Israel News

Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets throughout Israel on Saturday evening, with widespread protests scheduled nationwide. This is the 15th consecutive weekend of rallies around the country.

Israel has readied its air defenses amid fears of a security flare-up on Friday when Palestinian worshipers will throng the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Ramadan prayers and Iran will commemorate its annual “Quds Day” with anti-Israel activities.

Security forces are bracing for expected further escalation on the Temple Mount, with the IDF, Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency on high alert ahead of the last Friday of Ramadan this week, when the annual anti-Israel “Quds Day” is observed across the Arab world.

Israel’s embattled prime minister pledged on Monday evening to restore security after a turbulent few days saw violent clashes on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, deadly acts of terrorism, and cross-border rocket fire including the biggest barrage from Lebanon since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

Jewish visitors will be barred from the Temple Mount from Wednesday until the end of Ramadan in ten days’ time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Tuesday, after a series of security consultations on the issue amid widespread violence linked to tensions at the holy site.

Following a barrage of rockets directed at Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, the United States government said Thursday that Israel has a right to defend itself against sustained attacks from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah terror group, the Times of Israel reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking at a press conference on Monday night, announced that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would remain in his post, despite earlier announcements of his dismissal.

According to a New York Times report, a leaked Pentagon document revealed that Israel may supply Ukraine with lethal weapons in certain scenarios. The document assessed that Israel would only provide Ukraine with weapons if diplomatic ties with Russia were at a crisis point, either from Russia’s ties with Iran or if Israeli aircraft were to be damaged by Russian defense systems in Syria.

Pope Francis has appealed for peace “in the Holy City (of Jerusalem) and the entire region” as he presided over Easter Sunday Mass attended by an estimated 100,000 pilgrims.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah met with a delegation led by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Beirut on Sunday to discuss cooperation, amid spiking violence in Israel from rocket barrages and terror attacks.

Six rockets were launched from southern Syria at the Golan Heights on Saturday night and early Sunday in two separate barrages hours apart, with three landing in Israeli territory, the military said.

The IDF struck sites belonging to the Hamas terrorist movement in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon early Friday morning after dozens of rockets were fired towards Israel in recent days and as dozens more were fired overnight from Gaza.

Southern Israel woke up with air raid sirens after Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets early Thursday as the nation prepared for Pesach, the Biblical Passover holiday.

Amid rising regional tensions, Jordan has called for an urgent summit of Arab nations to address what it describes as Israeli “aggression” after Israel’s police arrested 350 Palestinians during a riot on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount Tuesday, i24News reports.

A statement Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made during a House hearing last week on Iran’s nuclear program alarmed Israeli defense and intelligence officials to the point they protested and asked the Biden administration for clarifications, four Israeli officials told Axios.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said Wednesday that while security cooperation with the US is beneficial, it is not “essential” and Israel knows how to act on its own.

Israel carried out air strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning after 16 rockets were fired at Israeli towns from the enclave hours earlier, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The escalation comes on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, which this year coincides with the Islamic religious month of Ramadan.

On April 2, 2023, Israel reportedly attacked several targets in Syria’s Homs province associated with the Syrian army and Iran-backed militias. Syrian state media reported that five military personnel were injured in the attack.

Syria’s foreign ministry on Tuesday warned that Israel risked dragging the region toward “total escalation” after another overnight airstrike near Damascus attributed to the Jewish state.

Israel has launched a fresh round of airstrikes on the Damascus area as loud blasts rattled the Syrian capital, the country’s state media reported overnight Tuesday, in the fourth such attack attributed to Israel in less than a week.