Harris Arabian Fox MAST-13, Marine Advanced Robotics WAM-V, MARTAC T-38 Devil Ray, Ocean Aero TRITON, Open Ocean Robotics Data Xplorer, Saildrone Explorer, Seasats X3, and SeaTrac SP-48.

“The pace of innovation is amazing,” Capt. Michael Brasseur, commander of Task Force 59, had said.

“We are challenging our industry partners in one of the most difficult operational environments, and they are responding with enhanced capability, fast. I am extremely proud of the entire team, including our many partners across government, academia, and industry, for their commitment to Digital Horizon as we discover new capabilities together,” said Brasseur.

Chalking up acomplishments since 2022

The USVs were already chalking up accomplishments back in 2022. For example, a Saildrone Explorer USV was one of the platforms seeing impressive use. Now, four years later, this technology is increasingly finding its feet.

Naval drones, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles and robotic ground vehicles, are all becoming normal on the battlefield. These systems are not all lethal; they can also save lives.

Drones can help find people lost at sea and can be sent to bring people home.

For instance, drones on the ground can also help evacuate the wounded. The unmanned revolution and teaming of systems with people are part of how warfare is rapidly evolving.

This has had a major impact in Israel as well, a pioneer in drone warfare, and where many Israeli companies make unmanned systems.

Similarly, drones are also used by Israel’s adversaries, such as Hezbollah, and have revolutionized the battlefield in Ukraine. The recent rescue of US pilots is an example of how the drone revolution is starting to shape our world.

Four children, including two babies under the age of one, a 3-year-old boy, and a 3-year-old girl, have been evacuated by medics to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital for an unspecified illness, Magen David Adom (MDA) reported Thursday night. 

At 5:52 p.m., MDA dispatch received a notification that two children were feeling sick in a residential building near the Mekor Baruch Neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Approximately an hour later, additional medic and paramedic teams were dispatched to the same location for an additional two children who also reported feeling unwell with symptoms of weakness.

Following the report, a Jerusalem District Hazardous Materials Monitoring Team was dispatched to the scene, MDA said. 

Firefighters and other official personnel are on scene at the residential building, conducting a thorough investigation to rule out the presence of hazardous material that may have caused the illness.

Israel Police arrest women connected to violent criminal organization

In an unrelated case, Israel Police arrested a woman from the North linked to a violent criminal organization last Friday, after she was allegedly caught while driving a suspected stolen vehicle that had been brought into Israel from the West Bank. 

Further investigation revealed that the vehicle was what police refer to as an “operational vehicle,” allegedly intended for use by criminal execution squads in carrying out serious violent crimes, including shootings and targeted assassinations, the report said.

According to police, such vehicles are often abandoned or destroyed after being used in criminal activity in order to eliminate forensic evidence and hinder investigations.

At the police’s request, the suspect’s detention was extended until Friday, the report added.

Eilat resident indicted on charges of road rage and assault

In a separate incident, a 34-year-old Eilat resident was indicted on charges related to two violent incidents in the city in May, including an alleged road rage attack and a separate assault with scissors inside a private home, Israeli media reported.

Prosecutors also requested that he remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings.

According to the indictment, the first incident began when the suspect allegedly drove recklessly near other vehicles. After one driver honked at him, he got out of his car while holding a “work tool” and threatened the driver and his wife in front of their young son.

Later that evening, the suspect allegedly arrived at a private home in Eilat, where he attacked another person with scissors, injuring the victim’s face and allegedly attempting to continue the assault.

Eilat police later arrested the suspect, who has remained in custody throughout the investigation.

The indictment charges the suspect with “offenses of threats, injury while the perpetrator is armed, and attempted injury while the perpetrator is armed,” the report said. 

Prosecutors also asked the court to keep him in custody until the end of legal proceedings. 

Suspect indicted on drug trafficking and weapons possession charges

In a separate criminal case, a suspect involved in a violent interpersonal work dispute was indicted on charges of carrying weapons and drug trafficking.

On May 28, 2026, Israel Police in the North received a report of an assault over a financial dispute between the suspect and the client, demanding payment for work he had done but had not yet received. The dispute turned violent as the suspect attacked the client, causing injuries and making further threats. 

The police later located the suspect near Safed after the suspect fled the scene.

A search of the vehicle revealed weapons and cocaine worth tens of thousands of shekels, and 39,000 shekels in cash. 

An indictment has been filed against the suspect.

Suspects indicted for extortion and money laundering 

In another criminal case, suspects have been indicted for alleged money laundering and extortion against building contractors in the Pardes Hanna complex in Tel Aviv, according to the Israel Police spokesperson’s unit. 

The indictment alleges that the suspects “terrorized, blackmailed with threats, collected protection fees, and forced various services in the fields of construction, infrastructure, and security over time on a number of large contracting companies building projects in the Pardes complex, all with the aim of controlling all work being carried out in the Pardes and keeping other service providers away.”

The funds, worth millions of shekels, were allegedly laundered through legitimate businesses to conceal them from tax authorities and financial crime investigators, the statement continued. 

In a collaborative investigation between Lahav 433, the Tax Authority, and the Economic Department of the State Attorney’s office, a months-long covert and overt investigation led to the arrest of suspects in Jaffa and the South.

The prosecution has requested in the indictment that the suspects be detained through the end of the legal proceedings. 

On June 12, 2025, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs hosted a conference in Paris bringing together dozens of Israeli and Palestinian participants under the banner of supporting peace and advancing the two-state solution ahead of the G7 meeting on June 15. At first glance, the initiative appeared admirable. 

