The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they happen.
Rubio urges Syrian security forces to prevent ‘jihadists’ from committing ‘massacres’ in country’s south
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls on the Syrian government’s security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and “carrying out massacres” in the conflict-stricken south of the country.
“If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria… they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres,” Rubio says in a statement posted to X.
The statement comes after days of violence in the Druze-majority city of Sweida and the wider province, as Druze fighters clashed with Sunni Bedouin tribes, who were later joined by government forces.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Report: 2,000 Israeli Druze warn they’ll join fighting in Syria if attacks persist
Kan news reports that some 2,000 Druze in Israel have signed onto a document declaring their intention to join the fighting in Syria if attacks against Druze by Bedouin tribesmen and government-allied forces do not stop.
“We are preparing to volunteer to fight alongside our brothers in Sweida. It is our time to be ready to defend our brothers, our land, and our religion,” the document says, according to Kan.
Signatories include active reservists in the IDF, the network says, and the letter has sparked intense concern in the Israeli security establishment, which is striving to convince Druze leaders to leave it to the IDF to address any further violence.
Ceasefires have repeatedly been declared in the Sweida region in recent days but have been broken time and again.
In recent hours reports have indicated that clashes in the city of Sweida have been halted and the area was cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters following the deployment of Syrian security forces to enforce a ceasefire.
Priest at West Bank town attacked by settlers: I filed 14 complaints, police did nothing
A priest at a West Bank town attacked by settlers in recent days has said he filed multiple complaints over settler violence with Israeli police and that nothing was done.
Father Jack-Nobel Abed, of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, hosted US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on a tour in Taybeh today.
He told Channel 12 news: “There have already been four arson attacks by settlers in our village. The latest was last Friday near the sixth-century Byzantine church — too close to its walls, which were burned, and to the cemetery walls and the surrounding area. Two weeks ago, they also set fire to our chicken coops.
“When I arrived and saw the damage, I almost cried. Nothing like this has happened to us since I’ve been in the village, for 35 years,” he said.
Taybeh is a quiet Palestinian Christian village south of Jerusalem w/ a lot of American citizens that has been vandalized-including fires set at ancient church. I visited there today. Desecrating a church,mosque or synagogue is a crime against humanity & God. pic.twitter.com/fGI6tCLQuC
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 19, 2025
He added: “I personally filed almost 14 complaints at the Sha’ar Binyamin police station, and still nothing happened – we didn’t receive any response. Unfortunately, the police have done nothing, and for almost two years I’ve been filing complaints there, and they haven’t lifted a finger.
“There is fear among the residents because the settlers act with impunity – they beat people and bring weapons. Even so, many settlers from Kokhav HaShahar come to our village to buy bread, eggs, oil – everything – at our stores. We have good relations with everyone in the area. Nothing happened to us until these specific settlers arrived and started causing trouble. I still believe in coexistence.”
Report: Abbas sets elections for PLO legislative body for first time since 2006
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said elections will be held before the end of the year for the Palestinian National Council, for the first time since 2006, Haaretz reports.
The Palestinian National Council, comprising approximately 300 members, is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The body was once the sole representative of the Palestinian people internationally, but its power has been diminished with the advent of the PA as a Palestinian proto-government, and today it holds mainly symbolic internal significance.
Like the Palestinian Authority, it is dominated by the Fatah movement.
Haaretz’s Jack Khoury notes that the announcement of new elections for the body appears to be an attempt to revive public legitimacy for the PA and the PLO, which are facing a deep crisis of popularity in the West Bank.