Israel News

The UN Security Council will convene an emergency closed-door session Tuesday to discuss recent unrest in Jerusalem, a UN diplomat said Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urging Israel to hand over control of contested church property in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Ynet website reported Monday.

Thousands of Jews flocked to the Western Wall on Monday for the priestly blessing in Jerusalem.

Ibrahim Sarsour, a former leader of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement who is affiliated with the Ra’am party, no longer sees any point in Ra’am staying in the coalition.

Clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque, the site of Temple Mount, continued on Sunday after Israeli police entered the site again after hundreds of Muslim worshippers reportedly attempted to stop Jewish visitors from coming into the complex.

Israeli jets carried out airstrikes near the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday night for the second time in under a week, Syrian state media said.

Leaders of the Hamas terror group which rules Gaza called for an escalation against Israel Wednesday, after Israeli counter-terrorism agents made arrests in the West Bank town of Silwad and after a Jewish extremist group called for sacrifices to be made on the flashpoint Temple Mount during the month of Ramadan, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

The IDF carried out extensive raids throughout Palestinian towns and cities in Judea and Samaria late Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning, arresting some 18 terror suspects and seizing weapons.

The Defense Ministry revealed Thursday that a laser air defense system it is developing successfully shot down drones, rockets, mortars, and anti-tank missiles in a first series of tests last month.

IDF forces surrounded a house in the village of Silwad, near Ramallah on Wednesday evening, after receiving credible information of an imminent terror attack that was going to launched before Passover.

Hamas and other Gaza terror groups threatened violence if a Jewish group follows through with plans to offer sacrifices on the Temple Mount on Friday, the eve of Passover.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz made it clear on Monday that if world powers do not reach an agreement with Iran, Israel will be forced to activate “Plan B” immediately.

Jerusalem welcomed thousands of Christian Pilgrims attending Palm Sunday celebrations in the Old City this weekend, the Associated Press (AP) reports. The throngs of pilgrims arrived to commemorate the start of the Christian Holy Week, despite the recent new wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel.

Amid a new wave of Palestinian terrorism, the Israeli government on Sunday approved NIS 300 million (around $93 million) in funding to strengthen a 40-kilometer section of the West Bank security barrier, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The decision followed two recent terrorist attacks in which the Palestinian killers are believed to have entered Israel through a hole in the barrier near the town of Jenin.

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations in the Palestinian territories will increase in the coming days following a string of deadly terrorist attacks.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday condemned the overnight vandalism of the religious holy site of Joseph’s Tomb near the West Bank city of Nablus by Palestinian extremists, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Israel carried out airstrikes on government-held positions in Syria on Saturday afternoon, the state news agency SANA said, without reporting any casualties.

The forces from the Shin Bet and the police special anti-terror unit – the Yamam, located the gunman near a mosque in the Jaffa quarter of the city and killed him in an exchange of fire. There were no casualties reported among the security forces.

The Israeli Navy and US Fifth Fleet have conducted their biggest joint drill to date in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, i24 News reports. The US Fifth Fleet took part in the exercise as it oversees naval forces in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean, and the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Bab el-Mandeb.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday night held a security consultation and received updates on the developments on the ground following the deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv.