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US President Donald Trump announced late on Saturday that American forces carried out what he called a “successful” strike on three of Iran’s key nuclear facilities: Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that a “full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordo,” an underground enrichment facility built deep into a mountainside and considered one of Iran’s most fortified locations.

“All planes are now outside of Iran air space [and are]… safely on their way home,” he added. “Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this.” Trump concluded his message by writing, “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”

According to Axios, the United States notified Israel in advance of the attack, a senior Israeli official said.

In an address published on X, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi said, “A popular uprising is enough to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.”

In a live interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News on Tuesday evening, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi declared that Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Iran would not end until the Fordo nuclear facility was targeted and destroyed.

“This operation will not conclude without a strike on the Fordo nuclear facility,” Hanegbi said, referring to Iran’s most heavily fortified and deeply buried enrichment site. His remarks offered the clearest statement to date of Israel’s military objective.

Addressing US involvement, Hanegbi said Israel was acting alone: “We’re not trying to convince the Americans to join. The prime minister has a close and intimate dialogue with President Trump, but we never received any promise that the US would take part.” He described the mission as “entirely blue and white,” meaning fully Israeli in planning and execution.

Asked about timing, Hanegbi replied, “We’re not eager to broadcast to the enemy how long they need to hold out.”

While denying that regime change in Iran is an explicit goal, Hanegbi said the fall of Iran’s leadership would be “the best possible outcome.” He added, “There are signs the Iranian people are responding positively. They’re happy. Will they have the strength to rise up? That’s hard to predict. We cannot make that happen on our own.”

Hanegbi’s comments mark the most direct acknowledgment yet of Israel’s strategic endgame in the Iran conflict.

The Israeli Air Force has launched a large-scale preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear and military sites overnight, prompting emergency alerts across Israel. Sirens wailed in multiple regions as the IDF Home Front Command warned of a possible “heavy missile attack from the east” in the coming hours.

“All educational activities, public gatherings, and nonessential workplaces are to cease immediately,” the military announced, citing an emergency order. “The public is required to follow the guidelines published on the official Home Front Command channel.”

Tzvika Tessler, a senior Home Front Command official, told Channel 12 that Israel could face “a significant attack from the east,” adding that Iran possesses thousands of long-range missiles capable of reaching “anywhere in the country.” He stressed that “far-reaching warnings” will be issued as needed.

The attack comes as part of an Israeli military campaign targeting dozens of suspected Iranian nuclear facilities and other strategic sites. Defense Minister Israel Katz has declared a nationwide state of emergency.

While Iran has not yet launched a retaliatory strike, Israel’s leadership is bracing for a large-scale response. Air defense systems have been put on high alert, and emergency protocols are being activated across the country.

Israel has declared a national emergency as massive fires rage across the country, with a security source telling The Media Line that terrorism is suspected. The fires began Tuesday during Memorial Day commemorations and on the eve of Israel’s 77th Independence Day. Several arrests have been made, and authorities believe the fires were part of a coordinated arson attack. Fueled by high winds and dry weather, the blazes have forced evacuations and caused significant damage. No fatalities have been reported.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has told US Congressman Cory Mills that Syria is open to joining the Abraham Accords if conditions are met. Mills, who met with al-Sharaa in Damascus on Saturday, says he will deliver a letter from the Syrian leader to President Donald Trump.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday urged Hamas to release the hostages still held in Gaza, calling their continued captivity the main pretext for ongoing Israeli military operations in the territory.

“Hamas has given the criminal occupation excuses to commit its crimes in the Gaza Strip, the most prominent being the holding of hostages,” Abbas said during a meeting in Ramallah. “I’m the one paying the price, our people are paying the price, not Israel. My brother, just hand them over.”

The remarks reflect growing internal Palestinian pressure on Hamas as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens.

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, the Vatican announced in a video statement on Monday.

The four IDF soldiers were among seven abducted from the Nahal Oz surveillance unit during the October 7, 2023, attack, which claimed over 1,400 lives.

A stabbing attack occurred Tuesday night in Tel Aviv, injuring at least three people. The attack took place at two locations—Nahalat Binyamin Street and Kalisher Street—at approximately 9:12 PM local time, according to the Magen David Adom emergency medical service.

Medics treated two 24-year-old victims, one seriously injured, and a 59-year-old man who had light injuries. The suspected terrorist was killed at the scene.

Israeli police have launched a manhunt for at least one additional suspect believed to have fled. Residents are urged to stay vigilant as investigations continue.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed it has taken custody of hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher.

According to the IDF, the Red Cross notified Israeli officials that the three hostages were handed over by Hamas operatives in Gaza. The organization is now in the process of transferring them to IDF troops stationed inside the Gaza Strip.

Live footage aired shortly after the transfer showed the Red Cross facilitating the release. Reports indicate that initial assessments suggest the hostages are in “good condition.”

The three women were among 33 hostages set to be released in the first phase of the deal, which also includes the release of Palestinian prisoners, humanitarian aid provisions, and an Israeli withdrawal from certain areas of Gaza.

The IDF and the families of the hostages are now awaiting their safe return to Israel.

Following 471 days of war, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, shortly after the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced it had received the list of hostages that the Gaza governing group would release

Israel, Egypt, and US officials confirmed a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas with Qatar’s prime minister announcing the truce will take effect Sunday.

Medics are responding to reports of multiple injuries after a truck crashed into a bus stop at Glilot Junction, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday. Magen David Adom paramedics are treating dozens at the scene, with reports indicating at least 40 injuries, including 10 people in serious condition. Police have deployed large forces to the area and believe the incident was a terrorist attack. The alleged attacker was reportedly neutralized.

Israeli authorities have arrested seven Jewish Israelis accused of spying for Iran, allegedly gathering intelligence on key military sites. The suspects, including an AWOL soldier and two minors, reportedly conducted hundreds of missions, targeting locations such as IDF airbases and Iron Dome batteries. Prosecutors say the group was motivated by financial gain and were paid through intermediaries linked to Iranian agents.

A terrorist attack at Beersheba’s central bus station has left one woman dead and nine others injured. The assailant was shot and killed after reportedly attacking people at multiple locations around the station. Police are investigating whether the terrorist used both a firearm and a knife and have urged residents to avoid the area as they search for potential accomplices.

Six people were killed and at least seven others were wounded in a shooting attack near a light rail station in Jaffa, central Israel, on Tuesday evening. Two gunmen were shot dead by security forces, and police are still searching the area for a possible third suspect. Four of the wounded are in critical condition, according to the Magen David Adom emergency response organization.

Hundreds of Hezbollah members, including fighters and medics, were seriously injured on Tuesday after the communication pagers they use unexpectedly exploded. A Hezbollah official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, called it the group’s “biggest security breach” in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. Ambulances were seen rushing through Beirut’s southern suburbs, where explosions continued for 30 minutes after the initial blasts, according to eyewitnesses. Explosions were also reported in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military has not yet commented on the incident.

The Media Line is saddened to report that the Israel Defense Forces have recovered the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and were killed in captivity, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a US citizen. The Goldberg-Polin family released a statement saying, “With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.” The discovery comes as efforts continue to secure the release of 101 remaining hostages.

The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday the successful rescue of hostage Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, who was found alive during an operation in southern Gaza. Al-Qadi, 52 at the time of his abduction, went missing on October 7 during the Hamas attack on communities near the Gaza border. A security guard at the Kibbutz Magen packing house, Al-Qadi lives near Rahat in the Al Qasoum area and is a father of 11 children with two wives.

A senior Hezbollah commander has been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon, according to a source close to the group. The commander, identified as Abu Ali Nasser, led the Aziz unit, which oversees the eastern district along the Israel-Lebanon border. The attack targeted a car in Tyre. The source, speaking anonymously, confirmed the incident to the media.

The Israeli cabinet announced on Sunday the approval of a decision to close down Al Jazeera’s offices and cease the operations of the news network within the country.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was involved in a car accident on Friday, shortly after departing from the site of a stabbing attack in Ramle. The incident Friday morning left an 18-year-old woman seriously injured. Following the accident, the minister’s office confirmed that Ben-Gvir is conscious and feeling well but will continue to receive medical treatment at Assaf HaRofeh Hospital.

An American staff member of the US Embassy in Jerusalem has died, an embassy spokesperson confirmed on Monday. The embassy clarified that the individual was not the US ambassador and that there were no suspicions of foul play surrounding the death. “We can confirm the death of an American employee of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. It is not the US ambassador. Foul play is not suspected. We have no further details to share,” the spokesperson said.

