RIOTS, Clashes In Tel Aviv; Israel Erupts Against IDF, Netanyahu; 'FREE GAZA' Cry In Israeli City
A massive protest took place in the heart of Israel on Monday, denouncing Tel Aviv's continued offensive in Gaza. Protesters held placards that read "Stop the Genocide", "Free Gaza", as they clashed with police who tried to disperse them. The anti-war protests have been taking place even as Israel Defence Force intensified its operation in Gaza. On Monday, at least 52 people were killed in fresh Israeli strike. Out of these, 36 people lost their lives in the attack on a school-turned-shelter.
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Iran claims without evidence that it took Israeli nuclear files
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's intelligence minister claimed without offering evidence Sunday that Tehran seized an 'important treasury' of information regarding Israel's nuclear program, ahead of a week in which the Islamic Republic likely will face new diplomatic pressure over its own program. The remarks by Esmail Khatib follow Iranian state television claiming Saturday that Iranian intelligence officials seized documents, again without any evidence. Israel, whose undeclared atomic weapons program makes it the only country in the Mideast with nuclear bombs, has not acknowledged any such Iranian operation targeting it — though there have been arrests of Israelis allegedly spying for Tehran amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Iran, meanwhile, will likely face censure this week from the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency over longstanding questions about its program. Iran has also signaled it will reject a proposal from the United States after five rounds of negotiations over its nuclear program — setting the stage for that long-running crisis to potentially spike as well. Responding to questions from an Iranian state TV reporter Sunday after a Cabinet meeting, Khatib said members of the Intelligence Ministry 'achieved an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence of the Zionist regime and it was transferred into the country with God's help.' He claimed thousands of pages of documents had been obtained and insisted they would be made public soon. Among them were documents related to the U.S., Europe and other countries, he claimed, obtained through 'infiltration' and 'access to the sources.' He did not elaborate on the methods used. However, Khatib, a Shiite cleric, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 over directing 'cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran's political goals.' For Iran, the claim may be designed to show the public that the theocracy was able to respond to a 2018 Israeli operation that spirited out what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a 'half ton' of documents related to Iran's program. That Israeli announcement came just before President Donald Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which greatly limited its program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. This week, Western nations are expect to go before the IAEA's Board of Governors with a proposal to find Iran in noncompliance with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. It could be the first time in decades — and likely would kick the issue to the U.N. Security Council. That could see one of the Western countries involved in the 2015 nuclear deal invoke the so-called 'snapback' of U.N. sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The authority to reestablish those sanctions by the complaint of any member of the original 2015 nuclear deal expires in October — putting the West on a clock to exert pressure on Tehran over its program before losing that power. Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Tehran has enough highly enriched uranium to build multiple atomic bombs should it choose to do so. Without a deal with the U.S., Iran's long-ailing economy could enter a freefall that could worsen the simmering unrest at home. Israel or the U.S. might carry out long-threatened airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. Experts fear Tehran in response could decide to fully end its cooperation with the IAEA and rush toward a bomb. Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The is solely responsible for all content. Additional coverage of the nuclear landscape: /projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Israel is putting more women on the front line to help fix its manpower problem
GOLAN HEIGHTS—Days ago, an Israeli search-and-rescue team in Gaza spent hours drilling through concrete and plying aside rebar to recover the body of a fallen soldier buried under rubble in Khan Younis. The combat unit had been following a commando brigade in Gaza, recovering the bodies of dead soldiers on the battlefield. It is a routine task in the Israeli military, but it was unique that this team was made up mostly of women. 'A year and a half ago, I would never have dreamed of leading a combat team within Lebanon or Gaza," said a petite 25-year-old major. 'I think the war proved to all of us how much we are capable of." She is among a growing number of women serving on the front lines of Israel's military. Before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that spurred the war, women were trained for combat, but left mostly to guard within Israel's borders or run checkpoints in the West Bank, considered less dangerous tasks. Now, they are entering the battlefield in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria in ways many previously thought impossible. Today, one in five combat soldiers is a woman, a ratio higher than many other modern Western militaries, experts say, and one which helps relieve Israel's acute manpower shortage after 20 months of war. Israel's military is made up largely of volunteer reservists, placing the burden of the war on regular working people, often with young families. Still, full equality in the military remains a challenge. The military last week cut short a pilot program to integrate women into Israel's main infantry units for 'expected low effectiveness," after finding that the 23 female trainees were suffering injuries and were 'not expected to meet the required standards of combat and physical fitness." The Israeli military has been pushing to recruit ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into its ranks as a solution to the manpower problem. The military and most of the country supports drafting ultra-Orthodox men, who are largely