France continues to invest political capital in keeping alive the prospect of peace at a time when both societies are exhausted by war, violence, and despair. 

The idea of engaging civil society actors from both sides is intuitively attractive. Diplomats, donors, and journalists alike are naturally drawn to images of Palestinians and Israelis sitting together, discussing coexistence and reconciliation.

Yet beneath this attractive surface lies a reality that few are willing to discuss openly. Over the past three decades, an increasingly closed and professionalized “peace industry” has emerged around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

What began as genuine efforts to build bridges between two societies gradually evolved into a highly specialized ecosystem of organizations, consultants, facilitators, conference organizers, and donor-funded professionals who have come to dominate the field of what is often described as Israeli-Palestinian civil society engagement.

The same names appear repeatedly. The same organizations receive funding year after year. The same participants travel from one conference to another, from Geneva to Brussels, from Paris to Washington. 

They speak the same language, attend the same workshops, publish the same reports, and celebrate the same symbolic achievements. Meanwhile, the distance between ordinary Palestinians and Israelis continues to grow.

A self-reinforcing ecosystem has developed between donor governments, international bureaucracies, and the leadership of the peace industry itself. 

Donors seek predictable partners who understand reporting requirements and avoid political controversy. Organizations learn how to secure grants and maintain institutional survival. 

Both sides become comfortable with a model that minimizes risk, avoids confrontation with difficult realities, and rarely challenges the structures that prevent meaningful engagement between the two societies.

From dialogue to institutional self-perpetuation

The result is a form of peacebuilding that often takes place far away from the people it claims to represent.

In hotel conference rooms across European capitals, participants discuss coexistence while Palestinians and Israelis on the ground experience increasing separation. Violence rises. Political polarization deepens. Mutual distrust reaches new heights. 

Yet conference after conference concludes with carefully drafted statements celebrating dialogue and reaffirming commitment to peace. 

A parallel reality has emerged: one in which success is measured not by social impact but by the number of conferences held, grants secured, reports published, and donor evaluations completed.

This industry is not small. Every year, tens of millions of euros are invested in Israeli-Palestinian coexistence programs, largely funded by the European Union and its member states. 

Recently, an €18 million European grant administered through a French intermediary was distributed among organizations operating within this ecosystem. 

Yet if one searches for evidence of these investments among ordinary Palestinians or Israelis, the results are remarkably difficult to find. 

Where are the mass movements that emerged from these investments? Where are the large-scale social constituencies that were built? 

Where are the millions of citizens whose attitudes were transformed?

Where are the public campaigns that reached entire societies rather than the same small circle of professional participants?

The uncomfortable truth is that much of this activity remains largely invisible outside a relatively narrow community of practitioners. Many of these networks operate according to informal rules that have become almost sacred.

 Meetings are frequently conducted under Chatham House rules. Participants are discouraged from publicizing discussions. Photographs are often avoided. Public debate is limited. Social media engagement is minimal. 

The broader public is rarely invited into the conversation. Transparency – ironically – is often absent from organizations that speak constantly about democracy, accountability, and inclusion.

One of the pillars of this ecosystem is a Geneva-based organization that has successfully secured substantial portions of international peacebuilding funding over many years.
 
Yet a simple review of its public footprint reveals a striking disconnect between financial resources and public influence. Social media accounts reach only a few thousand followers. 

Public engagement remains limited. Visibility inside Palestinian and Israeli society is marginal. This raises legitimate questions. 

How many hundreds of millions of euros have been invested in this sector over the past 30 years? Which governments approved these expenditures? What evaluation mechanisms were used? 

How were success and failure measured? Why have so many grants repeatedly flowed to the same organizations and the same individuals? 

Most importantly, how is it possible that the gap between Palestinian and Israeli societies continues to widen while those claiming to represent dialogue and coexistence continue to receive praise, funding, and invitations to international conferences?

The problem is not the pursuit of peace. The problem is the illusion of representation. A handful of organizations do not represent Palestinian society. They do not represent Israeli society. They represent themselves. 

The tragedy is that many well-intentioned European diplomats continue to confuse participation with representation and attendance with legitimacy. They see familiar faces around conference tables and assume they are hearing the voices of entire communities.

They are not.

Real peacebuilding requires leaving the comfort of elite conferences and engaging directly with the difficult realities on the ground. 

It requires reaching citizens who disagree, communities that have never met one another, and young people who have lost faith in both politics and dialogue.

It requires transparency, accountability, measurable impact, and genuine democratic legitimacy. Until that happens, conferences will continue to produce photographs, declarations, and donor reports.

But they will not produce peace.

The writer is a Palestinian political activist and reform advocate. A lifelong Fatah member, he has become a prominent voice for democratic renewal, national elections, and institutional reform. He is among the founders of New Path (Masar Jadid), a new Palestinian political movement seeking to build a modern, accountable, and democratic political alternative.

The IDF Widows and Orphans Organization awarded more than NIS 2 million in scholarships and grants to widows and orphans of fallen IDF soldiers and security personnel at its annual “Ruach Ahat” ceremony, the organization announced.

The ceremony, which has been held annually since 2008, has become one of the organization’s central traditions for honoring and supporting bereaved families at major life milestones. This year, 478 scholarships and grants were awarded, including academic scholarships, appreciation grants for IDF orphans who served in active reserve duty over the past year, and wedding gifts for members of the organization who married during the year.

