The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
IDF says three drones launched from Lebanon set off sirens in Upper Galilee
The Israel Defense Forces says three drones were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel earlier, setting off sirens in the Upper Galilee.
One drone was intercepted by the Iron Dome, while the other two impacted unspecified areas in northern Israel, the military says.
“The incident has ended and its details are under review,” the IDF adds.
UN’s Palestinian refugee agency says over 100 Gaza staff killed in Israel-Hamas war
The head of the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says that more than 100 of its staff had been killed in the war in Gaza.
“Devastated. Over 100 UNRWA colleagues confirmed killed in one month. Parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, support staff,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini says on X.
“UNRWA is mourning, Palestinians mourning, Israelis mourning. Ending this tragedy needs (a) humanitarian ceasefire now,” he adds.
The UN agency says in a video message that 101 of its employees had been killed since the October 7 Hamas onslaught.
“They were teachers, school principals, engineers, doctors, a psychologist, support staff, sanitation and tech workers,” it says.
Netanyahu says IDF will control Gaza after war, rejects idea of international force
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the IDF will remain in control of Gaza after the war in comments likely to raise eyebrows in the international community, hours after he told Fox News that Israel does not want to re-occupy or govern the Strip.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu told ABC News that Israel will have “overall security responsibility” over the Gaza Strip “for an indefinite period” after the war against Hamas ends.
The latest comments are made in a meeting with the mayors of Gaza border towns — the first group meeting that Netanyahu has held with them since the war, something he came under fire for earlier this week when he chose to first meet with a group of settlement mayors.
“IDF forces will remain in control of the Strip, we will not give it to international forces,” Netanyahu tells the southern mayors, according to a readout from his spokesperson.
US officials have raised the idea in recent weeks that an international force of sorts, possibly with troops from neighboring Arab allies would manage security in the Gaza Strip for an interim period until it can be returned to a functioning Palestinian government, which Washington hopes will be the Palestinian Authority.
However, in his comments to the southern mayors, Netanyahu appears to reject the idea outright.
The mayors told Netanyahu that they want a different security reality after the war is over and urged him not to agree to a ceasefire until the last terrorist in Gaza is killed, the statement from the premier’s spokesperson says.
Netanyahu also promised the mayors that the government that the government will supply the Gaza border towns with economic aid to compensate for the damages incurred during the October 7 massacre.
Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says war death count crosses 11,000
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that 11,078 people have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war outbreak on October 7.
The death toll includes 4,506 children, a health ministry statement says, while 27,490 people have been wounded in the war, which erupted with deadly Hamas attacks on southern Israel.
The figures cannot be independently verified and are believed to include Palestinian civilians killed by terror activity in the Strip as well as Palestinian terrorists killed by the IDF. Hamas is also believed to restrict information regarding the death count among its own fighters.
Relative of hostage reports ‘very respectable’ meeting with PM’s wife; bashes Obama
Yael Angel, whose nephew Ofir is held hostage in Gaza, tells Channel 12 news that the families of the hostages had a “very respectable” meeting yesterday with Sara Netanyahu.
She says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined part of the meeting, which lasted some two-and-a-half hours.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the prime minister’s wife told the families: “I know that you have not had a moment’s rest. Every day that goes by without your loved ones is an endless pain. My heart is with you; all of our hearts are with you.”
She promised the families that the prime minister “will do everything to bring our hostages, your loved ones, safely back home.”
Angel on Channel 12 also refers to former president Barack Obama’s criticism of Israel’s response to the Hamas massacres. “Two hundred and forty people are held hostage and the world is silent, and there are ‘buts’ and ‘perhapses’. I’d like to see Mr. Obama if one of his daughters was held hostage by Hamas. In two days, she’d be out, and there’d be no ‘buts’. There are no buts or perhapses,” she says. “Hamas can be destroyed.”
Egypt’s Sissi hosts Qatar leader for Gaza ceasefire talks
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani meet to review “intensive efforts” toward a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, Cairo says.
Both Egypt and Qatar have played a major role in the regional and international response to the war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel.
In Cairo, Sissi and Sheikh Tamim “discussed the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip, and the subsequent regional challenges that push the region in dangerous and uncalculated directions,” the Egyptian presidency says in a statement.
“The two leaders discussed the best ways to protect innocent civilians in Gaza and to stop the bloodshed,” it adds.
“They reviewed the intensive efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire and sustaining the delivery of humanitarian aid in quantities that meet the needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
The high-level meeting in Cairo comes ahead of Saturday’s summits in Saudi Arabia where Arab and Muslim leaders are expected to press for an end to more than a month of fighting.
Israel has rejected calls for truce, demanding first that the estimated 239 hostages seized on October 7, who are thought to be held in Gaza, are released.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who is usually based in Qatar, on Thursday met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel “for discussions on the current situation in the Gaza Strip,” the terror group said.
Both Egypt and Qatar had been involved in previous talks which led to the release, at the end of October, of two women kidnapped by Hamas during its attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
IDF says target shot down by Patriot system near Eilat was a drone
The Israel Defense Forces says the aerial target intercepted by the Patriot air defense system near the southernmost city of Eilat last night was a drone.
It says the hostile unmanned aerial vehicle was downed before it could enter Israeli airspace.
The IDF publishes a video of the interception.
The UAV was intercepted hours after another drone hit a school in Eilat, causing damage.
IDF says the aerial target intercepted by the Patriot air defense system near the southernmost city of Eilat last night was a drone.
It says the hostile unmanned aerial vehicle was downed before it could enter Israeli airspace.
The IDF publishes a video of the interception. pic.twitter.com/434UVu5tV1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 10, 2023
Army says it has hit some 15,000 terror targets in Gaza since start of war
The Israel Defense Forces says it has struck some 15,000 targets belonging to terror groups in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war on October 7, and seized and destroyed some 6,000 weapons, including firearms, rockets, anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, explosive devices and ammunition.
It says ground, air and naval forces continue to strike Hamas targets across the Strip, including command centers, rocket launchers, weapons depots, tunnels and other infrastructure used by the terror group, as well as dozens of operatives.
The IDF releases footage showing recent strikes.
IDF says it has struck some 15,000 targets belonging to terror groups in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war on October 7, and seized and destroyed some 6,000 weapons, including firearms, rockets, anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, explosive devices and… pic.twitter.com/ZoyJVLMSX1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 10, 2023
Drone infiltration alert sounds in north
Suspected drone infiltration alerts are sounding in several communities in the Upper Galilee, close to the Lebanon border.
The IDF says it is investigating the “hostile aircraft” alarms.
The alerts come after a drone was launched from Syria yesterday, hitting a school in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.
Cabinet to meet in person on Sunday after AG issues reprimand
The cabinet will meet on Sunday for the first time in two weeks after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ruled that it was not sufficient for the government ministers to confer via telephone alone.
Baharav-Miara said such a procedure was reserved only for emergency situations and the cabinet had an obligation to meet in person.
The meeting is currently scheduled for Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Since the start of the war on October 7, the cabinet has issued over 70 decisions decided by a telephone poll.