The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
Nighttime rocket alerts sound in Gaza border town
Incoming rocket sirens have sounded in the Gaza border town of Netiv Ha’asara, which has largely been evacuated since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
There are no immediate reports of impacts of injuries.
In precedent, Saudi envoy attends NYC summit with Israelis, gives ‘inspiring’ speech
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, is taking part in the Middle East – America Dialogue (MEAD) summit in New York City.
Notably, she is appearing at the same event as many senior Israeli officials, as efforts for a US-brokered normalization agreement have been put on the backburner amid the US elections but could renew afterward.
Al Saud takes part in a panel alongside the Moroccan and Bahraini ambassadors to the US. The content of the panel and photos of it are currently barred from publication, though Israeli media outlets hail her speech as “inspiring.”
Hebrew media outlets cite an unnamed senior Israeli official as speculating that a normalization deal could be clinched in the lame-duck period between the November 5 election and the January 20 swearing-in of the new American president, while stressing that this would require a ceasefire in Gaza and some sort of vision to resolve the Palestinian issue.
Ignore strike’s suspension, don’t go to school, say unions representing students, parents
Despite the Secondary Schools Teachers Association head announcing that the high school strike has been suspended, national unions representing students and parents call for studies to remain on hold Monday.
Denouncing Ran Erez’s late-night announcement as a “mockery of Israel’s students,” the unions call on students not to attend school and on parents not to send their kids, since “the students are not pawns in the hands of either side.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry issues belated, tepid condemnation of deadly terror shooting
After some 14 hours, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry issues a statement containing a brief condemnation of today’s terror shooting attack by a Jordanian man that killed three Israelis on the West Bank side of the Allenby Bridge Crossing.
The ministry stresses “Jordan’s firm position rejecting and condemning violence and targeting civilians for any reason.”
However, the rest of the statement reiterates common talking points in support of the two-state solution and against Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, with the condemnation of the attack immediately following by a call for “addressing all causes and escalatory steps that generate” violence against civilians.
The ministry says its probes have so far concluded that the attack was committed by a lone assailant.