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The IDF struck a building in Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh, the military said on Friday afternoon, after two rockets were fired at Israeli territory from Lebanon earlier in the day.

The IDF said the building was used by Hezbollah to store drones and belonged to Hezbollah's aerial unit 127.

Shortly before the strike, IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Col. Avichay Adraee, issued an evacuation warning for a building in the Dahiyeh. 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Suspected US airstrikes pummeled sites across Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels early Friday, including neighborhoods in the capital, Sanaa.

The extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear, though the number of strikes appeared particularly intense compared to other days in the campaign that began on March 15.

An Associated Press review has found the new American operation under US President Donald Trump appears more extensive than those under former president Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities.

The US Air Force launched several strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, CENTCOM announced on Friday night.

Yemeni media reported 24 airstrikes on the Houthi controlled cities Sana'a, Saada, and the Al Jawf Governorate in the country's North, with Houthi-affiliated source Al-Masirah...

The US Air Force launched several strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, CENTCOM announced on Friday night.

Yemeni media reported 24 airstrikes on the Houthi controlled cities Sana'a, Saada, and the Al Jawf Governorate in the country's North, with Houthi-affiliated source Al-Masirah citing their correspondent in Saada saying that one civilian was killed and four others were wounded in the country's northwestern city. As a result, sirens sounded across central Israel at around 1:09 p.m., including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

(photos: AP)

An Egyptian proposal to end renewed fighting in Gaza would see five living hostages released on the first day of the restored ceasefire, with another five living hostages released every 7-10 days, two foreign diplomats with knowledge of the details told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.

Dual US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander would be released on the first day, said the diplomats.

The Prime Minister’s Office has denied receiving any new Egyptian proposal.

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday regarding efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and maintain regional stability.

(photo: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to the United Nations has been withdrawn, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch said on Thursday.

Republican Representative Elise Stefanik is a close Trump ally and was chosen by the president for the role less than a week after he was elected in November.

"It is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress," Trump said in a social media post. "With a very tight Majority, I don't want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise's seat."

The pressure the IDF will exert will be “more and more powerful,” and will include “seizing territory” and “doing other things” in Gaza if Hamas does not return Israeli hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. The prime minister did not elaborate further.

Netanyahu’s comments came during a debate known as the “40 Signatures Debate,” which is the Israeli version of the British “Prime Minister’s Questions”. The debate included a series of short speeches in the prime minister’s presence, after which the prime minister and opposition leader gave concluding speeches.

Palestinian protests against Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip are proof that Israel’s approach to the terrorist organization is working, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Wednesday.

“In recent days, we have seen something we have never seen before—public protests against Hamas rule in Gaza,” the premier said during a 40-signature debate, which the opposition can call once a month and which he is obliged to attend. “This shows that our policy is working.”

Hundreds of Palestinians staged protests in northern Gaza on Tuesday, notably in Beit Lahia and Jabalia, demanding an end to the ongoing conflict with Israel and calling for Hamas to relinquish control of the territory.

Demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Hamas out” and carried banners reading “Stop the war” and “We want to live in peace.”

The protests, among the most significant against Hamas since the war began, were reportedly organized through social media platforms. Eyewitnesses noted that Hamas security forces attempted to disperse the gatherings, with reports of forceful interventions.

The Egyptian government has been warned that this is their “last chance” to accept a portion of Gaza’s displaced population and that they risk losing American support if they refuse, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Sunday.

A significant force of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers looks to be currently wending its way to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. Satellite imagery shows at least three C-17 cargo planes and 10 aerial refueling tankers forward-deployed in the last 48 hours to the highly strategic British territory, which has been used as a staging point for U.S. strikes in the Middle East on multiple occasions in the past. The build-up comes amid a new surge in U.S. strikes targeting the Houthis and growing warnings to Iran from the Trump administration over support for the Yemeni militants and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Following a round of heated talks on Friday, there are signs that Hamas may be reconsidering its stance on the Egyptian ceasefire proposal.

The discussions were led on the Egyptian side by intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, who met in Cairo with a delegation of senior Hamas officials. During the meeting, the Hamas representatives announced that they were rejecting the proposal delivered to them the previous day, demanding amendments and guarantees for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

According to two sources familiar with the negotiations, the initial meeting was tense, and Rashad warned - or threatened - that Hamas would be hearing from him again. Subsequent conversations on Saturday and Sunday took an even more threatening tone. Senior Hamas figures, most of whom are based in Doha, received stark warnings from the Egyptians.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will lead an Israeli delegation set to hold a series of strategic talks in Washington in the coming days, focused on confronting Iran‘s nuclear program.

