The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they happen.
‘The battalion commander is a traitor’ sign seen at violent settler protest outside IDF base
A photo from outside the Binyamin Regional Brigade military base in the West Bank, where dozens of Jewish extremists are violently demonstrating, shows members of the crowd holding up a sign declaring “the battalion commander is a traitor,” referring to the head of a reserve unit who was assaulted by settlers on Friday.
A military source cited by Hebrew media outlets says some of the settlers tried to break into the base and threw rocks and sprayed mace toward troops.
נערי גבעות ריססו גז פלפל על שוטרים ויידו אבנים ב״הפגנה״ מול חטמ״ר בנימין. על השלט כתוב ״המג״ד בוגד״ pic.twitter.com/tt8DOdZy4r
— רועי שרון Roy Sharon (@roysharon11) June 29, 2025
Settler protesters clash with police outside West Bank military base
Settler activists protesting the use of live fire against rioters in the West Bank on Friday night clash with police officers in front of the Binyamin Regional Brigade military base.
The protesters outside the base demand that the military prosecute the battalion commander who oversaw the live fire.
A security source tells Army Radio that the protesters vandalized vehicles and used pepper spray outside the base.
Border Police officers use stun grenades to disperse the rioters.
Throngs of rioting settlers had attacked troops overnight Friday-Saturday, including a high-ranking officer, at the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik near Ramallah, after the forces arrived there to prevent them from attacking the village. During the incident, soldiers responded to a group of some 30 settlers throwing stones at them by firing into the air.
עשרות מפגינים מול חטמ"ר בנימין. גורם ביטחוני: שוב השחיתו רכבים, ריססו גז פלפל והתפרעו@shapira_nitzan pic.twitter.com/dPnA5ZpaDE
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) June 29, 2025
Security chiefs told judges in PM’s trial of opportunity to ink peace deals, including with Syria — report
There is an opportunity to change the face of the Middle East and for Israel to expand its circle of peace, including with Syria, top security officials told judges presiding over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial in a closed-door meeting today, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The head of IDF Military Intelligence, as well as the head of the Mossad, were present in today’s court hearing, both of whom explained to the judges why it was necessary to postpone the testimony hearings for Netanyahu’s criminal trial.
The hearing lasted 10 minutes, unnamed sources tell Kan.
Judges eventually determined there was enough reason to cancel the hearings for this week.
US planning to lean on Dermer to end Gaza war during DC meetings — sources
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will face pressure from the Trump administration during his meetings tomorrow in Washington to end the war in Gaza, a US official and an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.
Mediators want Israel to send a delegation to Cairo in order to close remaining gaps on several issues, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from doing so, preferring to dispatch Dermer to Washington, in order to try and get on the same page with the US before another round of indirect, proximity talks is held in Egypt, the two sources say.
The sources say that remaining sticking points include Hamas’s demand for a permanent end to the war — as opposed to Israel’s efforts to secure a temporary ceasefire that leaves open the option for it to resume fighting. Hamas is also demanding — with the backing of the Arab mediators — a return to old mechanisms for distributing humanitarian aid or the establishment of a new system to replace the current one managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Israel says GHF is essential in preventing the diversion of aid by Hamas, but the US- and Israeli-backed system has forced Gazans to walk long distances in order to pick up food, while also crossing IDF lines, coming under deadly fire on a near-daily basis.
Arab mediators were hoping that Israel would agree to send a delegation to Cairo during a top-level ministerial meeting that was held late Sunday night, but that session reportedly ended without any decisions.
The Arab diplomat says that mediators had been pushing Israel to send a delegation to Doha earlier this month in order to discuss a bridging proposal that Qatar and Egypt had put together, which aimed to merge US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s latest offer with Hamas’s response.
The mediators had hoped that Israel’s delegation would arrive in Doha on June 13. Instead, Israel launched its opening salvo in the war against Iran early that morning. Jerusalem subsequently informed mediators that hostage talks would be on hold for the time being as Israel’s focus shifted completely to neutralizing the Iranian nuclear and missile threats, the diplomat says.
After a ceasefire was reached on June 22, US President Donald Trump made clear to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted to see the war wrapped up in Gaza next, the two sources say.