Two people were killed in a suspected terrorist shooting near the West Bank settlement of Eli, the Magen David Adom ambulance service reported. The victims—a man in his 20s and a man in his 40s—were declared dead at the scene. Following the attack, which occurred at a gas station where four people were killed in an attack last summer, one assailant was neutralized, and efforts are underway to apprehend additional suspects.

Initial reports say terrorists carried out car-ramming and stabbing attacks at multiple locations in Raanana, in central Israel, including a supermarket. Eighteen people were injured, including a 70-year-old woman in critical condition and a man and boy, ages 34 and 16, respectively, in serious condition, according to the Magen David Adom emergency medical service.

Kuwait’s Emir Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has officially appointed Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah as the new prime minister of Kuwait. The appointment was made on Thursday, marking a new chapter in Kuwait’s political landscape, reports the official Kuwait News Agency.

Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, a prominent figure in Kuwaiti politics, has been tasked with the formation of a new cabinet. This move comes amid a period of political reshuffling and is expected to bring fresh perspectives to the governance of the country.

Israel resumed military action against Hamas after accusing the terrorist group of violating the ceasefire by firing a missile into Israel. Despite the new fighting talks in Doha are continuing.

The State of Qatar has announced the extension of the humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip for an additional two days. This extension comes as the initial four-day cease-fire is nearing its conclusion. The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al Ansari, confirmed this development through a statement on the social media platform X. The ongoing mediation efforts by Qatar aim to provide crucial respite and aid to the affected areas in Gaza, as both sides agree to prolong the pause in hostilities. This extension is a critical step toward furthering peace efforts and addressing the humanitarian needs in the region.

Israeli sources confirm that Hamas has handed over a group of 14 hostages, including a Russian-Israeli, to the Red Cross for their exit from the Gaza Strip. The hostages, re-entering Israel Sunday evening, included 3-year-old Avigail Idan, the Brodutch, Elyakim, Almog-Goldstein families, Elma Avraham, and Aviva Siegel. One hostage, Roni Krivoy, was released following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direct intervention and has returned to Karmiel. The third group’s release, part of a four-day truce deal, is underway, with Egypt and Qatar as mediators. Over 120 aid trucks, including fuel and cooking gas supplies, have entered Gaza from Egypt.

13 Israelis and 4 foreigners have been released by Hamas after the second phase of swaps nearly collapsed.

Alleging that Israel has “fail[ed] to meet the agreed-upon standards for releasing prisoners,” Hamas said in a statement on Saturday that it is postponing the second release of the hostages.

The 13 women and children selected to be the first hostages held by Hamas to be released were crossing into Egyptian territory at 6:00 pm local time (11 am US eastern time). The young, former hostages will be helicoptered to two Israeli hospitals.

An Israeli official has confirmed the release of the first group of Israeli hostages. The 13 former hostages are currently in the care of the International Committee of the Red Cross and are being transported via ambulances through the Rafah crossing.

This release marks the initial phase of a broader agreement under which Hamas has pledged to free approximately 50 hostages over the span of the four-day cease-fire. The group predominantly consists of children, mothers, and other women. Additionally, there is a provision for the possible release of more hostages in exchange for an extension of the truce.

In a reciprocal gesture, Israel is set to release 150 Palestinian prisoners charged with terror offenses. All of these prisoners are either women or minors. Today, Israel will release 39 of these prisoners in exchange for the 13 Israelis returning home.

A humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas, brokered in Qatar, is nearing finalization and is expected to be publicized soon. This anticipated five-day pause in the fighting involves the exchange of 50 civilians and foreign nationals held by Hamas for 150 Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody, including women and minors. The agreement also includes the delivery of 300 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza, comprising food, medical supplies, and fuel. A phased prisoner exchange process has been outlined, with a daily exchange of 10 Israeli for 30 Palestinian prisoners. Israel’s War Cabinet is expected to meet at 6 pm local time, the Security Cabinet at 7 pm, and the entire cabinet at 8 pm, to approve the deal.

Kibbutz Be’eri resident Thomas Hand told The Media Line Sunday night that the Israeli military has informed him there was a possibility that his 8-year-old daughter Emily Hand, her mother Narkis Hand, 12-year-old friend Hila Rotem, and Hila’s mother Raya Rotem may all be alive and captive in Gaza. Previously, it was believed they had been killed by Hamas on Oct. 7. No remains of the four have been found but their cellphones were retrieved in the Gaza Strip.

“We are very happy that there is a strong possibility that she is alive,” said Hand, an Irish national, about his daughter, adding that he hoped the Irish government would put “much pressure” on Hamas to get her released.

This brings the number of people who may have been abducted by Hamas to around 249, including four who have since been released and one who was rescued.

Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told reporters today that Gaza’s hospitals would be evacuated and replaced with field hospitals on the Egyptian side of the border city of Rafah and hospital ships off Gaza’s coast. Hanegbi said the hospitals in the Gaza Strip needed to be evacuated because they serve as cover for the underground “terror headquarters” of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Foreign medical ships are already en route to Gaza, he added.

Local residents in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a republic of Russia in the North Caucasus, reportedly stormed the city’s airport in a targeted attack against Jews arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv Sunday, according to Russian media reports. Footage from local Telegram channels shows individuals chanting “Allahu akbar” and halting cars to scrutinize passenger documents for Israeli or Jewish identification. Meanwhile, in Khasavyurt, another city in Dagestan, rioters congregated at a hotel where Israelis were believed to be staying, conducting a search for them. Russian security forces have not been recorded intervening in either situation.

Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar said on Saturday that the armed Palestinian group was “ready to conduct” an immediate exchange of all Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip for all Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson characterized the timing of the statement as “psychological terror.”

Israel’s Channel 12 News has reported that the families of Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, have been informed of their release from Hamas captivity. Both women were abducted from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza-Israel border. While the two women have been released, their husbands remain in captivity in Gaza.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to host a summit with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Cairo today, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency. As violence escalates in the neighboring Gaza Strip, the two leaders aim to discuss strategies to halt what the Jordanian royal court refers to as “the Israeli aggression on Gaza.”

The Israeli military says a failed rocket launch by Islamic Jihad caused the explosion at Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza Tuesday night that, Palestinian health officials say, killed around 500 people.

“An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”

Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that rules the Gaza Strip, says the explosion was due to an Israeli airstrike on the hospital.

Thirty additional bodies have been discovered between Kibbutz Be’eri and the Gaza border fence, according to Yossi Landau, the head of operations for the southern region of ZAKA. Out of these, 15 have been confirmed as Jewish, while the identities of the remaining bodies are still unclear.

An emergency government was officially established in Israel on Wednesday afternoon, following a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity party leader Benny Gantz at the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Gantz and fellow party member Gadi Eisenkot will be sworn in as ministers, joining a War Cabinet alongside Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The formation of the emergency government comes after a public outcry for unified leadership since Netanyahu declared war on Hamas this past Saturday, following a significant attack by the militant group on Israel. Legal teams for both the Likud and National Unity parties stayed back after the half-hour meeting to finalize the details of the new governing arrangement.

Two Israeli tourists were killed when an Egyptian policeman opened fire on a tourist bus, according to Egyptian reports and the Russian news agency RT.

Hamas claimed responsibility for kidnapping 53 Israelis, including soldiers, in an operation they named “Al-Aqsa Storm,” surprising Israel with a multifront attack. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service reported at least 100 Israelis dead and hospitals are treating over 900 people with conditions ranging from light to very serious. In response, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared the country at war, initiating “Operation Iron Swords.” The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that Palestinian forces have entered Israeli territory by land, air, and sea, overrunning villages and a military base.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel is “at war” following a surprise multifront attack by armed Palestinian groups from the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated a mass mobilization of reserve troops as terrorists launched a heavy barrage of rockets, infiltrated communities, and allegedly took hostages.

Early reports indicate at least 130 wounded at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Meanwhile, Hamas claims it has captured and transported at least 35 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, into the Palestinian enclave. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has convened an emergency meeting with security services in Tel Aviv.

Social media footage shows armed individuals freely roaming and engaging in firefights in southern Israeli communities. Residents in areas near the Gaza border reported feelings of abandonment as they faced attacks with limited military presence. US Chargé d’affaires Stephanie Hallett condemned the “indiscriminate actions against Israeli civilians” and reaffirmed support for Israel’s right to self-defense.