The event was held in the presence of Orna Zamir, wife of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir; Adv. Zehava Gross Meydan, chairwoman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization; Shlomi Nahumson, the organization’s CEO; Arieh Mualem, deputy director general and head of the Families, Commemoration and Heritage Department at the Defense Ministry; Brig.-Gen. Edna Ilya, the IDF’s chief human resources officer and head of the Casualties Division, and Col. Meital Samet-Cohen, head of the IDF Casualties Department.

Gross Meydan said the grants reflect the organization’s confidence in the families it supports.

“The support we provide at the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization is more than financial assistance. It is a statement of trust,” she said. “We believe in you, in your strength, and in your potential to lead, influence, and build the future of Israeli society.”

She added that the organization was proud to honor members who married this year and those who served in the reserves.

A lifelong commitment to the families of the fallen

“For us, this is the deep meaning of true support: being there for you in the moments that shape life, the future, and hope,” Gross Meydan said.

Nahumson said the organization views its role as a lifelong commitment to the families of the fallen.

“The IDF Widows and Orphans Organization has made it its mission to be there for IDF widows and orphans throughout their lives, and we are committed to that,” he said. “This evening, we are distributing more than NIS 2 million in scholarships, wedding grants, and appreciation gifts, the highest amount the organization has ever allocated for these scholarships and grants.”

He said the record sum reflected the organization’s desire to serve as “support, a foundation, and a true home” for bereaved families.

Bereaved families ‘will never be left alone’

The IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, founded in 1991, is the representative body for widows, widowers, and orphans of fallen members of the IDF and Israel’s security forces. It supports more than 18,000 widows, widowers, and orphans of fallen IDF soldiers, police officers, Shin Bet and Mossad personnel, Prison Service members, and members of civilian security squads.

The organization provides scholarships and grants, personal assistance, courses and workshops, counseling and mentoring programs, summer camps for children and teenagers, family vacations, study days, and community initiatives across the country.

Since the beginning of the war, according to the organization, Israel’s circle of bereaved families has grown significantly, with 358 new widows and widowers, including 48 women who were pregnant when their partners fell, as well as 908 newly bereaved orphans.

The organization said it remains committed to ensuring that these families “will never be left alone” as they rebuild their lives after loss.

The Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq was struck by two explosive-laden drones, local officials said on Thursday, in the latest attack on the region.

While in the past, Iranian-backed militias and Iran’s regime have attacked the Kurdistan Region, it was not initially clear who carried out the attack.

The reports said that the Counter-Terrorism Service of the Kurdistan autonomous region had noted the attack by the drones. Shafaq News in Iraq said that “in a statement, the agency condemned the ‘terrorist’ operation in the Qushtapa district south of the Kurdish capital, saying the strike targeted vital civilian infrastructure that affects the daily lives of residents.”

The attack “caused extensive damage to the building, but no casualties were reported. No party has claimed responsibility so far,” the report said. It also noted that “according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), 809 drone and missile attacks were recorded across Kurdistan.”

As US-Iran tensions grow, Iraq’s PM travels to Washington

The incident comes as US-Iran tensions have grown in recent days. It also comes as Iraq’s prime minister is expected to visit the US.

It is worth noting that Iran and Iranian-backed militias have continued to target Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in recent months, turning the autonomous region into one of the key fronts in the wider confrontation involving Tehran and its adversaries. The attacks have focused on Kurdish Iranian opposition groups based in northern Iraq, but they have also threatened civilian areas, infrastructure, and broader regional stability.

Since late February, hundreds of drone and missile attacks have struck the Kurdistan Region, according to Kurdish officials and local media.

Many of the attacks have targeted bases belonging to Kurdish Iranian opposition groups such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK). Tehran wants to weaken and deter these groups amid tensions with the US and Israel.

The attacks have continued despite a ceasefire between the United States and Iran. Kurdish officials say that Iranian drones and missiles have repeatedly struck opposition camps near Erbil and Sulaimaniyah.

Komala and PAK have reported dozens of attacks on their facilities, while Kurdish media estimates that the Kurdistan Region has endured more than 800 drone and missile attacks since the conflict began, with the strikes resulting in deaths and injuries.

It is not clear yet if this last incident is part of this wider campaign or a different type of attack, as the region has also faced threats from ISIS in the past. The Kurdistan Region is a successful and stable part of Iraq and a key partner of the US.

Israeli firm BlackCore, suspected of interfering in France’s local elections in March, is also suspected of meddling in elections in New York City and Scotland, and operating in Angola and Togo, the head of France’s disinformation detection service Viginum said on Thursday.

Last month, Reuters reported that French authorities suspected BlackCore was behind an online smear campaign targeting three candidates from the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) ahead of municipal elections in March this year.

“This modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,” the head of Viginum, Marc-Antoine Brillant, said. “It also appears to have been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and the 2025 municipal election in New York.”

French election security questions

French authorities opened a probe into the campaign after coming under mounting pressure to provide answers over incidents that raised awkward questions about the security of French elections.

Suspected crimes included foreign espionage, election fraud carried out with false news or fraudulent maneuvers, and online advocacy of terrorism, they said.

The operation under investigation targeted Marseille mayoral candidate Sébastien Delogu, Toulouse contender François Piquemal, and their Roubaix counterpart David Guiraud, according to French authorities and the candidates themselves.

Their party is regularly accused of antisemitism by some Jewish community ‌leaders and political ⁠rivals – claims it denies – while many business figures fret about its high tax-and-spend policies.

