The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they unfold.
Israeli strike in Syria kills two — state media
Two people were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Syria on Wednesday, the official SANA news agency reports, citing a military source.
According to the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strike targeted the service center of a foundation affiliated with pro-Iranian militia including Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group
The strike was near Sayyida Zeinab, which is home to an important Shiite sanctuary and is defended by pro-Iranian militias and the army.
“At around 11:40 pm, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault from the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of positions in the southern region, killing two people and injuring a soldier,” the SANA report says.
It says Syrian air defense had also shot down some missiles, without giving further details.
Gallant warns Israel can return Lebanon to ‘Stone Age’ but doesn’t seek war with Hezbollah
WASHINGTON — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warns during a visit to Washington that Israel’s military is capable of taking Lebanon “back to the Stone Age” in any war with Hezbollah militants but insists his government prefers a diplomatic solution on the Israel-Lebanon border.
“We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” Gallant tells reporters during the four-day visit that ended today. “Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.”
Gallant also says he discussed with senior US officials his “day after” proposals for governance of post-war Gaza that would include local Palestinians, regional partners and the US, but that it would be “a long and complex process.”
Wizards reportedly trade Israeli native Deni Avdija to Portland
The Washington Wizards are reportedly parting ways with Israeli forward Deni Avdija after four seasons, trading the 23-year-old to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Wizards will receive guard Malcolm Brogdon the No. 14 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and an additional pick in 2029, ESPN reports.
Avdija finished sixth in the voting for this past year’s Most Improved Player award, averaging 14.7 points per game.
Troops begin to pull back as Bolivia coup attempt appears to have failed
Troops and armored vehicles have begun to pull back from Bolivia’s government palace.
Supporters of President Luis Arce flood into the plaza outside and waved Bolivian flags soon afterward.
Arce says the day has been “atypical in the life of country that wants democracy.”
He decries what he called “an attempted coup by troops who are staining the uniform, who are attacking our constitution.”
Arce praises those troops who obey the constitution and “wear their uniform with pride.”
“We deplore the attitudes of bad troops who regrettably repeat history by trying to carry out a coup when the Bolivian people have always been a democratic people,” he adds.
Syrian air defenses reportedly engaging ‘enemy targets’ over Damascus
Syrian air defenses are engaging “enemy targets” — a euphemism generally referring to Israeli Air Force fighter jets and missiles — over the Damascus suburb of Sayyidah Zaynab, the pro-government Sham FM radio reports.
There are no immediate details on possible damage or casualties in the alleged attack.
Coup attempt underway in Bolivia as president urges people to mobilize against it
Armored vehicles have rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace, as President Luis Arce says the country faces an attempted coup, insists he stands firm and urges people to mobilize.
In a video of Arce surrounded by ministers in the palace, he says: “The country is facing an attempted coup d’état. Here we are, firm in Casa Grande, to confront any coup attempt. We need the Bolivian people to organize.”
Arce is confronting the general commander of the Army — Juan José Zúñiga, who appears to be leading the rebellion — in the palace hallway, as shown on video on Bolivian television. “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce says.
Before entering the government building, Zúñiga tells journalists in the plaza: “Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this.” Zúñiga said that “for now” he recognizes Arce as commander-in-chief.
Zúñiga does not explicitly say he’s leading a coup, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he says the army was trying to “restore democracy and free our political prisoners.”
The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union condemns what it called an attempted coup and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.
Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.
The country also has seen a high-profile rift at the highest levels of the governing party. Arce and his one-time ally, leftist icon and former President Morales, have been battling for the future of Bolivia’s splintering Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, ahead of elections in 2025.
Netherlands said to summon Israeli envoy over report on years-long campaign against ICC
The Dutch Foreign Ministry has reportedly summoned Israeli Ambassador Modi Ephraim for a “clarification” meeting, following The Guardian investigation last month that asserted Israel has waged a nine-year “war” against the International Criminal Court, tapping its communications and threatening its prosecutor.
Officials in the Netherlands — the country that hosts The Hague-based court — initiated the meeting, several Hebrew media outlets report, adding that the sit-down was revealed by the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson in response to questions raised by Dutch lawmakers.
He reportedly said the country’s “concerns” were discussed, refusing to go into more detail.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The Times of Israel.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
Lebanese media report Israeli strike with casualties in Nabatieh
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike on a building in the southern Lebanon city of Nabatieh.
According to reports, there are casualties in the strike.
متابعة: الغارة المعادية على مدينة النبطية حي المشاع استهدفت مبنى والمعلومات الاولية وقوع اصابات جراء العدوان pic.twitter.com/Q8VNgbIWb5
— موقع النبطية (@Nabatiehorg) June 26, 2024