Mohammed Deif, the reclusive leader of the Hamas’ military wing, announced a military operation called “Al-Aqsa Storm,” claiming responsibility for the attacks and urging armed individuals to continue their assaults on Israeli communities.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could visit Turkey in October or November. This announcement comes after Erdoğan and Netanyahu met for the first time in person at the UN General Assembly, signaling progress in restoring the diplomatic relations between the two nations and hinting at future cooperation in energy drilling.

An Israeli delegation is currently in Riyadh for a UNESCO meeting, marking Israel’s first openly announced visit to Saudi Arabia. “We are happy to be here—it’s a good first step,” said an anonymous Israeli official, acknowledging the sensitive nature of the diplomatic move.

Israel Police report that a stabbing attack near the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City has left one man in his 50s seriously injured and another lightly wounded. The assailant, said to be a 17-year-old youth from East Jerusalem, attacked with a butcher’s knife, and was arrested by the police. Magen David Adom medics transported the seriously injured victim to Hadassah Medical Center.

The BRICS group of nations has announced the admission of six new countries—Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, and Saudi Arabia—as full members of the emerging economies bloc. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement today at the BRICS summit, outlining the summit’s outcomes and affirming the commitment to the interests of the “Global South.”

A private jet owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, crashed in Russia’s Tver region on Wednesday, resulting in 10 fatalities, including Prigozhin and his deputy Dmitry Utkin. Initial reports indicate that the jet may have been shot down by an air defense system or targeted in a terror attack, though an official investigation is still underway. Prigozhin and his Wagner group staged a failed rebellion against the Russian government in June.

Around 100,000 people have been rescued and evacuated from villages inundated by floods in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to an emergency services representative.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that Addis Ababa would partner with Riyadh for a joint investigation into a Human Rights Watch report that accused Saudi border guards of killing hundreds of Ethiopian migrants attempting to enter the Gulf kingdom. The ministry’s decision, shared on X, formerly Twitter, comes a day after the publication of the report ignited global outrage.

A woman was shot and killed and a man seriously injured on Highway 60 in the West Bank near Beit Hagai Junction on Monday in a drive-by shooting. Israeli security forces have launched a manhunt for the assailants, who escaped the scene, while the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba was placed under lockdown. The man is receiving emergency medical treatment, and a 6-year-old child in the car was unharmed.

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has announced the retirement of 35 Palestinian ambassadors, with 18 of them over the age of 65 and 17 exceeding 70 years old. This decision follows closely on the heels of a presidential decree from Abbas two weeks ago that sent 12 governors in the West Bank and Gaza Strip into retirement.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, landed in Riyadh today, marking his debut visit to Saudi Arabia since the pivotal reconciliation agreement between the countries in March. He was accompanied by Iran’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati.

A catastrophic explosion tore through a political rally in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajur district, adjacent to Afghanistan, earlier today. The blast occurred at an assembly for Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam party, resulting in at least 40 fatalities and over 100 injuries, according to police and health officials.

Israel’s Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would not issue an injunction against the controversial amendment to the country’s basic law curbing its ability to void government decisions on the basis of their extreme unreasonableness. Despite petitions from multiple groups, including the Israel Bar Association, asking for an immediate, temporary stay on implementation of the amendment, the court said it would discuss the matter, part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to weaken the judiciary, in September.

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has passed the contentious amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, eliminating the reasonableness standard in judicial reviews of government decisions, with a 64-0 vote amid an opposition boycott. Following the approval, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel has lodged a petition with the High Court, seeking to declare the amendment unconstitutional and alleging that it disruptively alters Israel’s parliamentary democracy and its system of checks and balances.

An Israeli man, 35, was seriously injured and two girls, aged 9 and 14, were lightly wounded in a shooting attack near the Israeli settlement of Tekoa, around 8 miles south of Jerusalem, on Sunday morning. The victims were evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. In response to the attack, the Israeli military has initiated a manhunt for the perpetrators.

A special security force in Jordan killed three fugitives Sunday, one of whom was implicated in the death of a senior policeman during civil unrest last year, according to a security source. The senior officer was murdered amid protests against high fuel prices in a town near Maan, a poverty-stricken southern city.

A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside the Israeli settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank Thursday afternoon, killing one person. The assailant fled the seen but was later killed by Israeli forces.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Thursday at noon that it was conducting retaliatory strikes in southern Lebanon following a projectile launch from the region into Israeli territory. According to three security sources in Lebanon, two rockets were fired, one landing near the Lebanese village of Wazzani, the other near the disputed village of Ghajar on the Israel-Lebanon border. The IDF reported no incident within Israeli territory, but noted an explosion “beyond the border fence.” This escalation comes amid accusations by Hizbullah, the powerful Iranian-backed Lebanese group, against Israel’s “dangerous measures” in the northern part of Ghajar.

A man driving a gray BMW plowed through a group of protesters Wednesday night on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv. The driver was swiftly apprehended and no injuries were reported. The incident took place after thousands of Israelis flooded the streets Wednesday night, blocking major roads including the Ayalon Highway and Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv. The demonstration came in response to Tel Aviv Police Commander Ami Eshed’s sudden resignation, citing politically motivated actions directed by the government against him. Police deployed water cannons for riot control at the demonstration, with occasional skirmishes reported, and a protester was arrested for disturbing the peace.

Al Jazeera and Lebanese media outlets report that Hizbullah, the Iran-backed armed group in Lebanon, has announced that it shot down an Israeli drone that penetrated Lebanese airspace at Wadi al-Azziya near the southern Lebanese town of Zibqin, around 4 miles from the Israeli border.

Four people were killed and at least four others injured in a shooting attack at a gas station near the settlement of Eli in the northern West Bank. The injured are being transported to the hospital, one in serious condition, two in moderate condition, and one lightly injured. One suspected assailant was killed at the scene and another has fled. Residents of Eli have been told to remain indoors while Israeli troops search the area. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will hold a situational assessment shortly.

Russia on Friday revealed plans to open a branch office of its embassy in Jerusalem. This development comes as part of an agreement with the city of Jerusalem, the Russian Embassy and an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.

Turkey has summoned the German ambassador, protesting the alleged detention of two Turkish journalists in Frankfurt. The reporters, working for the pro-government Sabah daily, were charged with the “dangerous dissemination of personal data,” although a local German prosecutor denies they are under arrest. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has labeled the incident a case of deliberate “harassment and intimidation” of the press.

Turkey is set for a presidential runoff poll on May 28, the Supreme Election Board has announced. Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are the top two finishers, triggering a runoff as no candidate secured a majority. With 99.87% of ballot boxes counted, Erdoğan has garnered 49.5% of the vote, falling just short of outright victory. Kılıçdaroğlu follows closely with 44.89%. Sinan Oğan received 5.17% of the vote, and Muharrem İnce, who withdrew from the race at the last minute but remained on the ballot, received 0.44% of the vote. The election saw an unprecedented 86.87% turnout—a historic participation rate in Turkish elections.

Polls have closed in Turkey’s historic election, and vote counting is now underway. The country witnessed its highest voter turnout ever at 89%. With 12.8% of polling stations reporting, the initial results are as follows:

• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: 57.5%
• Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: 36.7%
• Sinan Oğan: 5.3%

These numbers could change significantly as the vote counting continues throughout the night. Stay tuned for further updates on this closely watched election.

Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have jointly suspended their recognition of Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, leader of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, citing allegations that he mishandled properties in the city’s Armenian Quarter, potentially damaging the Christian presence in the city.

Sirens are sounding along Israel’s Mediterranean coast from Ashkelon to Rishon Lezion as the area comes under a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides is stepping down from his position this summer after serving only two years, according to a report by the news site Axios. The report cited two US officials, revealing that Nides informed the secretary of state of his decision during a visit to Washington last week. Nides said the reason for his departure was personal, having been away from his family since December 2021.

The Arab League unanimously agreed to reinstate Syria’s government on Sunday, ending its 11-year absence following President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011. Syria will resume participating in Arab League meetings as diplomatic activity increases ahead of the Arab summit in Jeddah on May 19.

The Israel Defense Forces reports that 22 rockets were launched from Gaza toward Israel today. Of these, four rockets were intercepted and 16 landed in open areas. A foreign worker in Sderot was seriously injured when one of the rockets struck a construction site in the city.

Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, is set to arrive in Damascus on Tuesday for an official visit to Syria, according to a statement by Syria’s Information Ministry. This marks the first time a Saudi official has visited the country since the start of the Syrian civil war.

Israel’s government voted to approve a 1.5% cut from the budget of all government ministries, including defense and education, in order to create a National Guard that will operate under Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. Several Cabinet ministers were opposed to the move, but still voted in favor, according to reports.

After a day in Israel that saw a far-reaching general strike – including hospitals and banks – and a massive protest in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem as well as throughout the country, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced in a nationally televised address that the government would pause the judicial reform legislation making its way through the country’s parliament. The Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power party headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, which is part of the government with its six seats, announced earlier that the legislation will be paused until the summer legislative term. Ben-Gvir reportedly had threatened to quit the government if the legislation was halted. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose Religious Zionism party has seven seats in the coalition, said in a statement that the government must continue with the judicial reform. Over 100,000 opponents of the judicial reform legislation protested throughout the day in front of the Knesset building in Jerusalem; a counter demonstration in support of the legislation also gathered in Jerusalem.

Saudi Arabia and Syria have agreed to reopen their embassies after severing diplomatic relations more than a decade ago.

Israel told the Biden administration and several European countries that Iran could trigger an Israeli military strike if it enriches uranium above the 60% purity level, Axios reported citing a senior Israeli official.

The Jordanian House of Representatives, the lower house of the Jordanian parliament, voted Wednesday morning in favor of a motion to expel Israel’s ambassador due to the “racist” actions and statements of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

A meeting of the Knesset faction of the ruling Likud party voted Monday night to back a plan that gives the governing coalition full control over the selection of the first two High Court appointments during a Knesset’s tenure, as well as the appointment of the chief justice. Any additional appointments would be made with input from the opposition.

Four Likud MKs opposed the bill.

Judicial reform supporters describe the plan as a “softening” of the government’s position, while those opposed to the coalition’s judicial overhaul say it still ensures politicization of the court and does not amount to a compromise.

Clashes have erupted between supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and police officers who arrived at his Lahore home in order to arrest him.

There are reportedly two arrest warrants issued against Khan, one for corruption over allegedly misusing his office to sell state gifts and the other for terrorism.

The supporters of the former prime minister and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) threw rocks and bricks at the police, the media said, while the officers used tear gas, water cannons and batons to disperse the crowd surrounding Khan’s home. Several of Khan’s supporters and a number of police officers were reported to have been wounded.

Khan himself issued a video statement in Urdu on Twitter several hours earlier, urging PTI supporters “to stand resolute and fight for [true freedom] & rule of law.”

Last week, Pakistan’s media regulator banned the broadcast of speeches by Khan, less than a day after police attempted to serve arrest warrants to him and his supporters again blocked access to his home.

Khan, who was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in parliament last April, denies all charges against him.

Three people were shot and injured in an attack in Tel Aviv near a cafe on the popular Dizengoff Street. One of the injured is in critical condition, one in serious condition and one in moderate condition. One attacker was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. A manhunt is on for a second attacker, according to reports. Police say they suspect the shooting was a terror attack.

Nine police officers were killed in Pakistan when a suicide bomber attacked a truck in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, AFP reported. Some 16 officers were injured.

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved by a vote of 9-7 the first part of the government’s judicial reform legislation, which would give the government coalition a majority on the Judicial Selection Committee. The legislation now goes to a first of three readings in the Knesset. The approval comes as tens of thousands of protesters clog the streets outside of the Knesset in Jerusalem for a protest against the government’s planned judicial overhaul.

A 6-year-old boy and a man in his 20s were killed Friday in a car-ramming attack in Jerusalem. At least five other people were wounded in the attack at the entrance to the Ramot neighborhood of East Jerusalem, among them another child.

Local media named the attacker as 31-year-old Hossein Karaka, a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in East Jerusalem, who rammed his vehicle into a bus stop. He was shot dead by an off-duty police officer at the scene, officials said.

A member of the ZAKA volunteer rescue service, Dovi Weinstern, said that “many families” had been waiting at the bus stop when the attack took place. He described the aftermath as a “a very difficult scene.”

“When I arrived there I saw a lot of commotion, difficult images of people and children dressed in Shabbat clothes lying near the station suffering from serious injuries, cries for help from all sides,” he said.

After the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered bolstered security forces in the area and the immediate arrest of suspects in the attacker’s inner circle. He also ordered the swift demolition of the attacker’s home.

The attack comes exactly two weeks after a Palestinian attacker shot dead seven people, including a 14-year-old boy, outside a synagogue in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Yaakov.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem alongside Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, expressed his condolences for the “horrific terrorist attack”  that killed seven Israelis in Jerusalem on Friday, reiterated US support for a two-state solution as “the best way” to bring security to the two sides, and called on all sides to “take urgent steps to restore calm, to de-escalate” in order to “create the conditions where we can start to restore a sense of security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Nabil Abu Rudainah, spokesperson for Palestinian  Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, announced at a press conference in Ramallah Thursday evening that the PA had suspended security coordination with Israel in response to a raid on Jenin by Israeli forces Thursday morning that killed 10 Palestinians. “We consider the security coordination to no longer exist,” Abu Rudainah said. He added that the PA would turn to the UN Security Council and International Criminal Court to hold Israel responsible and called for a delegation from a UN Human Rights Council to investigate the matter.

At least 9 Palestinians have been killed and several others injured during an Israel Defense Forces operation in Jenin in the West Bank. The Kan public broadcaster reports that the operation was mounted to arrest a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who was allegedly preparing an imminent major terror attack.

Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu flew to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II, his office announced this afternoon. “The two leaders discussed regional issues, especially strategic, security and economic cooperation between Israel and Jordan, which contributes to regional stability,” according to a statement. “They also praised the long-standing friendship and partnership between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom,” the statement also said. Relations between Israel and Jordan have been strained over the Jordanian Waqf’s stewardship of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound/Temple Mount, including the recent visit there by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ultra-Orthodox Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri was removed from his positions as minister of health and interior during Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting. In a letter read at the meeting and then made public, Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu noted that the Supreme Court ordered him to remove Deri from his positions, but added, “I intend to look for any legal way in which you can continue to contribute to the State of Israel from your many experiences and skills, in accordance with the will of the people.” Deri can continue to serve as a Knesset lawmaker.

Israel’s new government, the 37th, and the sixth headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has been sworn in after several hours of debate. The government was approved by a vote of 63 to 54, after it voted to approve the new Knesset Speaker, Likud’s Amir Ohana, the first openly gay minister. Netanyahu’s speech introducing his new government ministers was punctuated by raucous shouting from the opposition. The new ministers w

Israel’s new government, the 37th, and the sixth headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has begun meeting and, after several hours of debate, will swear in the new government ministers. Netanyahu’s speech introducing his new government ministers was punctuated by raucous shouting from the opposition.

The “Salvation Front” opposition coalition in Tunisia called for President Kais Saied to “immediately” resign a day after parliamentary elections in which voter turnout was reported to be 8.8%. The leader of the coalition called Saied an “Illegitimate president” and called the election a “fiasco.” Most of the country’s political parties had announced that they would boycott the election.

Iran has abolished its morality police, the country’s prosecutor general said Sunday, after more than two months of protests sparked by the death of a young woman in the organization’s custody.

Mahsa Amini, 22, died in a Tehran hospital in September, three days after her arrest by the morality police for improperly wearing a hijab. Her death led to mass protests across the country, which the regime has struggled to contain despite brutal crackdowns.

At least 16 people were killed and 24 injured Wednesday by a blast at a madrassa in Afghanistan’s northern city of Aybak, the capital of Samangan province, a doctor at a local hospital said. “All of them are children and ordinary people,” AFP quoted a doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, at a hospital in Aybak as saying.

A 16-year-old Israeli was killed and at least 19 people injured in two explosions at bus stations near the entrance to Jerusalem during the busy rush hour. The attack near the Central Bus Station reportedly was caused by a bomb in a bag placed near a bus. The second bombing was reported near a bus at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem. The bombs are believed to have been detonated remotely and were packed with nails to increase the number of casualties. The bombings came hours after the body of a Druze high school student, an Israeli citizen, who was killed in a West Bank car crash, was stolen by armed Palestinian gunmen from a hospital in Jenin.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has won Sunday’s election with 81.3% of the vote, Kazakstan’s Central Election Committee announced citing preliminary data. It is Tokayev’s second election to office, after calling early elections in the wake of deadly protests in January that began over fuel prices, which rocked the Central Asian country and left more than 230 people dead. Voter turnout was 69.4%.