Petitions were filed with the High Court of Justice on Thursday against the newly passed law restructuring the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department (known by its Hebrew acronym Mahash), in a case that goes to the heart of who oversees the police – and how independent that oversight will be.

Mahash is the body responsible for investigating suspected criminal offenses by police officers, including cases involving alleged police violence, corruption, abuse of authority, and unlawful use of force at protests. In certain cases, it also investigates suspected offenses by Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) personnel.

For that reason, the fight over the new law is not only about where Mahash sits on an organizational chart. Opponents argue that the law could affect the public’s ability to trust that complaints against police officers are handled professionally, equally, and without political pressure – particularly in sensitive cases involving demonstrations, elected officials, or law-enforcement officials themselves.

The Knesset passed the amendment to the Police Ordinance late Wednesday night, removing Mahash from the State Attorney’s Office and turning it into a separate unit within the Justice Ministry.

Supporters of the law say that the move is necessary because Mahash’s current placement inside the State Attorney’s Office creates conflicts of interest: prosecutors work closely with police investigators in criminal cases, while Mahash is supposed to investigate police misconduct. They say the reform is intended to make Mahash more independent and effective.

Law solves a conflict, creates a more dangerous one

Opponents argue that the law solves one alleged conflict of interest by creating a more dangerous one. While they agree that Mahash needs reform, they say the coalition’s version exposes the body that investigates police officers to political influence, particularly through the mechanism for appointing and removing its leadership.

That concern was echoed on Thursday morning by State Attorney Amit Aisman, who sent a letter to Mahash employees after the law passed, stressing that the department’s professionalism, independent judgment, and ability to act “without fear or favor” remain essential to public trust in law enforcement.

The Movement for Quality Government filed one of the first petitions against the law, asking the High Court to issue a conditional order requiring the Knesset and the joint Constitution-National Security Committee to explain why the amendment should not be canceled.

Alternatively, the movement asked the court to cancel the provisions governing the appointment and removal of the Mahash director and the newly created official responsible for coordinating police-investigation matters, arguing that these are the clauses that most directly undermine the department’s independence.

The movement also asked for an expedited hearing, saying that practical implementation steps could begin shortly after the law comes into effect.

Keshet Neev contributed to this report.

Senior security officials from the United Arab Emirates and Iran met face-to-face for the first time since the start of the Iran war, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the situation. 

The UAE agreed to meet after realizing the regime, which it still considers an enemy, will not be dislodged from power, according to the sources. 

Additionally, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the slow pace of negotiations between Iran and the US since the ceasefire began further convinced the UAE to reopen relations, Bloomberg wrote. 

One source told Bloomberg that Iran had been attempting to reestablish high-level talks with the UAE, but that the UAE held off to first ensure that any delegation had a direct line to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. 

Khamenei’s status has been unclear since the start of the war, with many speculating that he had been injured or incapacitated during the first wave of attacks. 

UAE participated in dozens of strikes against Iran during war

The UAE coordinated with both the US and Israel to conduct dozens of airstrikes against Iran over the course of Operation Roaring Lion, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 

Iran targeted the UAE with over 2,800 missiles and drones, more than were fired at any other country, including Israel.

In return, the UAE cooperated with the US and Israel to strike back at targets, including the islands of Qeshm and Abu Musa in the Strait of Hormuz, Bandar Abbas, and the oil refinery on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, according to the WSJ.

UAE President Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) expressed frustration with neighboring Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, after they refused to coordinate a military response to Iran’s attacks during the war, according to a separate Bloomberg News report.

Iran strikes Gulf states following US strikes

Iran has struck several Gulf nations in the past 48 hours, launching 20 missiles into Jordanian airspace and multiple drones into Kuwait and Bahrain, in retaliation for US strikes, which were in response to a helicopter downed over the Strait of Hormuz. 

In the last few weeks, the IDF has advanced past the Litani River in Lebanon and is now approaching the Zaharani River.

With the Zaharani River only six kilometers away, and Nabatieh only three kilometers away, Hezbollah has become concerned about a new IDF advance and has reinforced those areas.

Some defense officials believe that completely disarming Hezbollah is unrealistic, but that if Hezbollah could be cleared out of Lebanon not only to the Litani River, but all the way up to the Zaharani River, the volume of threats that the Lebanese terror group would be able to fire so as to reach Israel’s northern border villages would shrink dramatically.

In order to make its recent advances, the IDF said that it carried out tricky maneuvers, fooling Hezbollah’s many video cameras, such that the Lebanese terror group expected the IDF to cross the Litani River into the Wadi Saluki and other areas from one direction, and instead the IDF came from another direction.

IDF forces have found a large number of Iranian-level sophisticated tunnels and larger and more dangerous anti-tank weapons in these areas.

The IDF works to neutralize drone threats.

While the IDF has pushed Hezbollah back to reduce its FPV drone threat, the military was asked about the fact that fiber cables for such drones can extend 20-30 kilometers, which would still put northern Israeli villages in range.

The IDF responded that Hezbollah’s effectiveness with drones had depended on using smaller drones, which are harder to see in advance.

In order to attack with fiber cables extending 20-30 kilometers, Hezbollah would need to use larger drones carrying larger batteries, or the drones would run out of power before reaching their target.

Once Hezbollah would need to use larger drones, they would be easier to see and hit in advance, the IDF explained, showing that moving Hezbollah back could force it into difficult tactical choices.

British MP Melanie Ward has asked the Charity Commission to investigate thirty-two UK charities that have donated at least £28m to projects in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“Funding illegal Israeli settlements is not charitable activity. It is extremist activity,” she said.

