The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
Iranian TV appears to show ‘missing’ Quds Force head Qaani at memorial
Iran’s state TV has shown a person who appears to be Esmail Qaani, the top commander of Iran’s Quds Force, is seen in footage aired on Iranian state TV attending a memorial ceremony for a senior Revolutionary Guards commander killed in Lebanon.
Reports and rumors regarding Qaani’s fate had spread in recent days after he disappeared from public view. Some reported Qaani may have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon targeting top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, while other claims suggested may have had a heart attack or was being interrogated by Iran as a suspected spy.
Video on Iranian television of IRGC Quds Force commander Ismail Qaani at memorial for deceased Abbas Niloforoshan killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon.
This is amid recent rumors and ostensible reporting that he’d been either killed, arrested, or had a heart attack. pic.twitter.com/qiL5EbfyUy
— Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) October 15, 2024
The footage shows Qaani at a funeral service in the Iraqi city of Karbala for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in an Israeli air strike alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.
Arab American group refuses to endorse Trump or Harris, citing Israel support
The Arab American Political Action Committee says it will not endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, citing what it calls their “blind support” for Israel.
The November 5 election will mark the first time AAPAC has chosen not to endorse a candidate since the group’s 1998 inception. It usually endorses Democrats.
“Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon,” AAPAC says in a statement. “We simply cannot give our votes to either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, who blindly support the criminal Israeli government.”
Netanyahu’s office says Israeli interests will determine response to Iran after report suggests US vote a factor
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says a decision on its plans to retaliate against Iran for the October 1 ballistic missile attack will be made based on Israel’s needs.
The middle-of-the-night statement comes in response to a Washington Post report that Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden Israel would not attack Iranian oil or nuclear sites.
According to an unnamed official quoted by the broadsheet, Israel’s plans are being calibrated to avoid having an impact on the upcoming US elections.
“We listen to the American government’s thoughts, but will make our final decisions based on Israel’s national security needs,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement says.
Israeli strikes reported in Baalbek region deep inside Lebanon
Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes in Baalbek and the Beqaa Valley region of northeast Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes targeted Douris, Shaath, and Ali al-Nahri in the Beqaa.#Lebanon #Israel pic.twitter.com/4TEh2Ov80S
— Khaled Iskef خالد اسكيف (@khalediskef) October 14, 2024
According to MTV Lebanon, at least 10 strikes have been reported in Baalbek and surrounding towns since 1 a.m. The station publishes footage from the town of Douris, south Baalbek, that shows a building on fire.
غارات ليلية عنيفة… البقاع تحت القصفhttps://t.co/gxIhIs1w05 pic.twitter.com/yFnhnKQzcg
— MTV Lebanon News (@MTVLebanonNews) October 14, 2024
The raids are also reported by the pro-Hezbollah al-Meyadeen news outlet.
Baalbek, identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Israeli border, near the frontier with Syria.
The area has been targeted several times since Israel launched its intensified offensive against Hezbollah late last month.
Hundreds of Jewish activists, allies arrested at New York anti-Israel protest
Police say they arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who staged a sit-in outside the New York Stock Exchange to demand an end to US support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The protesters, many of them from activist groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted “let Gaza live” and “stop funding genocide” in front of the exchange’s iconic building near Wall Street, in lower Manhattan.
None of the protesters got inside the stock exchange but dozens crossed a police security fence set up outside its main building on Broad Street.
HAPPENING NOW: OVER 500 JEWS AND ALLIES SHUT DOWN THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE FOR GAZA. “GAZA BOMBED, WALL STREET BOOMS. FUND HEALTHCARE, HOUSING, FEMA, NOT GENOCIDE.” @jvplive @jvpliveNY pic.twitter.com/ztCcZPZam8
— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) October 14, 2024
A police spokesperson says 206 arrests were made, without providing details. Jewish groups involved with the protests say around 500 demonstrators attended. The stock exchange has no immediate comment.
The protesters directed anger at American defense contractors and weapons manufacturers. Others chanted slogans against Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where Israel says it is waging war against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
NYPD ESU & SRG have been arresting @jvpliveNY for the past half hour and are about a third of the way through protestors in the interior gates outside the New York Stock Exchange.
Many are going limp instead of walking out, which seems to be slowing the arrest process. https://t.co/8juNbhjMuv pic.twitter.com/no2T4TVkUm
— Talia Jane ❤️???? (@taliaotg) October 14, 2024
“(Hundreds) of Jews and friends are shutting down the New York Stock Exchange to demand the U.S. stop arming Israel and profiting from genocide,” Jewish Voice for Peace says on X. Israel denies genocide allegations at the World Court, and says its military operations in Gaza targets Hamas terrorists.
There were also a much smaller number of pro-Israel counter-protesters at the site carrying Israeli flags.
Hezbollah claims late night rocket fire
Hezbollah takes responsibility for rockets fired into Israel minutes ago, saying it targeted soldiers near the Lebanese border.
There have been no reports of injuries or damage from the attacks.
Rocket sirens sound in northern towns
Rocket sirens are sounding in the northern town of Shtula near the western Galilee.
The alert comes minutes after a rocket alarm sounded in Margaliyot near Kiryat Shmona in the eastern Galilee Panhandle.
There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.
Australia tells citizens to avoid Israel, leave while they can
Australia is warning its citizens not to travel to Israel and urging Australians there to leave the country while commercial flights remain available.
“The Australian government has serious concerns the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories could deteriorate rapidly,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong says in a post on X late Monday.
There continues to be a high threat of military and terrorist attacks against Israel and Israeli interests across the region, the Australian government’s travel advisory says.
Wong also announces sanctions on five Iranians linked to its missile program in reply to Tehran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel.
“Iran’s missile program poses a material threat to regional and international security,” she says in a statement, calling the attack a “dangerous escalation.”
Netanyahu told Biden he won’t attack Iranian oil, nuclear sites — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the United States that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil facilities, the Washington Post reports, citing two officials familiar with the matter.
Netanyahu made the comment to Biden when the two spoke by phone last week to discuss Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for its October 1 ballistic missile attack, which the US has sought to temper.
One official is quoted telling the paper that the Israeli premier had agreed to plot the attack in a way that won’t impact the upcoming US election; an attack on energy facilities could send oil prices soaring, hurting Vice President Kamala Harris’s chances with voters unhappy about higher prices at the gasoline pump.
According to the official, an Israeli retaliatory action will come before the November 5 election to avoid the perception of weakness.