Dermer will convey a message to the Trump administration urging that its “maximum pressure” policy on Iran‘s nuclear program be time-bound, Israel Hayom has learned. The Israeli position is that once the agreed period ends, alternative decisions on the matter will need to be made.

The interagency delegation will hold several days of talks with corresponding U.S. national security bodies. The forum is considered highly important and extremely confidential, with a strict media blackout on the content of discussions. However, Israel Hayom has learned that the two parties will also explore ways to translate the administration’s declared “maximum pressure” strategy into practical measures.

Araghchi reaffirmed Iran's refusal to engage in direct negotiations with the U.S., though he acknowledged the possibility of indirect talks through intermediaries. "We will not enter into any direct negotiations with the American side. However, the path for indirect negotiations is open, and there are various channels through which it can be done." Araghchi stated.

The Houthi rebels have launched an attack against an American aircraft carrier and an airport, with two missiles targeting the American assets. 

The Yemeni Army released a statement confirming their attacks.

"The first targeted Ben Gurion Airport with two ballistic missiles, and the second targeted several enemy destroyers, as well as the Truman aircraft carrier, in the Red Sea with several missiles and drones, in a clash that lasted several hours," military leaders said in a statement. 

With the collapse of the ceasefire and renewed fighting in Gaza, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has called for an escalation against the Hamas terrorist group.

“Hamas is stalling for time—this is a strategy, not just a tactic,” Zamir said in security discussions, according to a Channel 12 News report on Monday. “The IDF’s actions are hurting them and causing instability, but they are not leading to the release of hostages. Therefore, we have no choice—we must increase the pressure.”

Meanwhile, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) continued expanded military operations in Gaza on Sunday, targeting key Hamas operatives and infrastructure.

US President Donald Trump announced that Boeing has been awarded the contract to produce the US Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet, the F-47. The aircraft, classified as a sixth-generation fighter, is expected to be the most advanced fighter jet ever developed.

"I'm thrilled to announce that, at my direction, the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world's first sixth-generation fighter jet, and nothing in the world comes close to it," Trump said at the White House.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Sunday.

The call was focused on “regional developments, including releasing the hostages and the resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” according to a brief readout published by Netanyahu’s office on Sunday evening.

Washington’s top diplomat was said to have expressed to Netanyahu the Trump administration’s “unwavering support for Israel and its policy.”

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff said in an interview Sunday that Hamas may have “duped” him earlier this month, as he initially thought the terror group had agreed to his bridge proposal to extend the ceasefire in Gaza, only for it to pull back.

“I thought we had an acceptable deal. I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting duped. I thought we were there, and evidently, we weren’t,” Witkoff told Fox News, reflecting on his March 12 visit to Doha where he presented his bridge proposal.

The proposal would have seen the ceasefire extended through April 19 and have Hamas release five living hostages in exchange for a larger number of Palestinian security prisoners. Israel says it accepted Witkoff’s proposal, but said it would have freed 11 living hostages.

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff said Friday that he doesn’t believe Hamas is “ideologically intractable,” while arguing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “well-motivated,” but operating against Israeli public opinion that prioritizes freeing the remaining hostages from Gaza over the destruction of Hamas.

In a 90-minute interview chock-full of headlines, Witkoff discussed the motivations of Israel, Hamas and Qatar in the ongoing Gaza war, offered an assertive defense of Doha against critics questioning the Islamist country’s motivations, and acknowledged his concern about the Gaza war’s potential for destabilizing countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He also suggested that Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa could be a changed man since his days in Al-Qaeda, revealed new details about his successful January brokering of the now-defunct Gaza ceasefire’s first phase, and insisted that the Iranian nuclear threat can be solved diplomatically.

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday night struck the launcher in northern Gaza from which Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at Ashkelon earlier in the day.

The Hamas deliberately placed the launcher near a humanitarian zone in the Al-Furqan neighborhood, according to the military.

Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, additional intelligence and precise munitions, said the IDF.

The Israeli air force early on Saturday struck dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command center from which Hezbollah terrorists were operating in southern Lebanon.

The strikes represented a retaliation for the first rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took hold in November of last year.  The IDF said the aggression "constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and is a direct threat to the citizens of the State of Israel. The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement."

(photo: Office of the Supreme Leader / WANA via Reuters)

Iran's supreme leader said Friday that U.S. threats against his country "will get them nowhere," after President Trump warned of possible military action against the Islamic republic if it refuses to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

"The Americans should know threats will get them nowhere when confronting Iran," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his live annual televised speech marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

He said Americans "and others should know that if they do anything malign to the Iranian nation, they will get a hard slap."

On March 7, Mr. Trump said he had written to Khamenei, urging negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program and warning of potential military action if it refused.

The United States told the UN Security Council on Friday that Hamas was to blame for the deaths in the Gaza Strip since Israel resumed hostilities there.