The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
Syrian state media says IDF first launched strikes on troops who found ‘eavesdropping devices’
Syria’s official SANA news agency reports that initial Israeli drone strikes on Tuesday had targeted soldiers who, while on patrol, discovered “surveillance and eavesdropping devices.”
Ongoing strikes prevented other troops from reaching the area until the following evening. Other soldiers were able to retrieve the bodies of the eight soldiers killed the day before and to “destroy some of the (surveillance) systems by targeting them with the appropriate weapons,” SANA says.
The report comes after SANA said reported more Israeli strikes and an airdrop commando raid in the area, “the details of which are not known.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Videos linked to Minneapolis shooting suspect show antisemitic, anti-Israel messages
Videos linked to the alleged shooter of a Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, include antisemitic messages written on weapons.
Authorities have identified the suspect, who died by suicide at the scene, as Robin Westman.
Videos posted online believed to be from Westman show firearms and ammunition magazines marked with messages written in white.
The Anti-Defamation League says preliminary research indicates the shooter had written antisemitic and anti-Israel references on the weapons, as well as praise for mass killers from across the ideological spectrum, including white supremacist, Islamophobic and anti-government attackers.
Messages on the weapons in the videos say “Burn Israel,” and “Destroy HIAS,” referring to a Jewish refugee agency that white supremacists have used as evidence of the Great Replacement Theory, which falsely claims that Jews are attempting to bring non-white immigrants into the US to supplant the white population.
On the handle of one firearm was the name “Robert Bowers,” a white supremacist who murdered 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2018. Bowers had ranted against HIAS online ahead of the shooting.
On another weapon, the alleged shooter wrote, “6 million wasn’t enough,” an apparent reference to the Holocaust.
An object that appeared to be a smoke grenade had the words “Jew Gas.”
The videos also have anti-Christian messages and racist terms for Hispanic and Black people, and the message “Kill Donald Trump.”
The videos have not yet been verified by law enforcement.
Helicopter-borne Israeli troops raid base on key hilltop near Damascus — Syrian sources
A unit of the Israeli army conducted an airborne landing on a strategic hilltop southwest of Damascus and carried out a two-hour operation before leaving the area, two Syrian army sources says.
They say the troops landed near Jabal Manea, which was once a major air defense base operated by Iran before being destroyed by Israel prior to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
A number of troops from the new Syrian army are positioned at the base.
Sa’ar thanks Rubio for Trump administration backing
In their meeting this afternoon in Washington, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his “firm” commitment to standing by Israel “over the years, as well as for the clear support of President Trump’s administration for Israel,” according to an Israeli readout.
The two diplomats discussed “the various challenges and opportunities in the Middle East,” says Sa’ar’s office.
Among the issues they discussed, says Israel, were “the issue of Iran following the unprecedented cooperation between the countries to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat and the ‘snapback’ issue, the war on Hamas in Gaza, and the UN General Assembly discussions next month. Cooperation to repel anti-Israeli moves in the international arena was also raised.”
The State Department readout says the pair “discussed key issues in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.”
Rubio also stressed “the importance of countering Iran’s malign influence,” the US readout says, adding that the pair “agreed that continued close cooperation between their countries is vital to the security and prosperity of the region.”