The Tuesday hearing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criminal trial will end earlier than planned following a security briefing to the judges, as Israel plans a major Lebanon operation, a source told Haaretz.
"Following an update we received this morning, for political and security reasons, the discussion will end at 1:30 P.M.," Judge Rivka Friedman Feldman said. The Wednesday hearing will also be shortened, starting at 9 A.M. and ending at 11 A.M.
A senior official in Netanyahu's Likud party told Haaretz that the hearing was shortened due to Israel's plan to begin a "very aggressive, rolling operation" in Lebanon. According to the official, "everything is on the table," including strikes in Beirut and "anywhere the IDF deems appropriate in Lebanon." Israel's new operations was "indeed" coordinated with Washington, the official added.
The Prime Minister's Office did not elaborate on planned strikes in Lebanon.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified Israel's strikes in Lebanon. "Israel always has a right to protect itself. Every country in the world does. And so if Hezbollah is going to launch missiles, it launches missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that or to prevent that from happening. That's always been understood. It's being understood during the cease-fire now in Lebanon, and it'll be understood beyond that," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, a Hezbollah drone exploded inside Israel near the country's border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said, adding that no one was injured.
Israel's military is preparing for a broad strike on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and is awaiting approval from the political leadership, Israeli officials said Monday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would "increase the intensity" of its attacks.
Late Monday, the IDF said it would be limiting the size of public gatherings in northern Israel from Tuesday morning.
In a statement, the IDF said that in coordination with the Home Front Command and after ongoing situational assessment, public gathering would be limited to 50 people in open areas and up to 200 people indoors, instead of 200 people in open areas and 600 people indoors.
Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, as a U.S. official said the militia had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Netanyahu doubled down on that message on Monday night, saying in a video released on Telegram: "We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will intensify our strikes." He said Israel's military was not taking its "foot off the gas. On the contrary, I said to step on the gas even more."
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday it reserved the "legitimate and definite" right to retaliate against any cease-fire violations by the United States, adding that its air defence units had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone and fired at a fighter jet that had entered Iranian airspace, state media reported.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba KhameneiCredit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/רויטרסIran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba KhameneiCredit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/רויטרס
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday that Gulf powers will no longer be a shield for United States bases and the United States will no longer have a safe haven in the region, as Tehran and Washington discuss a framework to end their three-month-old war.
Mohammed Dahlan, 2011.Credit: Majdi Mohammed/AP Mohammed Dahlan, 2011.Credit: Majdi Mohammed/AP
Shin Bet security service Chief David Zini flew to the United Arab Emirates and met with former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, Kann public television reported Tuesday, citing Israeli and regional officials.
Dahlan, a political rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a member of his Fatah party, was expelled from Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, later becoming an adviser to UAE Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed. During the Gaza war, Arab countries proposed Dahlan as a temporary post-Hamas leader of Gaza, according to a 2024 Wall Street Journal report.
In 2011, loyalists of Abbas accused Dahlan of poisoning the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat when he was hospitalized in Paris. At the time, Dahlan called the allegations "false and baseless."
The Associated Press and Amira Hass contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz has to be open, "one way or the other", when referring to U.S strikes on Iran on Monday.
"The straits have to be open, they're going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open," Rubio told reporters on his plane in India's Jaipur.
He said the negotiating language of the deal with Iran could "take a few days."
The U.S. military carried out strikes on Monday in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what it described as defensive actions.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement the strikes were designed "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces."
"U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire," said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesperson.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that the treatment of activists detained by Israel had been "appalling" and described the situation in Gaza as "catastrophic," Carney's office said in a statement.
"The Prime Minister reiterated that the appalling treatment of civilians, including Canadian citizens, aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla was unacceptable, and he called for an independent investigation," the statement said.
Carney, it said, also reaffirmed Canada's opposition to illegal Israeli settlement expansion, settler violence in the West Bank, and violence against Palestinian civilians.
The Israeli embassy in Ottawa was not immediately available for comment.
I described the sole aim of the extremist, anti-Israel flotilla activists: provocation at the service of Hamas. Just look at the what they did afterwards in Spain, Greece and Austria.
Israel will continue to act in full accordance withShow more
Separately, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said she had spoken to her Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa'ar, on Monday and told him Ottawa would provide Israel evidence of the mistreatment of Canadians on the flotilla.
"I raised that denying Canadian citizens access to consular services while they were detained violates the Vienna Convention and must never happen again," she said in a post on X.
For his part, Sa'ar said he had told Anand the activists had been inspired by Hamas. "I also highlighted the horrific antisemitic wave in Canada - an average of 19 incidents a day. The Canadian government must take steps against antisemitic incitement and attacks," he said in a post on X.