Ward, the former chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, has submitted a formal complaint to the Charity Commission regarding the charities, which she said are funding “illegal settlements.”

Ward said that if gift aid were claimed against the donations, as usually occurs, it would mean taxpayers had subsidized these settlements by at least £5m.

When questioned by Ward during Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “settlements are a flagrant breach of international law, and no UK charity should be supporting them.”

He confirmed that the Middle East minister met with the Charity Commission to discuss the concerns.

“British businesses should have no involvement with illegal settlements,” he concluded.

In Ward’s letter to the Charity Commission, as reported by the Guardian, she provided the specific examples of Kasner Charitable Trust (KCT) and UK Toremet. KCT is said to have donated about £5.7m to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya, in the  West Bank, and UK Toremet donated £38,479 to Regavim, an NGO sanctioned this week by the UK.

Multiple countries launch coordinated West Bank sanctions

On Tuesday, Australia, Canada, France, Norway, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom imposed coordinated sanctions on West Bank individuals they accuse of “horrific abuses against Palestinian civilians.”

The ministers’ statements – although with different wording – all condemn extremist settler violence in the West Bank. They accuse this phenomenon of driving forced displacement of Palestinian communities and undermining the viability of a two-state solution, as well as broader regional peace and security.

The UK is specifically imposing sanctions on six entities and one individual involved in “financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence in the occupied West Bank,” and Canada is listing two individuals and five entities.

Those designated individuals and entities will face asset freezes and possibly travel bans and Director Disqualifications.

The government approved on Thursday approximately NIS 4 billion to develop communities in northern Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the country would restore security to the area, which has been under ongoing threat from Hezbollah.

The decision comes as local northern authority leaders have sharply criticized the government for failing to provide adequate support and aid to residents amid the ongoing security threat.

Netanyahu announced the plan’s approval at the government meeting that was held in the northern city of Nof HaGalil.

During his remarks at the meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel was “striking Hezbollah, eliminating hundreds of terrorists every week.”

Netanyahu noted that there were still additional challenges the country was dealing with.

“A particular challenge is drones. We are working on that,” he said. 

He vowed that the government would restore security to the North, “just as we did the South.”

Government plans to develop northern Israel

The government’s approved plan will focus primarily on the cities of Safed, Acre, Nof HaGalil, Nazareth, Afula, Tiberias, and Karmiel. The plan spans the years 2026-2030.

The stated goal of the plan was to provide residents of the Galilee with a comprehensive framework of services and incentives aimed at attracting new residents. 

The measures are said to focus on education, healthcare, personal security, and the development of  resilience centers  to strengthen the communities and “transform them into regional hubs serving northern Israel as a whole.”

The plan includes developing housing and economic incentives in the area. It is also said to be focused on creating employment opportunities in jobs relating to hi-tech.

Other sections of the plan focus on developing tourism and transportation in the area.

Following the approval, Netanyahu said, “Through a joint effort, we are bringing a massive package to the core cities.”

“We are giving them a major boost and significant additional resources that will provide momentum and development. This is our vision. Everyone understands that this is a sacred national mission, a top national priority,” Netanyahu said. 

“I love the Galilee. It is an integral part of our homeland, which we must preserve and develop. We will restore security to the North and enable it to prosper more than ever before,” he added.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said following the approval of the plan that “we are not merely rebuilding the North; we are constructing a new and promising future for it.”

“The enormous investment of approximately NIS 21 billion that we are leading together is intended to transform the Galilee into a national growth engine, with high-quality employment opportunities, advanced public services, and infrastructure that will attract new families to settle, grow, and thrive here,” he added.

Last week, the government approved a separate plan for aid to communities on the northern border that totaled approximately NIS 18 billion. The Prime Minister’s Office stated that government decisions for the North amounted to approximately NIS 22 billion.

Northern authorities point out government neglect

Local northern authority heads have spoken about government neglect and criticized the moves.

Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern last week sharply criticized the plans being advanced by the government, explaining that the northern border communities were in urgent need of aid now and that broad plans were not enough to help.

He argued that while long-term projects were important, “you cannot build tomorrow while our present is falling apart.”

Stern said that the government had made many promises that the northern city has not yet seen the results of.

“We received promises for buildings and roads that will only be felt in a few years, while businesses are collapsing now, and our children are suffering from war trauma in real time.”

Stern added that there has been no response to residents’ financial needs.

“We did not receive immediate significant tax relief, no full exemption from municipal taxes, as was given in the South, or immediate budgets for protection and education,” he stated.

“Distributing resources across the 0-9 km range without absolute and exclusive prioritization of the communities on the border removes the incentive for families and factories to specifically come to Kiryat Shmona,” he noted. 

“The 2030 vision is excellent, but the patient is bleeding on the operating table right now. Give us the tools to fight for our home today, so that we will have a home to return to tomorrow,” he said.

Last week, the Knesset approved tax benefits for settlements in the West Bank. While northern border communities were temporarily added to the proposal, they were subsequently removed, which led to sharp criticism from opposition lawmakers. 

Communities along the northern border were already severely affected following the October 7 massacre and throughout the ensuing Israel-Hamas War.

During that period, hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to leave their homes as the area came under sustained rocket fire. The area had not recovered from that earlier damage when Operation Roaring Lion began in February.

Ultra-Orthodox draft protesters shut down multiple highways and train routes, causing immense traffic in Israel for over two hours on Thursday. 

