The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
Ambrey says concrete docks at Yemen’s Hodeida port sustain damage after Israeli strikes
British security firm Ambrey says it has observed imagery that confirms damage to the concrete docks at Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeida port following Israeli strikes.
Additionally, two Barbados-flagged bulk carriers likely suffered blast damage as a result of the attacks, Ambrey says in an advisory note, adding that no injuries among the crews have been reported.
Israel struck Houthi targets at three Yemeni ports and a power plant, the military said early on Monday, in its first strikes on Yemen in nearly a month.
Netanyahu: We removed ‘tumors’ of Iran’s nuclear and missile threats, but monitoring needed so they don’t reemerge
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the “partnership between Israel and the United States — the partnership between President Trump and me — produced a historic victory.”
He says the combination of the US and Israel “produced a decisive result” against Iran.
“It set back the two tumors that were threatening the life of Israel — the nuclear tumor and the ballistic missile tumor,” Netanyahu tells reporters before his dinner with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
“They were planning to build 20,000 of these things and launch it on a country the size of New Jersey. No country can withstand that. So what do you do when you have two things that are going to kill you? You have to remove them with our combined effort [and] we did,” Netanyahu says.
“But when you remove a tumor, that doesn’t mean that it can’t come back. You have to constantly monitor the situation to make sure that there’s no attempt to bring it back,” the premier warns.
Netanyahu says the US and Israeli strikes against Iran “changed the face of the Middle East” and have created an opportunity to expand the Abraham Accords normalization agreements between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbors.
“I’d like to believe that Iran would not test our fortitude, because it would be a mistake,” he says.
Asked whether he backs regime change, Netanyahu responds, “It’s up to the people of Iran.”
Netanyahu says he’ll travel to NYC despite Mamdani’s ‘not serious’ vow to arrest him; Trump: ‘I’ll get him out’
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he still plans to travel to New York City, despite the US Democratic Party’s nominee for mayor of the city Zohran Mamdani pledging to arrest the Israeli premier, citing the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him.
Asked if he’s concerned about Mamdani’s pledge, Netanyahu tells reporters before his dinner with US President Donald Trump that he’s “not concerned about that.”
“I’ll get him out,” Trump chimes in as Netanyahu is speaking.
“There’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends. This is appalling, and it’s silly in many ways because it’s just not serious,” the Israeli premier adds.
Asked whether that means he’ll be in New York next year, Netanyahu responds that he’s going to come with Trump.
Netanyahu would likely come before next year, given that he speaks at the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level meeting of world leaders, which takes place annually in September.
The premier also notes that while Mamdani has won the Democratic primary, the general election isn’t until November.
Weighing in on the matter, Trump calls Mamdani a “communist” who has “said some real bad things about Jewish people” — an apparent reference to the mayoral candidate’s intense criticism of Israel and refusal to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.”
“He’s going through a little bit of a honeymoon right now, [and] he might [win], but it all comes through the White House. He needs the money through the White House… He’s going to behave… He better behave, otherwise he’s going to have big problems,” Trump says.
Netanyahu says he’ll ‘work out a peace’ with moderate Palestinians, but they won’t have the power to threaten Israel
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump is asked whether a two-state solution is possible, but cedes the floor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to answer.
“I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us,” Netanyahu says in a response he has given countless times before over the years.
“That means that certain powers, like overall security, will always remain in our hands,” the Israeli premier continues.
“No one in Israel will agree to anything else, because we don’t commit suicide,” Netanyahu asserts.
“We want life. We cherish life for ourselves, for our neighbors, and I think we can work out a peace between us and the entire Middle East with President Trump’s leadership,” he continues. “By working together, I think we can establish a very, very broad peace that will include all our neighbors.”
He claims that some people said the Palestinians had a state before the onslaught of October 7, 2023 — “a Hamas state in Gaza. Look what they did with it. They didn’t build it up. They built down into bunkers, into terror tunnels, after which they massacred our people.” He says that “another” Palestinian state would similarly serve as a “platform to destroy Israel.”
“We’ll work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors — those who don’t want to destroy us. And we’ll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands,” Netanyahu asserts.
“Now people will say, ‘It’s not a complete state, it’s not a state’… We don’t care,” he says.
“We vowed ‘Never again.’ Never again is now. It’s not going to happen again.”
Witkoff promises new nuclear talks with Iran within a week; Trump says not sure they have a purpose
WASHINGTON — US Special Envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff says the first round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran since last month’s war between Israel and Iran will be held “in the next week or so.”
Fielding questions from reporters before his White House dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump is asked about the talks, given that he has claimed for over a week that Iran is interested in holding talks.
