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Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said Monday police had charged two Israelis on accusations that they planned to carry out an assassination at the behest of Iran.
The agency said Vladislav Victorson, 30, was approached online by a person called Mari Hossi and was instructed to carry out missions that ranged from petty vandalism to torching cars, and paid more than $5,000.
Full StoryIran held a series of diplomatic talks on Sunday, with President Masoud Pezeshkian seeking support from France's Emmanuel Macron for a ceasefire in Lebanon, and the foreign minister visiting Iraq while on a regional tour.
According to a statement on Iran's presidential website, Pezeshkian and Macron discussed ways to secure a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as the Iranian leader condemned Israel's "crimes" in Gaza and Lebanon.
Full StoryThe United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and troops to Israel. The Pentagon made the announcement Sunday, shortly after Iran warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD battery at the direction of President Joe Biden.
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French President Emmanuel Macron said that "stopping the export of weapons" used in Gaza and Lebanon was the only way to end fighting there, and also condemned "deliberate" targeting of U.N. peacekeepers.
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The Israeli military on Saturday renewed its orders for Palestinian in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and shelters as troops press on a weeklong offensive against militants.
Full StoryAsked about the latest airstrikes in Lebanon, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters in Las Vegas: “We have got to reach a cease-fire, both as it relates to what’s happening in Lebanon, and, of course, Gaza."
She added: "We are working around the clock in that regard, but we need these wars to end and we’ve got to definitely de-escalate what is happening in the region, and we’re working on that.”
Full StoryThe Israeli security cabinet is slated to convene this evening, with Israeli media reporting that ministers will be asked to sign off on Israel’s response to last week’s Iranian missile attack.
In the past, the cabinet has sometimes simply been asked to authorize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to make the decision themselves based on consultations with the rest of the security establishment.
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Esmail Qaani, the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, is alive and unhurt but under guard and being questioned as Iran investigates major security breaches, multiple sources have told the Middle East Eye news portal.
Full StoryAn Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza killed at least 27 people on Thursday, with the toll likely to rise, Palestinian medical officials said.
Israel has continued to strike at what it says are militant targets across the Palestinian enclave even as attention has shifted to its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran. It launched a large-scale air and ground operation against Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.
Full StoryAn Israeli strike hit a road linking Syria and Lebanon Thursday as Israel tries to cut off supply routes of Hezbollah, a war monitor said.
Israel has increased it strikes on Syria since it upped its air raids on what it says are targets of Hezbollah in Lebanon more than two weeks ago, notably killing the leader of the Lebanese group.
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