The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
Trump waved off planned Israeli strike on Iran in favor of nuclear talks — NYT
US President Donald Trump waved off a planned Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites in favor of negotiating a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, the New York Times reports, citing administration officials and others.
According to the newspaper, Trump informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his decision to not support such an attack when the premier visited the White House earlier this month. During their meeting, Trump announced the United States would instead begin negotiations with Iran on a deal to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
The report says Trump decided not to back the Israeli plan, which would have required US military support to carry out, due to internal disagreements in the administration.
Putin meets ex-hostages at Kremlin, calls to thank Hamas leaders for their release
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Wednesday evening with freed hostage Sasha Troufanov at the Kremlin in Moscow, along with his mother, Elena Trufanova, and partner, Sapir Cohen, both of whom are also former captives.
“The fact that you managed to go free is the result of the fact that Russia has stable, long-term relations with the Palestinian people, with its representatives, and with a wide variety of organizations,” Putin tells the ex-hostages in a video clip from the meeting published by the state-funded RT television network, saying that “we need to express words of gratitude to the leadership of the political wing of Hamas for cooperating with us and carrying out this humanitarian act.”
“We will do everything to ensure that such acts happen as often as possible and that all the people who are still in the same conditions that you had been in…are also released,” Putin continues in the clip, sighing deeply in response to Sasha telling him that he was held in Gaza for 498 days.
Putin with words of GRATITUDE to Hamas political wing for agreeing to release Russian-Israeli hostage https://t.co/vnTegy0fPZ pic.twitter.com/VAHHKSoH9u
— RT (@RT_com) April 16, 2025
Troufanov and Cohen were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, along with Sasha’s mother and grandmother Irena Tati, while his father Vitaly was killed during the Hamas-led atrocities. The three women were freed during a November 2023 ceasefire.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, days before Troufanov’s release from Islamic Jihad captivity in February, a deputy Russian foreign minister met with a senior Hamas official in Moscow and urged the Palestinian terror group to keep “promises” to release Troufanov, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, and Maxim Herkin, a current Israeli hostage from the Donbas area of Ukraine who has Russian relatives.
The meeting at the Kremlin was also attended by the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia Alexander Boroda, according to Putin’s office, which published a video of the meeting alongside a readout with little substantial information.
Yemen’s Houthi media reports heavy US airstrikes on Sanaa
Yemeni rebel media says more than a dozen airstrikes have hit the Houthi-held capital Sanaa today, blaming them on the United States.
Rebel-held areas of Yemen have endured near-daily strikes, blamed on the United States, since Washington launched an air campaign against the Houthis on March 15 in an attempt to end their threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which they claim is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
“Fourteen airstrikes carried out by American aggression hit the Al-Hafa area in the Al-Sabeen district in the capital,” the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV reports.
It also reports strikes blamed on the United States in the Hazm area of Jawf province.