Two people were injured in the protests: one 21-year-old haredi protester who was hit by a car on Highway 1, and one 93-year-old man whose reasons for being injured have yet to be released. 

Footage on social media showed several haredi youths at different sites of protest getting into physical altercations with drivers and Israel Police officers. 

רכבו של דובר שרת התחבורה מירי רגב נופץ בהפגנת החרדים בכביש 6 pic.twitter.com/zgKQYuA4VH

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) June 11, 2026

The windshield of Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s spokesperson was smashed in one such altercation. 

Police had shut down Highway 4 south of Ramat Gan earlier on Thursday and blocked off the area from Shiva Interchange to Mosavim.  Later, protesters blocked Highway 1 near the Ganot Interchange and Highway 6 near the Ben Shemen Interchange, west of Ben-Gurion Airport.

Multiple reports emerged of protesters blocking trains in central Israel. Ben-Gurion Airport employees reported chaos at the airport after train service was suspended in both directions. 

Highways 34 and 25 near Netivot were also blocked, causing more traffic in central Israel. 

Haredi protesters fight civilians, make traffic stand still in Israel 

“At Savidor, the trains are frozen. One train that was supposed to travel to Jerusalem got diverted back, and passengers were forced to disembark,” one witness told The Jerusalem Post. 

“The Savidor Station is crowded with people either leaving the station or waiting, with little information about when the trains may be up again.”

“It’s complete chaos, a handful of fringe protesters have brought the country to a halt, and police seem to just be letting it happen,” a second witness, who claimed to have waited as Tel Aviv’s Savidor Station for over an hour and a half, told the Post. 

Another witness was stuck at Ben-Gurion Airport for over an hour. He said that cheers emerged when employees announced over the loudspeaker that trains would resume shortly. 

Airport in chaos after haredi protesters stop train traffic 

The Israel Airports Authority warned on Thursday that protests near Ben-Gurion Airport are expected to cause traffic congestion and delays, and recommended that passengers and airport staff use the train to reach the airport. 

According to a statement posted on X/Twitter, the Airport Authority said it is “prepared to maintain the operational continuity of Ben-Gurion Airport and the continuation of regular aviation activity,” adding that operations are expected to continue as scheduled.

This comes after the Knesset advanced a bill to give draft evaders the same rights as IDF soldiers.

Traffic is expected to be further strained by concerts by Omer Adam in Ramat Gan, Ben Tzur at the Moshava Stadium in Petah Tikva, and Eyal Golan at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel on Sunday, and US President Donald Trump publicly ordered the prime minister of Israel “not to retaliate.” Trump also told the Financial Times that Benjamin Netanyahu “won’t have any choice” because the American president calls “all the shots.”

Bibi struck back anyway, no doubt feeling it was better to upset Trump than to show voters in an election year that “Mr. Security” was America’s weak lackey.

Just days earlier, CBS and The New York Times reported leaks out of the Pentagon that the Defense Intelligence Agency is investigating Israeli espionage against the United States.

It was a week in which the temperamental Trump told Bibi he’s “f***ing crazy” and “everybody hates Israel.”

A pair of recent Pew Research Center surveys emphasized the message. One found that “60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year,” and another revealed that two in three people in most of the 36 countries surveyed hold unfavorable views of Israel and Netanyahu, while only 25% were favorable.

If there’s any bipartisanship left on Capitol Hill, it is the growing opposition to the war in Iran and to unfettered aid to Israel.

This comes as Israel’s 10-year, $38-billion aid agreement is coming up for renewal amid spreading bipartisan congressional criticism, while administration insiders search for a scapegoat to blame for the unpopular war and the failure to produce the results Trump promised.

Eighty-five House Democrats wrote to Trump, reminding him of his opposition to Israel annexing the West Bank and demanding he press Netanyahu to halt bulldozing Palestinian homes in the West Bank to build more Jewish settlements.

This can’t be shrugged off, as I’ve often been told; they all hate us anyway, so it makes no difference what we do. Nor is it simply a matter of habitually inept public relations by Israel and its friends here. Like it or not, Israel’s plunge in standing here and abroad is directly related to its policies, and especially its intensive war-making since October 7.

I don’t believe Israel committed genocide in Gaza, but I can see how many feel that way in light of the massive, indiscriminate bombing, enormous death toll among women and children and the elderly, the destruction of hospitals, schools and infrastructure, frequent blocking of humanitarian aid and food, and the open lust for revenge from top leadership.

Lebanon looks like a repeat of the costly mistakes of the 1982 war. Israel has again occupied the land south of the Litani River, sent over a million Lebanese fleeing their homes, and bombed Beirut (the reason Iran gave for its latest missile salvo).

Israel’s PR problems

Little noticed in the fireworks was a speech given at The Jerusalem Post Annual New York Conference by Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, stating the obvious: Israel has an image problem and needs professional help.

He’s right, up to a point. The billionaire cosmetic heir is a personal friend of both Trump and Netanyahu. Both see themselves as PR mavens who share cluelessness about both cause and solution.

Public relations advice won’t solve their systemic problems, but Israel clearly needs help improving the substance of its message to the world if it is to begin digging out of the deep crater it has bombed itself into.

Way back in the last century, before I turned prematurely grey, I was briefing a Jewish audience about some friction between the president and the prime minister at the time (Ronald Reagan and Menachem Begin). The first question I was asked (and frequently through the years) was, “Why don’t the Israelis get some good PR advice?” 

The answer was the same then as it is today: they get lots of good advice, but they think they know better.