An oil tanker operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping,  a company owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, was attacked by a bomb-carrying drone on Tuesday night off the coast of Oman. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, though Iran is suspected.

Three Israelis were killed and an unknown number injured, including three in serious condition, in a stabbing attack Monday morning at a gas station in the Ariel industrial zone in the northern West Bank.

It was first reported that the attack was carried out by two assailants. But the Israeli military’s current assessment is that only one attacker was involved. It is thought that he first stabbed a security guard at the entrance to the industrial zone and then proceeded to the gas station, where he stabbed a number of additional people. He then fled in a vehicle, crashed into several cars on Highway 5, exited his car, and stabbed another man before he was shot by security forces.

The FBI has opened an investigation into the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a reporter for Al Jazeera. Abu Akleh was shot and killed while she was reporting on an Israel Defense Forces arrest raid in Jenin in the West Bank on May 11. The Palestinian Authority claims that Israeli troops deliberately shot Abu Akleh. The US Justice Department informed Israel’s Justice Ministry that the FBI would open the investigation, Axios reported, citing five sources briefed on the issue. It was first reported on Israel’s Channel 14.

An explosion Sunday afternoon in the center of Istanbul, Turkey has injured at least 11 people. According to Israel’s Channel 13 News, at least one Israeli was among the injured.

Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement issued by his office on Thursday evening that he called Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu and “congratulated him on his victory in the elections.” The statement also said: “The State of Israel is above all political consideration and I wish Netanyahu success for the sake of the people of Israel and the State of Israel. I informed the chairman of the opposition that I had instructed all branches of the Prime Minister’s Office to prepare an orderly transfer of power.” Lapid placed the call after the unofficial final results of the counting of the ballots in Tuesday’s election showed Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc with 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or Parliament.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in the leg while giving a speech at a political rally in Wazirabad on Thursday. He is in stable condition, Raoof Hasan, a senior Khan aide, told AFP. A suspect in the shooting was reportedly shot dead.

The Israeli government approved the maritime demarcation deal with Lebanon on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office said in a statement, setting a border between the two countries for the first time since 1948.

A Palestinian man, 18, was killed by gunfire from Israel Defense Forces troops during clashes near the al-Aroub refugee camp in the West Bank. The IDF said in a statement that the man was part of a group of people throwing stones at Israeli cars and that its troops responded by firing at them. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Usama Adwai was hit in the stomach with live gunfire.

Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the US -brokered maritime border agreement with Lebanon on Wednesday. All of the security cabinet members voted in support of Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s summary of the deal, with the exception of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who abstained. The agreement now moves to the full cabinet.

At least 92 people have been killed in Iran’s crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the country’s morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) non-governmental agency reported on Sunday. Another 41 people were killed in the city of Zahedan in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, according to IHR, during protests on Friday over accusationsthat a police chief in the province’s port city of Chabahar had raped a 15-year-old girl from the Sunni Baluch minority.

A Palestinian man was killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank on Wednesday. The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the man as Yunis Ghasan Tayeh, 21, and said he was shot in the heart in clashes at the Far’a refugee camp, about 20 kilometers south of Jenin on the West Bank.

Several people have been killed and injured in a suicide bomb attack near the entrance to the Russian embassy in Kabul, according to reports. The attacker was shot and killed by armed Russian guards in front of the embassy as he approached the front gate. Two Russian diplomats are among the dead, according to Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

A bus transporting Israeli soldiers on Route 90 in the Jordan Valley came under gunfire near the Israeli settlement of Hamra in the West Bank on Sunday. One soldier was injured seriously; five soldiers and the driver sustained light injuries. According to reports, the assailants opened fire toward the bus from a moving vehicle. When the bus stopped, the attackers attempted to pour gasoline on the bus and ignite it but ignited their own car instead. Two suspects were found injured near their burned car, in which weapons were found. The suspects were arrested and the Israeli military is searching for additional attackers.

Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid and US President Joe Biden had a “long” phone conversation Wednesday evening about the negotiations between Iran and the world powers on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and about efforts to stop Iran’s progress toward a nuclear weapon, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. The call comes days after a report that the White House rejected an Israeli request for an emergency phone call between the two leaders because Biden was on vacation.

Pakistan’s climate change minister says one third of her country is currently underwater due to flooding caused by record rain.

Minister Sherry Rehman tells AFP that the rains have created a crisis of “unimaginable proportions.”

Prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tweeted on Monday that he decided to withdraw fully from politics. “I’ve decided not to meddle in political affairs. I therefore announce now my definitive retirement,” he said in his tweet.

The US military carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria in areas controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to “protect and defend US personnel” in response to an attack earlier this month targeting US forces, the US Central Command said in a statement early Wednesday morning. The airstrikes “took proportionate, deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize the risk of casualties,” according to CENTCOM. Syria so far has not acknowledged the attacks; Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied any link with the groups targeted by the US airstrikes

At least 35 people were killed and 45 injured in a fire inside a church in the Egyptian city of Giza on Sunday, Reuters is reporting. Some 5,000 people were attending mass on Sunday when the electrical fire broke out.

Eight minutes after the Egyptian-mediated cease-fire between the Israeli military and Islamic Jihad forces officially went into effect, rocket fire was reported on Sderot, an Israeli city just outside the Gaza Strip. Israel was expected to respond with renewed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

The exchange of fire continued right up to the last minute before the 11:30 cease-fire, including a large-scale Israeli strike against Islamic Jihad targets across the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rocket fire into  Israeli border communities and the city of Beersheba.

Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group have finalized a cease-fire agreement, which is to take effect at 11:30 pm local time.

Reports widely broadcast in the Arab media but unconfirmed by spokesmen on either side say Israel and Islamic Jihad have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered truce, to take effect at 8 pm.

Israel is carrying out pre-emptive airstrikes against Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip in a campaign it has codenamed “Operation Rising Dawn.” An emergency situation has been declared on the Israeli homefront and Iron Dome air defense batteries have been deployed throughout Israel. Residents of the Gaza border area have been instructed to remain near bomb shelters.

US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing very mild symptoms, the White House announced on Thursday.

Israel will legalize the status of 5,500 undocumented Palestinians and foreigners living in the West Bank and Gaza, paving the way for family reunifications in Israel, according to the office of Hussein Al-Sheikh,  Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the PLO. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) also announced the move, as well as an additional 1,500 permits for workers from Gaza, ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region. The moves were approved by Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz after his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Ebrahim Raisi and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the presidents of Iran and Turkey, respectively, at a summit in Tehran next Tuesday, the Kremlin said. It will be Putin’s second foreign trip since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. In late June, he visited Central Asia.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz at PA headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank on Thursday night. Abbas stressed the importance of creating a political horizon, and called for respecting the signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Gantz said in a statement that he traveled to Ramallah to discuss security and civil coordination.

Israel’s Knesset voted 92-0 to dissolve itself and head to the country’s fifth elections in 3.5 years. November 1 has been set as the date of the upcoming election. Yair Lapid will become interim prime minister at midnight.

Ahead of an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Media Line’s Debbie Mohnblatt asked Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk what Israeli party in the anticipated upcoming parliamentary election is best for Ukraine. Korniychuk initially demurred, saying that he “could not intervene on your internal politics.”

Nevertheless, he observed that “historically, more leftists were more sympathetic to Ukraine – sympathetic to the countries that are in difficult situations like us. But I would not say that we are not working with the rightists or centrists – we do work with everyone.”

Korniychuk continued: “We are currently acting like a political party at the embassy during the war period. We are very active with the media, we talk with politicians a lot, we speak to the people, we do appreciate all of the assistance of the Israeli people and Israeli companies that donated support a lot to the NGOs, but definitely we could do more with the government.”

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid will announce at 8 pm local time that next week, they will submit a bill to voluntarily dissolve Israel’s 36th government, sending the country back to elections, which will probably be held in late October. In the interim period, Lapid will serve as prime minister.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid says that Israel’s government “look(s) forward to welcoming next month the president (of the United States). He has been true friend of Israel all his life. I’m sure the president’s visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia will have a lasting impact.” Lapid was speaking to reporters to mark his first year as foreign minister. He also said in response to a question from The Media Line that Israel has “mutual interests with Saudi Arabia among them Iran.”

