The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they happen.
IDF chief reportedly says there is a hostage deal ‘on the table, we need to take it’
While visiting the Haifa naval base, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that “there is a [hostage] deal on the table, we need to take it,” according to Channel 13 news.
The report quotes Zamir adding that “the IDF brought about the conditions for a deal, now it is in Netanyahu’s hands.
Syria’s president said to confirm ‘advanced’ talks with Israel on security agreement
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa confirms to Arab journalists that his government is in “advanced” talks with Israel on a security agreement, according to Sky News Arabic.
The broadcaster reports that Sharaa said any agreement would be be based on the lines from the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that followed the Yom Kippur War the previous year.
Sharaa also reportedly said that while he doesn’t believe the time is right for a peace deal with Israel, he “will not hesitate to take” any agreement that benefits Syria and the region.
France summons US ambassador for criticizing Macron’s response to rising antisemitism
PARIS — France says it will summon US Ambassador Charles Kushner over a letter he wrote to President Emmanuel Macron saying the French government’s action on antisemitism was insufficient, days after similar criticism from Israel.
“France firmly refutes these latest allegations,” says a French foreign ministry statement. “The allegations from the ambassador are unacceptable.”
France is “fully committed” to fighting antisemitism, the ministry adds.
The foreign ministry statement says Kushner’s comments went “against international law, and in particular the duty not to interfere in internal matters of states” by diplomatic personnel.
“Furthermore, they do not live up to the quality of the transatlantic relationship between France and the United States and the trust that should result between allies,” it adds.
In his letter, ambassador Kushner argued that hatred of Jews “has exploded since Hamas’s barbaric assault on October 7, 2023,” which triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and accused France of “lack of sufficient action” in facing down antisemitism.