The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
Shin Bet head met with Egyptian intelligence chief in Cairo to discuss stalled ceasefire talks — report
Shin Bet director Ronen Bar met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in a meeting in Cairo on Sunday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid states on X, citing “a source familiar with the visit.”
According to Ravid, the two discussed the stalled negotiations for a hostage release-ceasefire deal but did not reach any breakthroughs.
One of the sticking points discussed by the two intelligence officials was the matter of the Rafah Border Crossing, the report states, which has been shuttered since May, when the IDF launched its offensive in the southern Gaza city.
The Shin Bet declines to comment on the report.
????????????????????The director of the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence agency Ronen Bar secretly visited Cairo on Sunday and met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel for talks that dealt, among other things, with the impasse in the negotiations on the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal,…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 13, 2024
Palestinians report several dead in strike on hospital compound in Deir Al-Balah
Palestinians in Gaza report several people were killed and dozens more were wounded in an Israeli strike that hit tents of displaced Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah.
Footage circulated on social media, which could not immediately be verified, shows several tents were set ablaze as some Palestinians tried helplessly to put out the fire.
The IDF says that it struck terrorists operating from a command center inside the compound and accused Hamas of hiding among civilians and using facilities such as hospitals for terror operations.
US defense chief sounds alarm over ‘dire humanitarian situation’ in northern Gaza
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin joins Vice President Kamala Harris in sounding the alarm over the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza where the UN says no humanitarian assistance has entered for nearly two weeks.
During a call earlier Sunday with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Austin “raised the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed that steps must be taken to address it,” the Pentagon says in its readout.
Austin also expressed his condolences over the four Israeli soldiers killed hours earlier in a drone strike on an IDF base, the Pentagon says.
The defense secretary reiterated yesterday’s call for Israel to ensure the safety of troops from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army who have come under IDF fire in recent days.
Austin also stresses the need “to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” the US readout says.
“I reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering, enduring, and ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” it adds.
Man with shotgun and loaded handgun arrested near Trump rally in California on Saturday
A man arrested at a security checkpoint near Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s California rally on Saturday faces gun charges after he was found in possession of loaded firearms, multiple passports and a fake license plate, the local sheriff says on Sunday.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco says he believes his department halted an assassination attempt, though he acknowledges that was “speculation.” The suspect was released on bail on Saturday, jail records show.
A federal official says that a federal investigation is underway.
“What we do know is he showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with a fake license plate and loaded firearms,” the sheriff says at a news conference. “I truly do believe that we prevented another assassination attempt.”
The 49-year-old man, identified as Las Vegas resident Vem Miller, was stopped in a black SUV by sheriff’s deputies around 5 p.m. local time on Saturday and taken into custody without incident, according to the sheriff’s office. Trump had not yet taken the stage.
Jail records show Miller was released on $5,000 bail on Saturday after being charged with possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, both misdemeanors. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the sheriff’s office says. in a press release.
The US Attorney’s Los Angeles office, in a statement on its website on Sunday, also says Trump was not in danger, citing the US Secret Service. The statement adds that while no federal arrest has been made, an investigation is ongoing.
Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July, when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In September, another man was charged with trying to assassinate Trump after Secret Service agents discovered him hiding with a rifle near Trump’s Palm Beach golf course. He pleaded not guilty. Those attempts raised questions about Secret Service security planning and response.
Trump’s rally on Saturday took place in the Coachella Valley, an area known for its annual music and arts festival.
VP Harris urges Israel to do more to facilitate flow of aid into northern Gaza
US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris calls on Israel to do more to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza amid reports from the UN’s World Food Program that no assistance has entered that part of the Strip in nearly two weeks.
“Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected,” Harris tweets from her VP account.