refusing to comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling that overturned their longstanding draft exemption. In light of this, integrating women eases pressure to free up men for other fighting roles. But with many of the military's core combat positions still closed to women or dominated by men, integrating women means it is only a partial solution to the manpower problem. Israel has for decades had one of the highest female representations among modern militaries, standing at about one-third overall, according to the military's most recently available data. It quickly drew on women ahead of its 1948 founding war out of a mix of socialist ideology, nationalism and necessity, experts say. Israel later scaled back women's roles until the 1990s, when Border Guard units opened their ranks to female fighters and a Supreme Court case forced the air force to recruit female pilots. Today, just over half of the military's combat roles are open to women, and 90% of overall roles. This high ratio of women in combat-designated roles is unusual for modern militaries. The U.S., although it has opened most military roles to women, still has a lower overall percentage of female forces at 18%, and therefore at the front lines. Israel is also one of the few countries that subjects women to a broad-based draft at age 18, just like men. Today, women represent 21% of Israel's combat-classed forces, jumping from 14% right ahead of the war and up from 7% a decade earlier, according to Israeli military data. The military said that it has about 4,500 female recruits in combat roles, driven by both an expansion in offerings to women and increased female demand to go into combat professions. 'There are three reasons militaries look to put women in combat roles: ideology, equality and necessity," said Jacob Stoil, chair of applied history at the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, who emphasized he was speaking from his personal research and not on behalf of the Army. 'You'll see women serving in combat roles when one of those three are the case," he said, adding that in Israel all three apply. The search-and-rescue unit that the young major belongs to is a mixed-gender fighting force specialized in excavating collapsed structures and evacuating the wounded. Ahead of the war, the unit was mostly relegated to West Bank security-keeping roles, also considered a less dangerous task. After Oct. 7, the unit was sent to the front lines in Gaza and embedded with commando units. When the war expanded to Lebanon, women were sent on front-line missions there too. The military plans to expand the unit by opening a new company in August. Since first being admitted in 2008, women have grown to fill about 70% of its combat roles, officers in the unit said. Women's conscription into combat units has long been a subject of debate in Israel. Some believe that the risk of torture or rape if captured puts women in a uniquely dangerous position. Others argue it hurts male morale, and that it creates additional challenges for some religious men who don't want to be in the same unit as a woman. Perceptions began to change after the Oct. 7 attack, when three all-female tank crews in the Caracal Battalion, meant to patrol Israel's border with Egypt but not enter enemy territory, raced through the desert to fight off Palestinian militants in and around Israeli communities under siege. Israel's military said that it has about 4,500 female recruits in combat roles. The Israeli military's then-chief-of-staff Herzi Halevi took notice at the time, saying that their 'action and fighting" against Hamas on Oct. 7 answers critics of women's integration into fighting forces. The search-and-rescue unit's base in Zikim also came under attack, and seven soldiers died fending off militants. Among the rescuers sent to recapture and secure the base was a 21-year-old lieutenant. She and other relief forces held off militants for two days before tanks arrived to back them up, she said. Shortly thereafter, she was attached to Israel's equivalent to the Navy SEALs as part of the initial phase of Israel's ground invasion, helping them hunt for underground tunnels in Gaza. She doesn't think she would ever have been given such an opportunity before Oct. 7. 'I think that they just realized how powerful we are," she said. 'They realized we can actually do it."
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
‘You will not make it to Gaza': Israel vows to block Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg, a climate activist, is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition read more Climate activist Greta Thunberg boards the Madleen boat before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy. AP Israel vowed Sunday to block an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching Gaza. Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel will not permit any breach of its naval blockade on Palestinian territory, emphasizing that it was intended to stop Hamas from bringing in weapons. 'I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza,' Israel Katz said in a statement from his office. 'To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists — I will say this clearly: You should turn back, because you will not make it to Gaza,' he said in a statement. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Thunberg, a climate activist, is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its 21st month, the organisers of the Madleen's voyage said on Saturday that they had arrived in Egyptian waters and were getting close to Gaza. The activists had said they planned to reach Gaza's territorial waters as early as Sunday. Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, is among the others onboard. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. The Madleen sailed out of Italy on June 1 with the aim of bringing humanitarian relief and lifting the Israeli bloackade on Palestinian territory. 'Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas – a murderous terrorist group holding our hostages and committing war crimes,' Katz said. 'Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or support terror groups – by sea, air or land,' he added. An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group's vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians. Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead. Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn't say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid. With inputs from agencies
