The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
US says it hit Houthi drones before they could attack ships
The US military says it carried out a pre-emptive attack on two Houthi drones in Yemen that threatened commercial ships and naval forces in the area.
An aerial drone and an unmanned boat in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen were both destroyed, the US Central Command says.
“It was determined these systems presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” Central Command says in a brief statement on X.
August 31 U.S. Central Command Update
In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) and one uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
It was determined these… pic.twitter.com/IhX4ZuGpef— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 31, 2024
Biden comments on IDF finding bodies in Gaza, urges waiting until they are identified
Exiting a church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, US President Joe Biden comments on the IDF’s statement that it has found bodies in Gaza, possibly of hostages.
Biden notes there is uncertainty about the exact number and “a lot of speculation who they are,” adding that the matter should wait until they are identified and “their families are notified.”
“It’s time this war ended. We should end this war. I think we’re on the verge of having an agreement,” he adds.
High school teacher’s strike to go ahead tomorrow, union head says
Israel’s high school teachers will begin their planned strike tomorrow, the first day of the new school year, despite a last-minute negotiation session with the Education Ministry, says Ran Erez, chairman of the Secondary Schools Teachers Association.
Erez; Education Minister Yoav Kisch; Federation of Local Authorities chief Haim Bibas; and Efraim Malkin, the commissioner for wages and work agreements at the Finance Ministry, attended a meeting tonight in Tel Aviv in a last-ditch effort to avert the strike, which Erez officially called on Thursday.
“There is no possibility to sign a collective agreement overnight, even if an unexpected miracle happens and our demands are met. Without a signed, perfect agreement, the struggle won’t end, therefore the strike will stand and take place as planned tomorrow,” Erez said in a late-night statement.
The last-minute negotiations were widely not expected to avert the strike.
Kisch subsequently issues a statement attacking both Erez and Smotrich.
“After the emergency meeting and the nighttime negotiations in which I ordered another compromise outline, I came to the conclusion that both Finance Minister Smotrich and Ran Erez desire the strike,” he asserts, adding that they are locked in an “ego battle” and are “harming students and teachers.”
“Both have failed to step up in light of the magnitude of the situation, and all of us are paying the price,” the education minister says. “I fully hope they will put their ego aside and we will reach agreements as soon as possible.”
The strike is officially to cover instructors teaching 10-12th grade, but some 9th-grade classes are also reported to be affected.
The Secondary School Teachers Association has been engaged in ongoing yet deadlocked negotiations with the education and finance ministries, with instructors demanding retroactive wage increases and other benefits that were agreed upon before the last school year began, but which were deferred due to Hamas’s October 7 attack and the outbreak of the still ongoing war.
The union is also seeking a collective salary agreement, a major sticking point in the negotiations, while the government has pushed for individual contracts for teachers amid a budgetary shortfall.
Lapid: Netanyahu focused on his survival as ‘our sons and daughters are dying in captivity’
After the military says it has found bodies in Gaza, possibly of hostages, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid issues a scathing statement accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of focusing on insignificant issues as “our sons and daughters are being abandoned and dying in captivity.”
“Not the Philadelphi Corridor nor the polio vaccines [in Gaza] interest him — just the coalition and preserving [the partnership with Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir,” he charges. “In the process, he is crushing the families and the nation of Israel.”