The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
Top Iranian general acknowledges Assad regime’s fall was ‘very big blow’ to Tehran
In a speech last week, Iran’s top general in Syria said the Islamic Republic was “defeated very badly” by the fall of Syria’s Bashar Assad, despite the repeated public downplaying of its significance by Iranian leaders.
“I don’t consider losing Syria something to be proud of,” says Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati in a recording of the speech, according to the New York Times. “We were defeated, and defeated very badly, we took a very big blow and it’s been very difficult.”
Esbati also said ties with Assad had been strained prior to the Syrian regime’s collapse over his refusal to let Iran-backed militias to open a new front against Israel from Syria, and accused Russia of saying it was bombing rebel forces when it was in fact dropping munitions on open fields.
Despite Assad’s ouster, Esbati said Tehran will still look for ways to enlist fighters in Syria regardless of political developments there.
“We can activate all the networks we have worked with over the years,” he is quoted as saying. “We can activate the social layers that our guys lived among for years; we can be active in social media and we can form resistance cells.”
“Now we can operate there as we do in other international arenas, and we have already started.”
Jerusalem said blocking UN investigation on Hamas sexual violence that also requires probe of Israel
Israel is reportely blocking the United Nations from launching an investigation into Hamas’s sexual violence during its October 7 onslaught because doing so would also require allowing the UN to probe alleged sex crimes committed Palestinians in Israeli detention.
The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten already published a report last year on the sexual violence perpetrated during the October 7 attack, but said her mandate at the time wasn’t broad enough to allow for a determination on whether Hamas could be added to the UN’s blacklist of entities suspected of committing sexual crimes.
Patten has urged Israel to sign a framework agreement with her UN office, similar to the one Ukraine signed in 2022 that allowed for an investigation into sexual violence perpetrated by Russia, the Haaretz daily reports.
The agreement would also require Israel to grant the UN access to its detention facilities to probe allegations of sexual violence committed by Israeli security forces — a request Israel has denied, according to the report.
“The office is exploring a future mission to the region after receiving an invitation from the Palestinian Authority regarding reports of conflict-related sexual violence against Palestinians as well as outreach by the Government of Israel for a follow-up visit on the 7 October attacks and their aftermath,” Patten’s office says.
Haaretz cites unnamed sources who warn that Israel’s refusal to grant Patten’s office access to conduct her probe into Hamas’s October 7 sexual violence could backfire, as it could lead to Israel being added to the UN blacklist, while Hamas would be left off it.
In a statement to the newspaper, the Foreign Ministry doesn’t comment on whether it will allow Patten’s office to launch an investigation but does insist that it is working to coordinate a visit from the UN special representative.
US Quaker group says NYT rejected proposed ad claiming Israel committing ‘genocide’
A Quaker group denounces the New York Times for rejecting an ad that claimed Israel is committing genocide amid the war with Hamas in Gaza.
According to the American Friends Service Committee, the proposed ad said, “Tell Congress to stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza now! As a Quaker organization, we work for peace. Join us. Tell the President and Congress to stop the killing and starvation in Gaza.”
A statement from the organization says the newspaper told it in response that there are “differing views on the situation. In line with our commitment to factual accuracy and adherence to legal standards, we must ensure that all advertising content complies with these widely applied definitions.”
That explanation doesn’t assuage the group’s general secretary, however, who accuses the New York Times of engaging in “an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth.”
“Palestinians and allies have been silenced and marginalized in the media for decades as these institutions choose silence over accountability. It is only by challenging this reality that we can hope to forge a path toward a more just and equitable world,” says Joyce Ajlouny in the statement.
Settlers allegedly torch car in Palestinian village near Bethlehem
For the second night in a row, settlers have allegedly torched a Palestinian vehicle in the West Bank as violence from Israeli extremists continues to unchecked throughout the territory.
The latest incident takes place in the village of Wadi Rahhal near Bethlehem, Palestinian media reports.
There are no reports of arrests, which are highly rare in such cases, leading Western countries to begin sanctioning violent settlers last year.
عاجل| مصادر محلية: مستوطنون يشعلون النار بمركبة بقرية واد رحال جنوب بيت لحم pic.twitter.com/MUMMSumJxL
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