As I said, PR isn’t the answer, but it is a start. Lauder’s first piece of advice is valid but just a small step: take the job out of the hands of amateurs and self-aggrandizing politicians whose talents seem to be self-aggrandizement and pushing from bad to worse.

Instead of trying to gag the press, Netanyahu should gag some of his ministers. Take Amichai Chikli, his diaspora minister who acts like the anti-diaspora minister. He has been called “remarkably ignorant about Diaspora Jewish life,” confrontational, and particularly disdainful of Reform Judaism. Like so many, he has been quick to equate criticism of his government’s policies with antisemitism.

Lauder wants Israel to replace politicians and amateurs with PR professionals. That’s not easy when the prime minister lures coalition partners with promises of their own ministries or other lucrative sinecures.

Part of the problem Israel faces is that in America, cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president. In Israel, the prime minister serves at the pleasure of coalition partners who have a penchant for threatening to bring down the government if he doesn’t meet their demands.

The haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties are masters, demanding massive funding for their substandard schools that fail to provide an education vital to real-world survival and insisting on draft exemptions so their young men can study while everyone else must serve.

American Jewry

Lauder says Diaspora Jews must be partners. Netanyahu sees himself as the leader of the Jewish people around the world and, like his predecessors, speaks of a partnership. But they’re just blowing smoke. For all the years I’ve been observing, it has been the same – “We love you but keep your advice to yourself and send us more money and weapons.”

Many Jews and their representatives in Congress are drifting away. The settlement movement is highly unpopular among most Americans, and the Netanyahu government’s failure to deal seriously with settler violence against West Bank Palestinians is eroding Israel’s standing.

American Jews are uncomfortable with the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history; one dominated by nationalist and religious extremists who say the largest group of American Jews aren’t real Jews.

Bezalel Smotrich, the influential finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionist party, calls Reform Judaism a “fake religion.” Three other key Netanyahu partners share the view – Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Otzma Yehudit, as well as many in Netanyahu’s Likud.

That may be Israel’s toughest PR challenge. Most American Jews identify as Reform (37%) or Conservative (17%). Orthodox Jews are about 9%, and the rest say they are unaffiliated.

I agree with Lauder. Israel must do a better job of telling its story and make Diaspora Jews feel like partners. 

But it will take more than hiring PR professionals. It demands fundamental changes. It is about how Israel governs itself, how it respects the rights of its minorities, how it treats the Palestinians and its neighbors, and how it relates to its fellow Jews.

Later this year, Israelis will go to the polls. I hope they elect a new leadership smart enough to stay out of partisan US politics, win back the trust and affection of American Jewry, reinforce its democracy, make peace with the Palestinians, and rebuild its international stature.

The challenge is not about how to shape Israel’s image but how to move toward policies that don’t alienate Israel’s natural friends. It may not be halachic, but you can’t put a kippah on a pig and call it kosher.

The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former legislative director at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

A recent European financial investment in the West Bank may threaten Israeli efforts to see the Palestinian Authority abandon its pay-for-slay policy, even if the money has bypassed the PA, an expert told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

The European Investment Bank and the European Commission announced earlier this week that the Palestinian economy received a €395 million injection to support Palestinian micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

The funds will bypass the PA and be channeled directly through the Bank of Palestine, the National Bank, Quds Bank, Cairo Amman Bank, and Palestine Investment Bank to “expand access to credit through local financial intermediaries,” the EIB confirmed.

As noted by Itamar Marcus, the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, and exclusively reported on by the Post in February, the Bank of Palestine, one of the banks participating in the program, has explicitly refused requests from the Finance Ministry to close 3,400 accounts reportedly used to distribute payments to released terrorists.

“Banks that are receiving the money directly from the EU have the bank accounts paying terror salaries to terrorists and their families,” Marcus commented. “As long as the EU continues injecting money to strengthen the economy that enables the PA to limp along, without first seeing fundamental reforms throughout Palestinian society, it is responsible for Palestinian youth being brought up to believe that violence and terror will ultimately destroy Israel. Conflict and terror will continue for another generation, courtesy of the EU.”

Funds intended to expand access to financing for Palestinian businesses

The package also includes the deployment of the remaining €2.1 million in technical assistance under a total €3.5 million envelope, of which €1.4 million has already been deployed.

EIB said the funds would “expand access to affordable financing for Palestinian businesses.”

“Palestinian businesses need reliable access to finance if they are to continue operating, investing and protecting livelihoods under extremely difficult conditions,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.

“With these agreements, we are putting into operation the €400 million facility announced in October 2025 and making available up to $395 million through local partner banks to support Palestinian MSMEs where financing is most needed. At the same time, €3.5 million in technical assistance will help reinforce the sector at multiple levels.”

The Palestinian economy has struggled for years, with conditions worsening after Hamas’s October 7 attack prompted Israel to revoke the work permits of roughly 100,000 Palestinians on national security grounds. Economic pressures had already been in place after Israel, in 2022, legislated the withholding of Palestinian Authority funds in response to the authority’s payments to convicted terrorists and the families of slain attackers under its pay-for-slay program.

Palestine Monetary Authority Deputy Governor Mohammad Manasrah said, “The implementation of this $395 million package marks a concrete step in reinforcing the Palestinian financial sector’s ability to support businesses during a period of exceptional strain. Through five sub loans to local banks, part of which is structured as sub-debt to strengthen banks’ capital base, while the use of proceeds remains exclusively directed toward financing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, this cooperation will broaden access to financing across Palestine, enabling businesses to continue operating, adapt to difficult conditions and sustain economic activity.”

