Four residents of the southern Israeli town of Segev Shalom were arrested and indicted on Thursday over allegations that they planned attacks against police and security forces, as well as a terror attack in Be'er Sheva, the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police said.
The investigation allegedly found that one of the suspects had previously published content on social media that authorities said included incitement and support for terrorism. The suspects later allegedly formed a group to advance plans for attacks.
According to the statement, the suspects planned to open fire at the Segev Shalom police station, carry out an attack at Be'er Sheva's central bus station and establish a terror infrastructure aimed at targeting security forces operating in the area.
According to a joint statement, the arrests followed a joint investigation by Shin Bet and the Southern District police's Central Unit. The suspects were arrested in May and June in an operation carried out by Border Police special forces. Authorities said some of the alleged activity began while some of the suspects were minors.
A Palestinian truck driver transporting aid for the World Central Kitchen into Gaza was shot dead by Israeli troops in Rafah on Wednesday, according to witnesses cited in a report by The Guardian, Palestinian media and Gaza's truck drivers' association, which said it is considering suspending aid deliveries in protest.
According to the report, the driver, Ahmad Esleem, was shot in the head after being ordered out of his truck and standing with his hands raised. Three eyewitness accounts said the convoy had stopped on the Philadelphi Corridor after one truck broke down.
Displaced Palestinians gather to receive hot meals distributed by a charity kitchen in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, last week.Credit: AFP/BASHAR TALEBDisplaced Palestinians gather to receive hot meals distributed by a charity kitchen in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, last week.Credit: AFP/BASHAR TALEB
Another driver, Diaa Mansour, told The Guardian that soldiers ordered several drivers out of their vehicles, forced him to remove his clothes and made him sit under the sun before bringing Esleem out of his truck. "One of the soldiers began talking to Ahmad while he stood with his hands raised," Mansour said. "Ahmad did not speak Hebrew, and it seemed the soldiers did not understand his Arabic. Suddenly, they shot him."
Jihad Esleem, deputy head of Gaza's Association of Transport Companies and a relative of the driver, said the convoy had been fully coordinated with the United Nations World Food Program, WCK and the IDF. He accused Israeli forces of carrying out a "field execution" of a civilian driver who was wearing a safety vest and had the required permits.
The IDF confirmed that a shooting took place, stating that "troops identified three aid truck drivers who had stopped along the Philadelphi corridor and exited their trucks contrary to established procedures." The military said one driver later ran toward troops at a nearby roadblock, and "after perceiving an immediate threat, opened fire toward the driver." The driver was wounded and transferred for further treatment with the Red Cross, the IDF said, adding that the incident was under review.
Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip in May.Credit: Eliyahu HershkovitzKerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip in May.Credit: Eliyahu Hershkovitz
The truck drivers' association said it will hold an emergency meeting to discuss suspending operations at the Kerem Shalom crossing due to drivers facing frequent abuse and risks while transporting aid into Gaza.
The Guardian also reported that two Palestinian drivers were allegedly killed in similar circumstances in May, and that two drivers working for UNICEF were killed in June.
Seven Palestinians, including two children, were wounded in a reported settler attack in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank, according to Palestinian media.
The attackers sprayed family members with pepper spray and beat them while they were on land near their home, the reports said. Israeli soldiers who arrived at the scene secured the settlers and also took part in the attack, according to the reports.
Evacuation of Palestinians reported to have been attacked by settlers in Masafer Yatta in southern West Bank Mount Hebron, Friday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent evacuated the wounded to a hospital, where they were treated for pepper spray inhalation and bruises.
The U.S. is prepared to launch strikes against Iran if necessary, but is currently giving diplomacy a chance to reduce tensions, a U.S. official told CNN. According to the official, Washington has deliberately alternated between military action and pauses to avoid further escalation while maintaining a target list as leverage.
Multiple U.S. officials said preparations for possible strikes were underway Thursday, although diplomacy is currently taking precedence.
Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, crews loaded fighter jets with munitions and pilots conducted drills in preparation for potential strikes, while continuing routine defensive operations.
Video footage shows jets and helicopters landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln on Thursday after defensive missions over the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. officials also dismissed Iranian claims that American forces had already carried out additional strikes Thursday, but said the situation remains fluid and military action could resume if needed.