US President Joe Biden will meet with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, during a visit to the kingdom on July 15, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The White House also released a statement announcing the trip but did not mention a meeting between President Biden and the crown prince. The US president will attend a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia the following day, on July 16. Prior to visiting Saudi Arabia, President Biden will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories beginning on July 13.

The Media Line has learned from a top Palestinian Authority official that the reason behind the unscheduled visit of Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi to Ramallah on Tuesday was to persuade PA President Mahmoud Abbas to delay a decision to withdraw recognition of Israel and sever ties with Israel. The source told TML that Safadi asked Abbas and Palestinian officials he met with on Tuesday to hold off on any announcement until US President Joe Biden’s expected visit at the end of June.

Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi traveled to Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential compound. He is also scheduled to meet Hussein Al-Sheikh, who was recently named secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee. and will hold a press conference with his Palestinian counterpart, Riad Malki.

Lawmaker Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi, from the left-wing Meretz party, has resigned from Israel’s ruling government coalition. The coalition now has the support of only a minority of Knesset members, leaving its future uncertain. Zoabi, an Arab Israeli, wrote in her resignation letter that she “cannot support a coalition that is disgracefully harassing the society I come from.”

Sheikh Khalifa’s half-brother, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the crown prince and de facto leader of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi since 2014, will become the new president.

A border policeman was stabbed at Damascus Gate, outside Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday evening. Security forces responded, opening fire on the attacker. The policeman was evacuated to Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital in moderate condition.

At least three people are dead and three injured in a terror attack in the central Israel city of Elad, committed as Israel’s Independence Day comes to a close. Police are searching for two attackers, one a shooter and one who was wielding an axe.

Following a letter with a death threat and a live bullet inside that was addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his family, security officials in the Prime Minister’s Office will reinforce the security of the unit responsible for protecting Bennett’s family, a spokesman for the prime minister announced.

US President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali to visit Israel. The US president intends to arrive in the coming months, an official Israeli statement said on Sunday.

A rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip toward the Eshkol Regional Council in Israel. It was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

An Israeli Border Police officer stationed at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs holy site in Hebron was stabbed and lightly wounded Sunday evening. Security forces opened fire on the attacker, killing her.

Over 1,000 soldiers and police officers are searching street by street, house by house, to find the perpetrators of an attack on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv Thursday night that killed at least two people and injured several others.

The gunman, described as wearing black pants and a black short-sleeve T-shirt with a blue backpack and carrying a pistol, remains at large. Security officials have asked the public living in the area to remain indoors.

Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center said 10 people arrived at the hospital with wounds of varying severity. At least four of them were rushed into emergency operations to treat their injuries.

The Islamic Jihad organization has taken responsibility for the attack, which was also praised by Hamas.

At least five people were killed in a shooting attack on Tuesday night in Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan in central Israel. The shooter reportedly opened fire with a rifle while driving a motorcycle, in what is a suspected terror attack. Another person reportedly is in critical condition. The shooter, identified as a 27-year-old resident of the West Bank who was in Israel illegally and had previously spent time in an Israeli prison, got off of his motorcycle and continued his attack on foot until he was shot and killed by a police officer, who was also shot by the assailant and later died. Police reportedly are investigating whether there was a second shooter. Residents of the two cities have been instructed to remain in their homes. It is the third attack on Israelis in one week.

About half of some 40 Israeli schoolchildren in 5th grade through 8th grade who went missing after being separated from the group during a school trip in Nahal Og in the Dead Sea on Monday have been rescued after a search by drones and the Israel Police’s Megilot Dead Sea Search and Rescue team. The rest have been identified and are in the process of being rescued.

Two people were killed and at least six people were injured when two terrorists opened fire Sunday night in the central Israeli city of Hadera, about 40 kilometers south of Haifa. Police returned fire and the terrorists were killed.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced on Friday that he would host US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Bahrain at a “historic summit” in Israel on Sunday and Monday.

Four people were killed and a number of others injured in a terrorist attack at a shopping center in Beersheba in southern Israel. Magen David Adom head Eli Bin said that the attacker stabbed three people to death and that a fourth victim, who was riding a bicycle, was hit by a car driven by the assailant. The alleged attacker, named as Muhammad Alab Ahmed Abu Alkiyan, was shot and killed by a passerby. Alkiyan was an Israeli citizen from the Negev town of Hura. He reportedly was a teacher who served time in prison for promoting the Islamic State group to his students. Islamic Jihad spokesperson Tariq Silmi praised the attack, saying, “Acts of resistance shall deter the occupation,” but did not explicitly say his organization was responsible for the attack. Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanou said on official Hamas radio, “We salute the executor of the heroic operation in occupied Beersheba.”

Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, traveled today to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula hours after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived for a previously unannounced meeting, in what a senior Israeli official described as a “tripartite meeting” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Russian missiles overnight between Saturday and Sunday struck a military base where foreign instructors were working, close to Lviv, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Polish border, the Ukrainian defense minister said. The minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said in a tweet: “russia has attacked the International Center for Peacekeeping&Security near Lviv.Foreign instructors work here.Information about the victims is being clarified.This is new terrorist attack on peace&security near the EU-NATO border.Action must be taken to stop this.Close the sky!”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett left Moscow a short time ago for Berlin, where he will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Bennett spoke earlier this evening with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following an unscheduled three-hour meeting on Saturday between the Israeli prime minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow to discuss the Russo-Ukraine war, Bennett’s office reported. Bennett flew to Russia early on Saturday morning, the Jewish Sabbath, despite being an Orthodox Jew, since it is permissible to break the laws of the Sabbath to save lives. Government minister Ze’ev Elkin accompanied Bennett in order to assist with translating.

Israel condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine Thursday as a “violation of the international order” but underlined its close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv. “The Russian attack on Ukraine is a serious violation of the international order,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, adding that Israel “condemns” the assault. But Lapid also noted that “Israel has deep, long-lasting and good relations with Russia and with Ukraine,” and that hundreds of thousands of Jews live in both countries. “Maintaining their security and safety is at the top of our considerations,” Lapid said.

Israel expressed concern about Russia’s incursion into eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, without mentioning Russia in its statement. “Israel is a partner to the international concerns about the steps taken in eastern Ukraine and hopes a diplomatic solution will be found that will bring calm and is willing to enlist to do so if asked,” the Foreign Ministry stated. The statement also expressed support for “Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an official decree recognizing the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent entities. The move is seen as a possible pretense for a Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Ukraine on Monday requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in an effort to de-escalate the crisis.

An Iranian fighter jet crashed Monday in a residential area of Tabriz, killing three people, including two crew, state television reported. The head of the local Red Crescent organization said the plane smashed into a school and that one of the dead was a neighborhood resident.

Code Red rocket alerts sounded Friday at noon in the northern Galilee and southern Golan Heights. Local residents report hearing an explosion, which the IDF announced was the downing of a hostile drone. The incident occurs a day after the leader of Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah  said that it has the ability to convert rockets into precision missiles and that it has been producing drones for “a long time.”

Russia could invade Ukraine this Wednesday, February 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, in a video address to the nation posted on his Facebook page on Monday evening. Zelenskyy said that the country will make Wednesday a day of national unity. “We are told that February 16 will be the day of the attack. The decree has already been signed. This afternoon we will hang national flags, put on blue-yellow ribbons and show the world our unity,” Zelenskyy said. He called on state officials, politicians and business leaders who fled the country ahead of the impending Russian invasion to return in order to show their solidarity.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will leave Monday evening for a visit to Bahrain, his office announced just hours before the scheduled take-off. It is the first-ever trip made to Bahrain by an Israeli prime minister. Bennett is scheduled to meet Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and its prime minister, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa during the 24-hour visit.

The PLO’s Palestinian Central Council, currently meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank, decides to suspend recognition of Israel and to stop security coordination with it until it recognizes a Palestinian state. A similar resolution was passed by the body four years ago, though it was never implemented.

Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinians on Tuesday afternoon in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health. They have been identified as Adham Mabrouk, Mohammed al-Dakhil and Ibrahim al-Nabulsi. The three men were  responsible for several recent shooting attacks against Israel Defense Forces and Israeli civilians, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency reported.