Despite positive steps, terror glorification permeates PA society

Though Marcus said it was a positive step that the EU had “attempted to bypass the terror-supporting Palestinian Authority” to provide direct help to small businesses, he told the Post that “terror support and terror glorification permeate every aspect of Palestinian society so that whenever money is pumped into Palestinian society it is supporting the terror environment.”

The EIB operation forms part of the European Commission’s “Multiannual and Comprehensive Program for Palestinian Recovery and Resilience,” which has a budget of up to €1.6 billion for 2025 to 2027, and includes a €620 million grant specifically for the PA.

Though the EU has prohibited the use of its funds for pay-for-slay payments, critics have noted that the EU funds have allowed the PA the financial leeway to invest in the salaries of terrorists.

Marcus voiced fears about the types of protocols in place, ensuring that only businesses not participating in the glorification of terrorism receive the funds.

“For example, clothing factories and stores are producing and selling the shirts for children that have pictures of terrorists, teaching them that murderers of Israelis are their heroes and role models. Other factories and stores produce and disseminate the maps of ‘Palestine’ that erase and replace Israel. Sporting goods are sold to teams that are named after terrorists,” he explained. 

If the orders are handed down, the Golani Brigade is ready for anything, including advancing its ground forces to take over Beirut, IDF Golani Brigade Battalion 13 Commander “M” told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Thursday.

Next, he discussed having recently taken over the Wadi Saluki area of southern Lebanon from Hezbollah, how it makes Israeli northern civilians safer, and how it pushes back Hezbollah drone and rocket launching lines, while noting that the FPV drone threat remains.

M has been in the IDF for 15 years and served in Gaza during “Chariots of Fire parts I and II” in 2025 in Khan Yunis and Rafah, after which his unit was among the first to enter Lebanon when the IDF invaded in early March of this year.

Since they were among the first to invade, M said, they encountered periodic Hezbollah resistance and engaged in close-range fighting.

In total, three soldiers from his battalion were killed, while the IDF has killed around 50 Hezbollah fighters in the general area.

Later, his battalion also found and seized or destroyed Hezbollah weapons and tunnels.

Included in the items they found were materials from Iran explaining military strategy, as well as military maps from Iran.

“There is a lot of strong spirit,” M said about his battalion’s feelings about its accomplishments.

Taking over Wadi Saluki

M and Battalion 13 took over the Wadi Saluki area around two weeks ago, in parallel with other Golani units taking over Beaufort Castle.

At the time, when M finally received orders to take over the Wadi Saluki area, his units had been waiting for weeks to do so. Until then, they had carried out repeated in-and-out penetrations in that area, but had not attempted to hold onto any areas.

Providing additional details, he said, “When we got the order that we can stay there and take over areas, our officers formulated our battle strategy and rules. Then we went out at night and penetrated through the Saluki area.”

“Next, we went beyond to the West, cutting through parts of the river. The river has some large increases in the water depth and is extremely difficult to cross through even when it is uncontested by the enemy,” he recalled.

M complimented the air force, tanks, and artillery units for helping pave the way for their advance with significant firepower against Hezbollah forces right before they made their move.

He also complimented his tactical field intelligence collection units.

“We were raised on the stories of the IDF battles at the Saluki from 1997. Now it was easier to get there,” he noted.

Soldier recounts ‘most difficult battle’ while in Lebanon

One anecdote he said involved their most difficult battle during “face-to-face combat over a house. My forces went in, and the terrorists opened fire. We killed them eventually, but their initial attacks wounded some of our soldiers. When Tuvia Lifshitz ran in to help his fellow wounded soldiers, the Hezbollah fighters shot him and killed him. Later, the IDF fighters surrounded and isolated the terrorists within the house until they killed them.”

In another instance, in a village near the Saluki area, his battalion marched through seven kilometers in the rain, and some of his soldiers were wounded by Hezbollah mortar fire.

He said that most of his forces continued to advance, while a specific rescue unit came to take care of the wounded soldiers until they could be evacuated by helicopter to medical centers.

M acknowledged, as many IDF officials have, that the military entered the Lebanon invasion without being fully ready for Hezbollah’s new FPV drone threat

M admitted that even if his advance is preventing Hezbollah from launching drones into northern civilian villages to some extent, the threat remains, especially against the soldiers in southern Lebanon.

However, he stated that using nets, special guns, and greater awareness of observing threats and listening for sounds from the air has helped somewhat reduce Hezbollah’s drone threat effectiveness.

He said that he trusted the defense establishment would eventually develop more complete solutions, though this could still take months.

M stated that he wanted the northern villagers to be able to live normal lives and his son to grow up to be able to live a peaceful life.

“There needs to be patience… This is guerrilla warfare. It’s not going to be ‘one operation, and we are done.’ You cannot just attack one area, and it is over. You need to act systematically. But we prevent attacks and invasions, and penetrations into our [northern civilian] villages. That will not and cannot happen,” he said.

“They cannot attack with anti-tank missiles, no short-range mortars or rockets, and now need to work on other things. This was our main mission. And you cannot do these things with just the air force – you need invading ground forces,” he noted.

M’s battalion is now being given a period of weeks to refill and fix their equipment and other soldiering needs, as well as some time off to refresh at home, before returning for the next mission.

He thanked all the different kinds of soldiers, including reservists and commissioned and non-commissioned officers.

M, who is married and has one child, has commanded the battalion for around one year and calls his current position a lifelong dream.