The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they happen.
Detained flotilla activists brought to airport, with deportations to start in coming hours
Pro-Palestinian activists on a boat that sought to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza have arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, from where they will be deported to their home countries in the coming hours, the Foreign Ministry says, disparaging their initiative as a “selfie-yacht.”
“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation,” the Foreign Ministry adds, noting that consuls from the activists’ home countries met them at the airport.
Qatar hits out at ‘fabricated’ Israeli TV report on its ties to Hamas before Oct. 7
Qatar blasts a Channel 12 news report that claimed to uncover documents shining a light on Doha’s alleged collaboration with Hamas in the lead up to the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
Qatar’s International Media Office issues a statement charging that the documents are “fabricated” and decrying the Channel 12 report as another “attempt to sow tension and division between Qatar and the United States at a crucial stage in our efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.”
The Channel 12 documents would appear to contradict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent characterization of Qatar as a “complicated state, but not an enemy state,” and his attempts to downplay years of Qatari cash infusions of millions of dollars a month to Hamas in Gaza, which he last month claimed didn’t play a significant role in allowing the terror group to prepare for, and execute, its ongoing war against the Jewish state.
Further hitting out at the report, Qatar’s International Media Office calls it a “deliberate distraction deployed by those who want to deflect attention from negative coverage of their own irresponsible actions in Gaza, including those reported in the news over the past week, at a moment when a breakthrough is within reach.”
“This tactic has been used previously by those who want diplomacy to fail. They do not want Qatar’s work with the Trump administration – on the Gaza file and other regional files – to succeed in bringing peace to the region,” the Qatari statement continues.
“Similar methods have been used against those who have spoken out against the continuation of the war or worked diplomatically to bring the hostages home including members of President Trump’s administration, in an effort to discredit them and undermine the diplomatic process.”
“Their efforts will not succeed. No fabricated documents will weaken the bond between Qatar and the United States,” the Qatari statement adds.
Next round of US-Iran nuclear talks planned for Sunday in Oman — Iranian foreign ministry
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says the “next round of Iran–US indirect negotiations was being planned for next Sunday in Muscat,” the ministry says on its Telegram channel early on Tuesday.
PM said to tell Dermer, Mossad chief to meet with Witkoff before next US-Iran talks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructs Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in the near future, Channel 13 reports.
The two senior officials are meant to meet Witkoff before the next round of US-Iran nuclear talks, which are expected to be held this weekend.
The development takes place after Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump spoke at length on Monday about Iran’s nuclear program.