The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
Knesset passes law to deport relatives of terrorists, including Israeli citizens
Lawmakers give final approval to legislation that would allow the government to deport the family members of terrorists who are Israeli citizens, passing the bill in the two final Knesset plenum readings it must clear to become law.
Sixty-one MKs vote in favor of the measure, with 41 opposing it.
The controversial legislation, sponsored by Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, gives the interior minister the power to expel a first-degree relative of someone who carried out an attack if he or she had advance knowledge and either: (a) failed to report the matter to the police or (b) “expressed support or identification with an act of terrorism or published words of praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organization.”
The bill expressly applies to Israeli citizens, who would retain their citizenship even after being expelled from the country. It stipulates that after receiving information regarding an individual, the minister will convene a hearing during which a suspect will have the right to present a defense. The minister will then have 14 days to make a decision and sign a deportation order.
Both the Justice Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office have raised concerns about the legislation, which stipulates that those being expelled would be sent either to the Gaza Strip or other destinations, depending on circumstances, for between 7-15 years for citizens and 10-20 years for legal residents.
Lebanon health ministry raises death toll in Baalbek strikes to 40
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed 40 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, according to the country’s health ministry, and at dusk more strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israeli strikes on Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley killed 40 people and wounded 53, the health ministry says. The Israeli military doesn’t comment.
Israel has repeatedly battered strongholds of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.
The Israeli military ordered residents in the southern suburbs to evacuate several locations on Wednesday. Two waves of bombing followed, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.
Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV reports there were at least four strikes on Thursday. There is no immediate report of casualties or details on what was hit.
Strikes hit Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut following Israeli evacuation warnings
BEIRUT — AFP footage shows at least two strikes hitting south Beirut early Thursday morning, about an hour after the Israeli army called for residents of four districts of the Hezbollah bastion to evacuate.
AFP footage shows two plumes of smoke rising above south Beirut, with AFP journalists in the Lebanese capital hearing loud bangs. Earlier, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee urged residents of four south Beirut neighborhoods to evacuate, including from a location near Beirut’s international airport.
Lebanese-American father-in-law of Trump’s daughter says he’ll be US point man for Lebanon
Lebanese-American businessman and Donald Trump surrogate Massad Boulos revealed in a recent interview days before the election that he will serve as the US point man for Lebanon in the incoming administration, tasked with negotiating with Beirut to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“I will be responsible for negotiating with the Lebanese side in order to reach an agreement, and Trump will appoint someone familiar with the Israeli file to negotiate with the Israelis,” Boulos told the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed in what appears to be one of the first revelations regarding now President-elect Trump’s personnel.
Boulos joined the Trump inner circle after his son Michael married the former president’s daughter Tiffany in 2022. He helped Trump make significant inroads in the Arab American in yesterday’s election.
He will apparently assume half of the role currently filled by US President Joe Biden’s special adviser Amos Hochstein, who has been tasked with negotiating with both Israel and Lebanon. He successfully brokered a maritime boundary deal between the sides in 2022, but has not yet succeeded in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah since the terror group began conducting cross-border attacks on October 8, 2023.
Boulos told Al Jadeed in another interview that Trump will fulfill his recent promise to “end the destruction in Lebanon” through a “comprehensive regional peace agreement.”
“Trump is committed to ending the war before he enters the White House,” he added, without elaborating.
An Israeli official and a former Trump official told The Times of Israel last month that the former president told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met in July that he wants the Gaza war wrapped up by the time he enters office.
“People see that Biden and Harris failed to end the wars and failed to even return the American hostages from Gaza… Lebanese Americans are migrating to Republican Party and to Trump because they feel that Trump is their only hope to end this war, and end all the wars… so we can start talking about rebuilding Lebanon and Gaza,” Boulos said.