The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.
Shin Bet said urging lawmakers to treat proliferation of weapons in Arab communities as national security threat
Shin Bet officials are reportedly urging politicians to treat the proliferation of weapons in Arab society as a national security threat, reports Israel’s Channel 12 News.
According to the report, the agency’s research division authored a document defining the accessibility and quantity of illegal arms in Arab society as “a threat to Israel’s national security” that must be dealt with immediately.
The Shin Bet reportedly fears another outbreak of widespread nationalist violence, akin to the interethnic riots that swept across mixed cities on the backdrop of the 2021 Gaza war.
The document reportedly suggests that in order to deter illegal weapons trafficking, enforcement agencies treat weapons-related offenses as security offenses — a move that would lead to harsher sentencing for the former.
Violent crime in Arab society has spiraled in recent years, claiming 89 lives since the start of 2025. According to the Abraham Initiatives, there has been an 84% jump in the number of Arab sector homicides compared to the same time last year.
Arab resident deported from Israel to Gaza in February said killed in Israeli airstrike
An Arab man deported from Israel to Gaza in February was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, reports the Arab48 news site.
28-year-old Basel al-Qur’an was born in Deir al-Balah but spent his entire adult life in Israel, until he was sent back to the Strip when he completed a prison sentence for traffic violations.
Al-Qur’an’s mother Marwa tells the outlet yesterday that she was notified of her son’s death by one of the people he had been staying with in the Strip. His corpse was taken to Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis for identification. It is unclear when al-Qur’an was killed.
Al-Qur’an was born to an Arab Israeli mother and an Egyptian father in Gaza. Upon his parents’ divorce, he moved with his mother to Israel as an adolescent, where he spent his entire adult life.
Though his mother, wife and children are Israeli citizens, al-Qur’an was never able to obtain permanent residency or citizenship in Israel due to a 2003 law largely barring Palestinians married to Israeli citizens from the naturalization process.
Al-Qur’an migrated to Israel in 2013 on a temporary permit granted by the army that must be renewed every six months. Holders of these permits are largely barred from obtaining driver’s licenses.
In June 2023, Al-Qur’an was arrested and convicted of driving without a license — which he could not obtain because of his temporary status in Israel.
His residency permit expired during the 20 months he spent in prison, leaving him without legal status in Israel. He was deported to Rafah upon his release from prison.
Over several phone calls with The Times of Israel in March, the deportee claimed that upon his release from Shikma Prison on February 1 — the same day that 150 Gazan security detainees were freed as part of the hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas — Shin Bet agents took him to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, where two IDF soldiers loaded him onto an aid truck headed to Rafah.
His lawyer, Uzi Avraham, appealed to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Defense Ministry body that oversees coordination in the West Bank and Gaza, requesting he be allowed to return to Israel.
According to Avraham, COGAT responded that they were reviewing the situation and would decide how to address it by the end of March, however both Avraham and al-Qur’an say the agency never followed up with them.
PA president Abbas calls on new pope Leo XIV to uphold predecessor’s ‘legacy’ of defending Palestinian rights
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calls on the new Pope Leo XIV to pursue the “peace efforts” of his predecessor Francis, an official statement says.
Abbas sends “best wishes for the success of Pope Leo XIV in the pursuit of his noble task and maintaining the legacy of the late Pope Francis,” says the statement. Abbas highlighted the “importance of the moral, religious and political role of the Vatican in the defence of just causes,” adding that “the Palestinian people and their right to liberty and independence” should be at the top.
Pope Francis, who died last month after a 12-year papacy, had drawn anger from Israel over his criticism of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
IDF says baby lightly hurt in stone-throwing attack on bus in Jordan Valley
The military says that a baby was lightly wounded while riding on a bus in the Jordan Valley that was targeted in a stone-throwing attack.
The Israel Defense Forces says the baby was treated at the scene and that troops are searching for the culprits.