The total toll of the Israeli-Hezbollah aggression from March 2 to July 9 has reached 4,321 killed and 12,204 wounded, according to a statement by Lebanon's Emergency Operations Center of the Public Health Ministry, as reported by Lebanon's National News Agency on Friday.
Children play outside their family's tents, used as shelter after fleeing Israeli bombardment, in Beirut, Lebanon, June.Credit: Bilal Hussein/AP Children play outside their family's tents, used as shelter after fleeing Israeli bombardment, in Beirut, Lebanon, June.Credit: Bilal Hussein/AP
Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was buried in the country's holiest shrine, state media said early on Friday, after huge crowds gathered for his funeral with his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei still hidden from public view.
Mourners take part in the funeral procession of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala early on July 9, 2026.Credit: AFP/AHMAD AL-RUBAYEMourners take part in the funeral procession of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala early on July 9, 2026.Credit: AFP/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE
The burial in Mashhad in northeast Iran follows a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies that has coincided with a renewed burst of conflict with the United States following weeks of truce in the four-month-old war.
Khamenei was killed in the first strikes of the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28. The U.S. and Iran agreed to a truce last month.
Khamenei's body was carried slowly by truck on Thursday through the crammed Mashhad streets towards the gilt dome and minarets of the Shrine of Imam Reza as white-turbaned clerics walked on either side. Black-clad mourners pressed close behind, waving Iranian flags, photographs of the late Khamenei and red placards with revolutionary slogans.
The burial is the culmination of a week of funeral events in both Iran and Iraq that the Islamic Republic's clerical leaders encouraged huge crowds to attend in an effort to display the might and ideological fervor of their theocratic state.
Israel has passed intelligence to the United States indicating that Iran is advancing a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump alluded to the threats against his life on Wednesday, telling reporters: "I saw things this morning. I'm on every single one of their lists. So far I guess I've been lucky."
Three Palestinians were wounded during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, on Thursday. The clash broke out following an alleged settler provocation and a subsequent military raid on a local home.
According to local reports, the incident began in the afternoon when Israeli settlers attempted to dismantle fences surrounding an isolated Palestinian family home on the northeastern edge of the village.
While the family initially managed to prevent the damage, Israeli soldiers raided the property later that evening and beat the family members inside.
A village resident told Haaretz that the family sent out distress signals as soldiers beat everyone in the house and threw tear gas into the structure. In response, a large number of villagers surged to the scene to assist them.
An ambulance evacuated the injured family members, while clashes escalated between Israeli forces and residents. Soldiers used live fire against the crowd. According to a local resident, soldiers shot two villagers, though the Palestine Red Crescent Society officially confirmed treating three casualties from the scene.
These included a 60-year-old man shot in the leg with live fire, a person hit in the head by stun grenade shrapnel and another who suffered injuries from a physical assault.
An IDF spokesperson said in response: "The incident involved a bonfire lit by Israeli citizens in the area between the villages of Jalud and Qusra. No structure was burned and no property was damaged."
According to the military, the nearby structure visible next to the bonfire is an abandoned building regarding which several complaints had been received in recent days concerning the presence of Israeli citizens inside.
"We emphasize that upon receiving a report or claim on the matter, IDF forces were dispatched to disperse those present from the area," the spokesperson added. "This time as well, forces were dispatched, but no Israelis were present at the scene and the bonfire was extinguished."
■ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel's defense budget will be increased by some 350 billion shekels ($116 billion) in the coming decade in order to develop military self-reliance and local manufacturing of munitions.
■ Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the IDF is prepared for a potential resumption of military operations in Iran "even for a third time."
■ Katz also said that the IDF will not withdraw from what he called "security zones" in southern Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
■ The first so-called pilot zone in Lebanon, in which the Lebanese army will assume control of an area now occupied by Israeli forces, will launch in "a matter of days," with further zones being mapped out and planned, a U.S. official said.
■ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against any further U.S. military "adventurism" and condemned U.S. attacks on Iran as a violation of the interim agreement, Iran's Foreign Ministry said.
■ Qatari and Pakistani officials are working to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table, sources told CNN.
■ A civil rights NGO called to revoke a new emergency order imposing restrictions on visits to prisoners detained for security-related offences, saying it violates a High Court of Justice ruling.
