The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they happen.
IDF says drone from Lebanon shot down
The Israel Defense Forces says it shot down a drone that crossed into the Western Galilee from Lebanon.
The interception triggered pre-dawn rocket sirens in the towns of Yaara and Adamit due to fears of falling shrapnel, according to the IDF.
No injuries are reported.
Beirut-based airline changes more flight schedules amid reprisal worries
Beirut based Middle East Airlines has announced it is delaying several of its flights to and from Lebanon, a move widely seen as related to preparations for a possible expansion of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
As with six affected flights announced earlier, MEA says it is not canceling the flights but merely delaying them, in some cases by as little as an hour. The move, it says, is “due to technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations.”
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, Rafic Hariri airport is experiencing average delays of over 400 minutes for departures and over 150 minutes for arrivals. There have also been a smattering of cancellations, but most flights schedules remain intact.
Rafic Hariri Airport, Lebanon’s only international facility, was hit early in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
However, the head of MEA said earlier he was not worried about a repeat sortie.
“We’re not afraid that the airport will be hit, nor do we have any information in that regard. If we were scared, we wouldn’t have left any flights (operating),” MEA chairman Mohamad El-Hout told local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.
Lufthansa and Lufthansa’s Eurowings have cancelled three flights to Beirut scheduled for Monday afternoon, according to the information board at the airport and Flightradar24.
Turkish Airlines also cancelled two flights overnight on Sunday and Turkey-based budget carrier SunExpress, Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air and MEA have also cancelled flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday, Flightradar24 shows.
The airlines do not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rocket sirens sound in northern towns
Rocket sirens are sounding in two towns in northern Israel, amid high tensions that wider hostilities could break out on the Lebanese border.
The sirens are activated in the towns of Yaara and Adamit, both near the Lebanon border in the Western Galile.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Israel said to shell southern Lebanese town
Sources in Lebanon say Israel is carrying out heavy shelling in the town of Houla, the Palestinian Quds news site reports.
The reported attack on Houla, which sits less than a kilometer over the border from the Galilee panhandle, comes as much of southern Lebanon is bracing for an Israeli reprisal to a rocket strike on a Golan soccer field that killed 12 kids from the Druze community Saturday.
There is no comment from the military on the reports of shelling in Houla or earlier reports of Israeli strikes elsewhere in southern Lebanon.
Calls for condemnation, removal from NATO after Erdogan threat
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says on X that “Israel won’t accept threats from a wannabe dictator” in response to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning he could order an invasion of Israel.
“President Erdogan is ranting and raving again. He is a danger to the Middle East,” Lapid writes on X. “The world, and especially NATO members, must strongly condemn his outrageous threats against Israel and force him to end his support for Hamas.”
President Erdogan is ranting and raving again. He is a danger to the Middle East.
The world, and especially NATO members, must strongly condemn his outrageous threats against Israel and force him to end his support for Hamas.
We won’t accept threats from a wannabe dictator.
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) July 28, 2024
Also weighing in, Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders calls for Turkey to be removed from NATO over his comments.
“Islamofascist Erdogan threatens to invade Israel. This guy is totally nuts,” Wilders tweets. “Turkey should be kicked out of NATO.”
UK’s Starmer says he pushed Herzog on Gaza ceasefire during Paris meet
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Israel’s President Isaac Herzog there needed to be “immediate steps” towards a ceasefire in Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza, London says.
“The Prime Minister said there must be immediate steps towards a ceasefire, so that hostages can be released and more humanitarian aid can get in for those in desperate need,” Starmer’s office says in a statement.
“The Prime Minister reiterated his ongoing support for Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law,” the statement says.
Starmer met Herzog in Paris where both were attending the Olympics.
IDF said to deny Ben Gvir receiving footage of hostages being tortured
Military sources quoted by Hebrew language media deny a report claiming that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was sent video footage of hostages being tortured by Hamas in Gaza along with a demand to ease treatment of Palestinian detainees.
Channel 12 news reports that the army informed families of hostages that Ben Gvir was not sent any such videos.
Ynet quotes a military source adding that “there are constantly intelligence materials and other [evidence] about the hostages and their conditions. All the updates regarding them go through Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli surfer Lelior wins heat to keep Olympic hopes afloat
Israeli surfer Anat Lelior has advanced to the round of 16 at the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning her Round 2 heat against Spain’s Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri with 11 points.
Lelior will next compete tomorrow in a heat against Australian Tyler Wright for a chance to advance to the surfing quarterfinal.
The competition is taking place in Tahiti, French Polynesia — thousands of miles from Paris but home to waves sought by surfers the world over.
Lelior competed for Israel at the Tokyo Games, where surfing had its Olympic debut, but failed to advance to the third round after she was knocked out of contention following her first two heats.