The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
US defense chief Austin presses Gallant on ‘regional stability’
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin spoke by phone with Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon says, to discuss the massive Iranian attack early Sunday and its aftermath, with the US urging Jerusalem not to launch a counter-strike.
Austin “reiterated steadfast US support for Israel’s defense and reaffirmed the strategic goal of regional stability,” the statement reads.
Iran tells supportive China it’s willing to exercise restraint against Israel
China says it believes Iran could “handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil” while safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity, following a phone call between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Amir-Abdollahian tells Wang that Iran is aware of the regional tensions, is willing to exercise restraint and has no intention of further escalations, according to Xinhua.
Wang reiterates Iran’s assertion that its launch of some 350 missiles and drones at Israel early Sunday was a “limited” action taken in self-defense. The attack came as retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike on a building in Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus that killed a top IRGC officer and other members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Wang condemns the Israeli attack, while thanking Iran for not targeting regional and neighboring countries as it bombarded Israel.
Xinhua says Wang also told Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud that China is willing to work with Riyadh to avoid further escalation in the Middle East.
Riyadh “highly expects” China to play an active and important role in that regard, the Saudi foreign minister is quoted as saying, adding that his country is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with China to promote an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
US House speaker announces plan for separate bills aiding Israel, Ukraine
The US House of Representatives will consider aid to Israel and Ukraine as separate legislation this week, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says, rejecting pressure to simply approve a package sent over by the Senate that includes spending for both allies.
Leaving a meeting of House Republicans on Monday evening, Johnson said the narrowly divided chamber will consider four bills altogether that would also include aid to Taiwan, US allies in the Indo-Pacific and US national security priorities.
Facing an outright rebellion from conservatives fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, Johnson told the meeting he would push to get the package to the House floor under a single debate rule, then hold separate votes on aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the other foreign policy proposals, according to Republican lawmakers.
“We know that the world is watching us to see how we react,” Johnson tells reporters. “They’re watching to see if America will stand up for its allies and in our own interest around the globe. And we will.”
The GOP meeting was filled with lawmakers at odds in their approach to Ukraine: Republican defense hawks, including the top lawmakers on national security committees, who want Johnson to finally take up the national security supplemental package as a bundle, are pitted against populist conservatives who are fiercely opposed to continued support for Kyiv’s fight at all.
“The House must rush to Israel’s aid as quickly as humanly possible, and the only way to do that is passing the Senate’s supplemental ASAP,” says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The White House would oppose a standalone bill that only addressed aid for Israel, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries pledges in a letter to lawmakers to do “everything in our legislative power to confront aggression” around the globe.
“The gravely serious events of this past weekend in the Middle East and Eastern Europe underscore the need for Congress to act immediately,” Jeffries says. “We must take up the bipartisan and comprehensive national security bill passed by the Senate forthwith. This is a Churchill or Chamberlain moment.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters block Golden Gate, Brooklyn bridges, Oregon highway
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have blocked roadways in California, New York and Oregon, after others temporarily shut down travel into Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area is snarled for hours as demonstrators shut down all vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and chain themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement across Interstate 880 in Oakland.
In New York, protesters marching into Brooklyn block Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. In Eugene, Oregon, protesters block Interstate 5, shutting down traffic on the major highway for about 45 minutes.
In Chicago, protesters earlier linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading into one of the nation’s busiest airports around 7 a.m., a demonstration they said was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine,” according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organizers.
Both directions of the Golden Gate Bridge have been shut down due to a Pro-Palestinian protest. Demonstrators have blocked the southbound direction of Highway 101. This is the second protest causing major back-ups on Bay Area roadways, the demonstration has blocked northbound… pic.twitter.com/oO5dMCvqFD
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) April 15, 2024
About 20 protesters were arrested at the Golden Gate Bridge demonstration and traffic resumed shortly after noon, according to the California Highway Patrol, reporting that over 300 demonstrators took part.
“Attempting to block or shut down a freeway or state highway to protest is unlawful, dangerous, and prevents motorists from safely reaching their destinations,” the agency says in a statement.
Oregon State Police say 52 protestors are arrested for disorderly conduct.
New York Police report numerous arrests, saying 150 protesters were initially involved in the march around 3:15 p.m., but that number quickly grew. The bridge has been fully reopened as of 5 p.m.
In Chicago, dozens of protesters were arrested, according to Falaneh. Chicago police said Monday that “multiple people” were taken into custody after a protest where people obstructed traffic but did not have a detailed count.
Hamas rejected everything in latest hostage deal offer, upped some demands — Israeli official
A senior Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that Hamas’s response to the latest hostage deal proposal rejected every single clause of the offer.
The Hamas response demands that the release of Israeli hostages in the first stage of the deal be conditioned on negotiators providing guarantees that in the second stage Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire, a complete IDF withdrawal from Gaza and the unrestricted return of Palestinians to the northern part of the enclave the Israeli official says. The latter three demands have all been non-starters for Jerusalem.
Hamas’s response also dramatically increased the number of Palestinian security prisoners it is demanding for every hostage it releases as well as the number of murder convicts it wants freed.
The Israeli official says Hamas is now only willing to initially release roughly 20 hostages who fall under the categories of women and men over 50, as opposed to the proposal crafted by Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators, which would have seen 40 hostages freed. It is also demanding that Israel agree to a six-week truce before releasing those 20 or so hostages.
“Sinwar doesn’t want a deal. He doesn’t care if Gazans continue to suffer, even after extraordinary Israeli flexibility regarding all the parameters of the American proposal,” the Israeli official says.