Al-Sheikh’s election to a position on the Executive Committee formerly held by the late chief negotiator Saeb Erekat was expected. In an exclusive, in-depth interview he gave to The Media Line in July 2021, he said the Palestinian Authority was ready for direct talks with Israel.

At least five soldiers from Pakistan’s military were killed by gunfire from over the border in Afghanistan Sunday afternoon, in an attack that was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, AFP reported.

US President Joe Biden announced Thursday morning that US Special Forces carried out a “successful” counterterrorism operation and have “taken off the battlefield” Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. A senior administration official said al-Qurayshi died at the beginning of the operation when he exploded a bomb that killed him and members of his own family, including women and children, the New York Times reported. The operation took place on a building in northwest Syria near the Turkish border in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib. At least 13 people, including six children, were killed in the raid, that also destroyed a building, according to reports.

An operation by US Special Forces was carried out overnight Thursday in northwest Syria near the Turkish border in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib, which is home to several top al-Qaida leaders. The Pentagon said in a statement that “US Special Operations forces under the control of US Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria.  The mission was successful.  There were no US casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available.” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said US troops used helicopters to land in the area and attacked a house, clashing with fighters on the ground.

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz landed in Bahrain on Wednesday afternoon for an unannounced visit. Gantz will sign Israel’s first Memorandum of Understanding with Bahrain, formalizing defense cooperation and other defense-related relations between the two countries, during what is reported to be a two-day visit. The MOU is also reported to include several arms agreements.

Turkey’s interior minister said on Wednesday that 12 migrants froze to death after Greek border guards stripped them of their clothes at their land border. “Twelve of the 22 migrants pushed back by Greek border units, stripped off from their clothes and shoes, have frozen to death,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a tweet showing blurred photographs of bodies lying by the side of a road.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog will conduct an official visit to the United Arab Emirates at the invitation of the de facto ruler of the UAE, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on January 30-31, his office announced. Herzog, who will travel with his wife, Michal, will visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai and will hold official meetings with Sheikh Mohammed and other Emirati officials as well as representatives of the UAE Jewish community. He also will open Israel’s national day at Dubai Expo 2020.

Former Israel Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor died on Monday at the age of 74. Naor, who served on the Supreme Court from 2003 to 2017, the final three years as chief justice, was at the time of her death serving as head of the state commission of inquiry into the 2021 Lag BaOmer crowd crush at Mount Meron.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition supporting Yemen’s government launched airstrikes on the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa on Monday night, including what it described as “terrorist leaders,” in response to a drone attack earlier in the day on the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) storage facility, which left three people dead. Countries throughout the region and around the world condemned the attack and expressed support for the UAE in the wake of the attack, including the United States.

UAE authorities said Monday that three people were killed and six injured when three fuel trucks exploded near an oil storage facility in Abu Dhabi. In addition, a fire broke out at a construction site in Abu Dhabi’s main airport. The police in Abu Dhabi said both events were likely caused by drone attacks. Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they were responsible for the attacks.

A German court sentenced a former Syrian colonel to life in jail for crimes against humanity. The trial of Anwar Raslan, a senior official in the Syrian army that supports the regime of President Bashar Assad, is the first global trial over state-sponsored torture in Syria. Raslan was convicted for complicity in at least 4,000 cases of torture, dozens of murders and three cases of sexual assault and rape.

Aura Herzog, the mother of President Isaac Herzog and wife of the late sixth president, Chaim Herzog, died overnight at age 97. She was a prominent public figure and social activist for many years and the founder of the Council for a Beautiful Israel. She will be buried next to her late husband at Mount Herzl Cemetery in Jerusalem.

A Jerusalem municipal committee has approved plans to build around 3,500 new homes in primarily Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. Palestinians, who claim the eastern portion of the city as the intended capital of a future Palestinian state, consider such neighborhoods to be Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Around 1,500 of the homes would be built in a location that would cut off Arab neighborhoods from the southern West Bank, including Bethlehem. The plans will be considered by a district committee on January 17.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II met Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Amman, to discuss several bilateral issues and ways to enhance security and stability in the region, official Jordanian media reported.  Israel’s Defense Ministry also announced the meeting after it concluded. During the meeting, Abdullah stressed the need to maintain a comprehensive calm in the Palestinian territories and to take all necessary steps in order to find a way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq shot down two armed drones targeting coalition forces at Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq on Tuesday. It was the second thwarted drone attack in 24 hours; on Monday, two armed drones targeting the anti-IS coalition forces at Baghdad airport were shot down.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that if former US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are not put on trial for the US assassination of Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that “Muslims will take our martyr’s revenge.” He made the statement Monday on the second anniversary of the US drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Soleimani during a diplomatic visit to Iraq.

An Israeli civilian contractor who was working on the Israel-Gaza Strip border was shot and lightly injured in the leg Wednesday morning. He was transferred to the hospital for treatment. The Israeli military responded with tank fire at Hamas outposts along the border.

Israel’s Minister of Defense Benny Gantz hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his home in central Israel. The men met in Rosh Haayin for 2.5 hours on Tuesday evening, and discussed security and civilian issues, according to the Defense Ministry. It is the first time Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has held an official meeting in Israel since 2010. Gantz met with Abbas in August in Ramallah in the West Bank.

Gunmen shot at an Israeli car in the West Bank Thursday night, killing one person and wounding two others – one moderately and the other lightly. Israeli forces are searching for the perpetrators of the attack, which took place on Route 60 near the Shavei Shomron settlement.

Responding to strong opposition from Israel, the Biden Administration has shelved its plan to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem as a diplomatic mission to the Palestinian Authority. However, reports say that the Palestinian Affairs Unit that operates out of the US Embassy to Israel, has for several months operated independently, bypassing the authority of the US ambassador to Israel and reporting directly to the State Department in Washington.

Green Passes proving coronavirus vaccine or recovery status will be required to enter malls in Israel beginning on Friday, following a decision by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, and health professionals taken at a meeting on Tuesday evening. Shoppers will be issued a colored bracelet to enter the mall and enter stores freely. People who do not hold a Green Pass will be permitted to enter a mall to receive an essential service, without receiving a bracelet, and then will be required to leave. Mall owners and businesses have vowed to challenge the decision.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is leaving Sunday for his first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, his office announced on Sunday. He is expected to meet on Monday with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed. “The leaders will discuss deepening the ties between Israel and the UAE, especially the economic and regional issues that will contribute to prosperity, welfare and strengthening the stability between the two countries,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The United Arab Emirates will move to a four-and-a-half day work week, and with a weekend beginning on Friday afternoon and running through Sunday, state media reported. The announcement touted the fact that the UAE is the first country in the world to introduce a national work week that is shorter than five days. Federal government entities will adopt the new schedule beginning on January 1, 2022.

At least eight people were killed and 17 injured, including 13 Somali school children, in a car bomb attack targeting a United Nations security convoy as it traveled past a school in Mogadishu. The Islamist Al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the attack. It is not yet known if any UN personnel were killed in the attack.

Mordi and Natali Oknin, Israeli bus drivers from the center of the country, flew home to Israel early Thursday morning after being released from a Turkish prison where they were held for a week, accused of being spies after taking a photograph of the president’s palace in Istanbul. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a statement in which they thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government “for their cooperation.” They also thanked Israel’s President Isaac Herzog for his efforts. The couple arrived back in Israel on Thursday morning on a plane sent by the Foreign Ministry,

An explosion at an Iranian oil pipeline in the country’s south has “created small tremors” felt in the surrounding areas, local media is reporting. The pipeline infrastructure is reported to be outdated, Reuters reported. Last year, explosions at other pipelines and Iranian nuclear sites, that were covered up by Tehran, were blamed on Israel.

Saif al-Islam al-Gadhafi, son of Libya’s former leader Moammar Gadhafi, registered on Sunday as a presidential candidate, according to media reports citing an unnamed official from the electoral commission.

The leader of the Israeli political party Ra’am-United Arab List, Mansour Abbas, met in Amman with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Jordanian television reported. The two leaders discussed a number of issues related to Israeli-Jordanian relations, the Middle East and the Palestinian issue during the four-hour meeting. The visit was carried out in full coordination in advance between the Kingdom of Jordan and the government, and with the approval of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported.

US forces tried to block an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, Iran’s state-run Press TV said on Wednesday. The tanker is now back in Iranian territorial waters. The incident was described as a failed attempt to “steal” oil.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. It is the first meeting between an Israeli prime minister and the Bahraini crown prince.