“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to talk” after they took a “big drubbing,” Trump quips, referring to the US strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Pressed if he has a date for the Iran talks, Trump responds: “I’d rather not say, but you’ll be reading about it tomorrow or seeing it tomorrow.”
Asked what the Iran talks will be about moving forward, Trump acknowledges that he doesn’t completely see a purpose for them, given his belief that Tehran’s nuclear program has been destroyed.
“But [the Iranians are] requested a meeting, and I’m going to go to a meeting, and if we can put something down on paper, that will be fine,” Trump says.
He reiterates his assertion that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated.”
Trump says the strike he ordered reminded him of the US dropping atomic bombs on Japan in World War II.
“I don’t want to say what it reminded me of, but if you go back a long time ago, it reminded people of a certain other event, and Harry Truman’s picture is now in the [White House] lobby,” he says, referring to the US president behind the strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“That stopped a lot of fighting, and this stopped a lot of fighting,” Trump says.
He asserts that Iran is now in a different mindset regarding nuclear talks since the US strikes and has gained a lot of respect for the US and Israel.
Asked what it would take for the US to carry out another strike on Iran, Trump says he hopes that won’t be necessary.
“They want to make peace, and I’m all for it. If that’s not the case, we are ready, willing and able, but I don’t think we’re going to have to,” he adds.
Netanyahu says several countries close to agreeing to take in Gazans; Trump: ‘Something good will happen’
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel and the US are “getting close to finding several countries” who will take in Palestinians who would like to leave the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Fielding questions from reporters before their White House dinner, US President Donald Trump is asked whether his plan to take over Gaza and relocate the Strip’s population is still on the table.
Trump asks Netanyahu to answer the question.
“I think President Trump had a brilliant vision. It’s called free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay; but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” Netanyahu responds. Gaza “shouldn’t be a prison. It should be an open place.”
The Israeli government has jumped on Trump’s Gaza takeover plan, framing it as an opportunity to “encourage the voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the Strip.
Critics have blasted the Israeli rhetoric as a euphemism for the forced expulsion of Palestinians and the ethnic cleansing of the Strip, given that the effort is being pushed in the middle of a devastating war that has seen much of Gaza flattened.
“We’re working with the United States very closely [to] find countries that will… give the Palestinians a better future,” Netanyahu says.
Chiming in, Trump says he has had “great cooperation” from “surrounding countries” on the matter.
“Something good will happen,” he adds.
While some neighboring countries have taken in Palestinians for medical treatment, no country has publicly agreed to cooperate with the Trump initiative, not wanting to interfere in what is seen as a land conflict between Israel and the Palestinians — particularly as some of Netanyahu’s coalition partners have been pushing building settlements in Gaza areas cleared of Palestinians.
Witkoff on Gaza talks: ‘We have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal’
WASHINGTON — Asked to provide an update on the ongoing ceasefire-hostage talks, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff says, “We have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal.”
US President Donald Trump asked Witkoff to speak while taking questions from reporters with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before their dinner at the White House.
Trump had been asked whether a reported security incident that took place several hours earlier in northern Gaza would impact the hostage talks.
“I don’t think so,” Trump responds, insisting that both Israel and Hamas want a ceasefire before asking Witkoff to weigh in.
Commenting on the security incident that reportedly led to several Israeli casualties, Witkoff calls it “terribly unfortunate” before insisting that there is still an opportunity for a hostage deal and expressing his hope that one will be reached “very quickly.”
Netanyahu gives Trump letter he sent to Nobel committee recommending him for Peace Prize
WASHINGTON — Following US President Donald Trump’s opening remarks to reporters before their White House dinner, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expresses his appreciation for the American leader on behalf of Israelis as well as Jews around the world.
Netanyahu touts Trump’s “pursuit of peace and security in which you are leading in many lands, but now, especially in the Middle East.”
“Our teams together make an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities,” Netanyahu says, highlighting the US strikes against Iran.
“But the president has already realized great opportunities. He forged the Abraham Accords. He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region, after the other,” Netanyahu continues.
The premier then gets to his feet and presents Trump, across the table, with a letter he sent to the Nobel Prize committee nominating the US president for the peace prize.
“It’s well deserved, and you should get it,” the Israeli premier says.
“Wow,” Trump says. “Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.”
Trump hosts Netanyahu for dinner, says they’ve had ‘tremendous success together’
WASHINGTON — In remarks to reporters while sitting across from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House, US President Donald Trump says he and the Israeli premier have “had a tremendous success together, and I think it will only go on to be even greater success in the future.”
Trump and Netanyahu are joined for dinner by their top aides, and the US president gives a personal shout-out to Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
“We’ve worked together for a long time. We’ve done well together,” Trump tells Dermer, Netanyahu’s closest adviser.