The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
UN Security Council to condemn Syria violence, say diplomats
The United Nations Security Council has agreed to a statement condemning widespread violence in Syria’s coastal region and calling on Syria’s interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, diplomats say.
The Russian and US-drafted presidential statement is due to be formally adopted on Friday, the diplomats said. Such statements are agreed by consensus. It comes after the 15-member council met behind closed doors on Syria on Monday.
Several days of violent clashes in Syria’s coastal region pitted loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country’s new Islamist rulers. A war monitoring group said more than 1,000 people had been killed.
Entire families including women and children were killed in Tartus and Latakia – where members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect lived – as part of a series of sectarian killings by rival groups, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.
“The Security Council calls on the interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion,” reads the statement, seen by Reuters. “Syria’s interim authorities must hold the perpetrators of these mass killings accountable.”
Syria’s interim President Ahmed Sharaa said mass killings of members of Assad’s minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country, and promised to punish those responsible, including his own allies if necessary.
“The Security Council welcomes the Syrian interim authorities’ public condemnation of instances of violence and calls for further measures to prevent its recurrence,” reads the council statement.
It also “reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria and calls on all States to respect these principles and to refrain from any action or interference that may further destabilize Syria.”
The statement does not identify any countries. However since Assad was ousted in December, Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes on Syrian military bases and moved forces into a UN-monitored demilitarized zone within Syria, in what it has said was a defensive and indefinite measure.
The Security Council statement also stresses the importance of countering terrorism in Syria and expresses “grave concern over the acute threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters,” urging Syria to take “decisive measures to address the threat.”
IDF troops shoot dead two suspects trying to cross into Israel from Jordan
The IDF shot dead two suspects from Jordan who crossed into Israel near the northern town of Beit Shan, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The two suspects were part of a group of eight who were trying to cross into Israel together. The other six suspects were arrested by Israeli troops.
The eight were identified by IDF cameras, and troops nearby were alerted. When the soldiers arrived at the scene, two of the suspects jumped out of the bushes. The sudden movement led the troops to believe that they were under threat, so they opened fire.
The pair of suspects succumbed to their wounds, while the other six were taken into custody for questioning.
Citing an initial IDF assessment, Kan says that all of the suspects appeared to be migrants looking for work.
No IDF soldiers were injured during the incident.
Settlers said torching homes in central West Bank Palestinian village
Palestinians from Khirbet al Marajim report that dozens of settlers have invaded their village in the central West Bank village and have set several homes on fire.
The village is located adjacent to Duma, which was targeted in a deadly settler firebombing in 2015 that took the lives of an 18-month-old baby and his parents.
عاجل| مصادر محلية: مستوطنون يحرقون عددًا من المنازل في خربة المراجم، قرب قرية دوما، جنوب نابلس. pic.twitter.com/HWbXwPCr9h
— Alhadath Newspaper|صحيفة الحدث الفلسطيني (@Alhadath_news1) March 13, 2025
????????????BREAKING – A horrifying video shows a Palestinian family trapped inside their home in Khirbet al-Marajim, Duma, as Israeli settlers attack and attempt to set it on fire. pic.twitter.com/X5MeQNsUDM
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 13, 2025
Saudi Crown Prince tells Putin kingdom committed to facilitating Ukraine dialogue
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call the kingdom remains committed to facilitating dialogue and supporting a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis, the Saudi state news agency reports.
Saudi Arabia recently hosted separate meetings between U.S. and Russian officials, as well as US and Ukrainian officials.
Johns Hopkins University says it’s laying off 2,000 employees due to Trump cuts
The prestigious Johns Hopkins University says it is being forced to lay off more than 2,000 employees in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s massive reduction in foreign aid funding.
“This is a difficult day for our entire community. The termination of more than $800 million in USAID funding is now forcing us to wind down critical work here in Baltimore and internationally,” the school — a top research institute barely an hour’s drive from the US capital — says in a statement.