At least 22 people have been arrested and 17 injured during clashes between Palestinians and Israel Police officers near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. Palestinians threw rocks at buses while police threw stun grenades and used other riot dispersal methods, including shooting foul-smelling skunk water from water cannons. The escalation in violent riots has been ongoing for some two weeks.

Unknown gunmen fired on protesters, killing two and wounding 12, at a Beirut demonstration by supporters of the Shiite Hizbullah and Amal organizations that called for the removal of Judge Tarik Bitar, the lead investigator into the August 2020 port blast.

The European Union has announced new emergency aid of 1 billion euros to Afghanistan and its neighboring countries. The pledge was announced by the European Commission in advance of the Group of 20 Afghan summit on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said on Twitter that Iraqi forces have captured Sami Jasim, who was in charge of the finances for the Islamic State group and a deputy of slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Electricity has been restored in Lebanon after the army provided fuel to the Deir Ammar and Zahrani power plants, which had run out of  diesel fuel, ending a day of total blackout.

At least two civilians were killed in an explosion outside of a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to reports. The explosion on Sunday afternoon occurred during a memorial service for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. There has been no claim of responsibility yet.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrived in Bahrain, becoming the first high-level Israeli official to visit the country since Bahrain and Israel signed the Abraham Accords and normalized relations last year. Lapid is scheduled to inaugurate Israel’s embassy in Manama and meet with his Bahraini counterpart, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

Five people are reported dead and dozens of people were injured in a crash between a bus and a private car in Israel’s Northern Galilee. A truck also was involved in the crash. Four people who were trapped inside the car were found to be dead, a man riding on the bus who reportedly jumped out to help the injured also died, with at least three others reported to be in serious and moderate condition.  Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the bus was full of children returning from a day trip. The cause of the accident is not known.

Iran on Wednesday resumed regular commercial flights to neighboring Afghanistan, where the Taliban took control last month, Iranian state media reported. “Today Mahan Airlines carried passengers between Mashhad and Kabul airport,” Fars news agency reported, referring to Iran’s second-largest city, in the northeast, and the Afghan capital.

Two people were moderately injured in a stabbing attack at the central bus station in Jerusalem; the stabber was “neutralized,” according to officials. The attack comes hours after an attempted stabbing attack by a Palestinian assailant at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will meet Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Arab and Israeli media is reporting.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told foreign reporters at an English-language briefing on Wednesday at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that “Lebanon has turned into a country ruled by a terrorist organization.”

Palestinians are set to get 4G service, part of several understandings reached during Sunday’s meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Israel has withheld frequencies for the Palestinians for over a decade.

Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s civil affairs minister, has told The Media Line that the PA has reached an agreement with the Israeli government on family reunification for Palestinians. Initially, the arrangement will apply to 5,000 Palestinians “as a first batch on the road to finalizing the issue entirely in a prearranged time frame,” Al-Sheikh said.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the rocket attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The rockets were fired at the airport on Monday morning as the drawdown of US forces continues. The group made the claim of responsibility for the attack with six Katyusha rockets via its Telegram channel. An anti-missile defense system installed at the airport intercepted some of the rockets. There are no reports of casualties.

Up to five rockets were fired at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to reports. The rockets were fired on Monday morning as the drawdown of US forces continues. An anti-missile defense system installed at the airport intercepted the rockets, CNN reported citing a US official. There are no reports of casualties.

A US missile strike in Kabul on Sunday has targeted suspected operatives of the ISIS-K. ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack last week outside of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, that left 13 US servicemen and servicewomen and dozens of Afghan citizens dead. The airstrike comes as the last US and allied evacuation flights leave the country ahead of the August 31 deadline. The rocket strike reportedly hit a vehicle carrying ISIS-K suicide bombers. A second airstrike hit a house located on the northern side of the airport, Reuters reported, though the two strikes may not be related.

An explosion has been heard in Kabul near the Hamid Karzai International Airport, AFP journalists are reporting. The report comes hours after US officials warned of a possible attack in the area.

Iran’s newly appointed foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has arrived in Damascus, Syria for meetings with Syrian officials. On Saturday, Amir-Abdollahian attended the Baghdad regional summit.

Twelve US servicemen were killed and at least 15 others injured in the twin suicide bombing attacks outside of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, on Thursday evening, the Pentagon announced. Dozens of Afghans also reportedly were killed and injured in the blasts blamed on Islamic State jihadists, which occurred as thousands of foreign nationals and Afghans massed outside the gates of the airport in an attempt to be evacuated from the country.

A meeting between US President Joe Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett scheduled for Thursday morning at the White House was postponed after twin explosions outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, which caused  a number of US and civilian casualties. Biden reportedly was in the White House situation room at the time that the meeting was supposed to begin. It is not known when the meeting will be held; Israeli media on hand to report on the meeting were told to leave the White House.

There has been an explosion outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to multiple reports. Injuries are being reported among Afghans. The explosion, and a second outside the Baron Hotel near the airport, was confirmed by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. The explosion comes as thousands of people remain on the streets near the airport, trying to enter its gates in an attempt to leave Afghanistan. The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom had been on people to move further away from the airport in light of threats of an attack by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, a Taliban rival.

At least one Afghan guard was killed and three injured in a firefight at the north gate of the Kabul airport, where some 20,000 Afghans and foreigners  are still awaiting transport out of Afghanistan. A sniper outside the airport reportedly fired at Afghan guards inside the airport leading to them to return fire, as US forces fired at the Afghan guards. German military forges also were involved in the incident.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry said the country will allow the passage of some 5,000 Afghans evacuated from Kabul by the United States. The subject of relocating Afghan interpreters for the US military and media outlets came up during meetings US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held in Kuwait last month.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, who fled his country when the Taliban overran the capital, Kabul, is in the United Arab Emirates, the country’s foreign ministry confirmed. “The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation can confirm that the UAE has welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds,” it said in a statement.

The Taliban Tuesday declared a general amnesty for all Afghanistan government officials and urged them to return to work, two days after taking power following a lightning sweep through the country. “A general amnesty has been declared for all … so you should start your routine life with full confidence,” said a statement from the Taliban.

All commercial flights out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have been canceled, the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority announced. The announcement comes as crowds of Afghan civilians gathered at the airport in Kabul, attempting to get on any flight leaving the country. Scenes caught on camera showed the Afghans storming the tarmac and clambering up gangplanks leading to the airplanes.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is seen leaving the country as a group of high-level politicians is negotiating a transfer of power with the Taliban, which reportedly has seized the presidential palace. At the same time, the US reportedly has completed the evacuation of its embassy in Kabul and has taken down its flag.

Taliban forces have surrounded the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul. There are currently no reports of Taliban fighters entering the capital, but a spokesman for the organization, Suhail Shaheen, said on the BBC: “We are awaiting a peaceful transition of power. … We seek inclusive Afghan government where all Afghans will have participation.” Meanwhile, the US is rushing to pull all personnel out of its embassy over the next three days.

Sahar Ismail, Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton’s adviser on Arab society, was shot dead by unknown assailants in his car in the town of Rameh on Sunday morning. Ismail, a member of the Druze community in Israel, was a veteran Likud activist, close to New Hope party leader and Justice Minister Gideon Saar, and No. 17 on the New Hope slate of candidates for the Knesset.

Two of the rockets landed in open areas in northern Israel, while one fell short and landed in Lebanon.

Smoke and a small fire were reported as a result of one of the rockets, which landed near Kiryat Shmona.

Six ships in international waters off the coast of the UAE emirate of Fujairah have broadcast signals indicating they are “not under command,” meaning that they have lost control of their steering in what could be an attack or hijacking. Unconfirmed reports have identified the ships as Asphalt Princess, Kamdhenu, Queen Ematha, Golden Brilliant, Jag Pooja and Abyss. The flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.com showed an Oman Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft flying over the area where the ships were thought to be located, and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations has advised other ships in the area to exercise extreme caution.

American Airlines flight AA052 from Miami to Tel Aviv safely landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport after it was discovered that the plane had a flat tire. The flight was carrying 190 passengers and crew.

Jehan Sadat, widow of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, died Friday in Egypt at the age of 87.  She had been battling cancer. Mrs. Sadat will receive a military funeral in Cairo. Despite her withdrawal from public life after her husband’s assassination in 1979, she was a supporter of incumbent President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.