Hamas renews call for Israel to abide by truce requirement for IDF to withdraw from Philadelphi
Hamas has renewed a demand for Israeli troops to withdraw from south Gaza, accusing Israel of seeking to breach the terms of a ceasefire in talks on the next phase of the accord.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem tells AFP that Israeli forces should have pulled out of a strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border under the first phase of the ceasefire that started on January 19.
Hamas has accused Israel of keeping troops in the strategic Philadelphi Corridor. Israel has insisted it needs to maintain control of the corridor to prevent weapons smuggling into the Palestinian territory from Egypt.
Qassem indicates that the corridor had become one of the sticking points at Qatari-US mediated talks in Doha on the next phase of the ceasefire.
“Reports indicate new proposals are being presented aimed at circumventing the Gaza agreement,” Qassem tells AFP.
“Meetings are continuing with mediators in Doha. We adhere to what was agreed upon and to entering into the second phase,” he adds.
But he insists that Israel must also fulfill its obligations “withdrawing from the entire Gaza Strip” and “begin the withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor” for any second phase deal to end the war.
“Israel has not implemented the humanitarian protocol of the Gaza agreement,” Qassem adds. Israel has stopped humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since March 2 to back its demand that Hamas release all remaining hostages held since the 2023 attacks.
“We do not want to return to war again, and if the occupation resumes its aggression, we have no choice but to defend our people,” the spokesman says.
Thousands gather in Hostages Square to read Book of Esther on Purim eve
Thousands come to Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Thursday night for the Purim eve reading of the Book of Esther, which tells the story of the biblical heroine Queen Esther saving the Jewish people from extermination in what is now modern-day Iran.
The gathering, which includes Israelis from different communities, sectors and denominations, includes a call for the return of the 59 remaining hostages in one release.
Meirav Leshem Gonen, mother of freed hostage Romi Gonen participates in the event.
Meanwhile, hundreds gather at Begin Road, a short walk away from Hostages Square, where hostage family members and supporters are spending a sixth night in the encampment as they continue calling for the release of all the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Columbia University announces suspensions, expulsions for last year’s ‘Hind’s Hall’ building takeover
Columbia University in New York City announces student punishments for the takeover of a campus building by anti-Israel protesters last year.
The university’s judicial board issued “multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions,” for the takeover of Hamilton Hall — briefly renamed Hind’s Hall by the protesters — the university says.
There are no details about the number of students punished.
Columbia is under heavy pressure from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress over anti-Zionist activism on campus.
A Congressional investigative committee has demanded the university turn over all disciplinary records related to anti-Zionist activism.
The administration has cut $400 million in funding to Columbia and threatened billions more.
Federal immigration agents detained a campus anti-Israel activist leader on Saturday, setting off furious backlash.
A major protest by dozens of groups is planned for the campus gates tomorrow.
Iranian chief rabbi reads the Book of Esther at the Tomb of Mordechai and Esther
Footage has emerged of Iran’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami reading from the Book of Esther and dancing with students at the Tomb of Mordechai and Esther in the city of Hamadan for the holiday of Purim.
According to the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan, Rabbi Gerami and his students danced outside the tomb complex before the afternoon Mincha prayer on the eve of the Purim holiday. The rabbi later read Esther from the megillah scroll in accordance with the Purim custom.
According to a tradition dating back to at least the 1100s, Mordechai and Esther were buried in a mausoleum in Hamadan, believed to be the ancient city of Shushan mentioned in the Book of Esther. The tradition is not generally believed outside the Iranian community.
Some 8,500 Jews live in Iran, primarily in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz.
פורים בקהילה היהודית באיראן: רב הקהילה, יהודה גראמי, התפלל ערבית וקרא מגילה בקבר מרדכי ואסתר בעיר המדאן. הרב רקד עם תלמידיו – שחלקם לומדים לדיינות ורבנות, מחוץ למתחם הקברים@kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/BXO2mURCPV
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 13, 2025