Expanding strikes, US hits targets around Tehran and province that is home to Iran’s missile program * Kuwait downs Iranian drones as air raid sirens sound in Bahrain
- 2min agoWoman killed by passing vehicle after exiting car on side of highway
- 9min agoNetanyahu pushes off US trip to late July as Lindsey Graham’s funeral delayed
- 10min agoFewer vessels travel through Hormuz after renewed US blockade
- 31min agoTel Aviv teacher suspected of sexual offenses against 12-year-old student
By ToI StaffToday, 2:32 amShare
Screen capture from video of Iran’s military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, January 2026. (YouTube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they unfold.
Woman killed by passing vehicle after exiting car on side of highway
A woman has been killed after being hit by a car on a highway near the Iron Interchange in northern Israel.
The woman, aged around 30, had exited her car at the side of the road when a passing vehicle hit her. She was declared dead at the scene.
A second woman, aged 47, was lightly hurt and taken to a Hadera hospital.
Netanyahu pushes off US trip to late July as Lindsey Graham’s funeral delayed
By Lazar Berman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be flying to the US next week, his office tells The Times of Israel.
He will instead fly at the end of the month, the PMO says, citing senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral service being pushed off until then.
Netanyahu was expected to meet with US President Donald Trump on the trip, amid expanding back-and-forth attacks by the US and Iran and US-backed negotiations with Lebanon.
Fewer vessels travel through Hormuz after renewed US blockade
By Reuters
Ships sailing near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan on July 13, 2026 (AFP)
Fewer vessels traveled through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, the first day after the US reimposed its naval blockade on Iranian ports, with both countries escalating strikes across the Gulf, shipping data shows.
Nine vessels crossed the strait on Wednesday, mostly on the Iranian route, down from 13 the previous day, Kpler data shows.
There were no Very Large Crude Carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers visibly passing through the strait.
US Central Command said it disabled an unladen oil tanker that was attempting to sail toward Iran’s Kharg Island after it ignored multiple warnings, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack. The Curacao-flagged VLCC Belma was no longer transiting to Iran, it added.
Since resuming a naval blockade against Iran on Tuesday, the US has redirected two ships and disabled another, the military said.
Tel Aviv teacher suspected of sexual offenses against 12-year-old student
A teacher at a Tel Aviv school has been arrested on suspicion of committing sexual offenses against a female 12-year-old student.
The man, in his twenties, allegedly developed a relationship with the student, and the two would meet outside school hours.
The suspect is under arrest and is expected to brought before a judge to extend his remand.
Syria foils attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah from Iraq — state news agency
Syria’s (L) and Iraq’s national flags are pictured near the Iraqi-Syrian border, in Al-Qaim, west of Iraq on January 23, 2026. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Syrian authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle in a shipment of advanced weapons and missiles over the border from Iraq, the state news agency SANA reports.
The report cites an Interior Ministry source, who says preliminary investigations show the shipment was intended for Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.
Iran vows to ‘resist until the end,’ warns war could spread further
By Reuters
Screen capture from video of Iran’s military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, January 2026. (YouTube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Iran’s army says it will “undoubtedly resist until the end and will neutralize American interventions in the region.”
Iranian army spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia says the only way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is for the US to comply with the 14-point memorandum of understanding that the two sides signed in June and the implementation of “Iranian regulations” regarding ship traffic in the strait.
Akraminia says that if US President Donald Trump carries out his threat to attack Iran’s infrastructure, Iran’s armed forces would strike “all remaining infrastructure” across the region, and the response would be more severe, wider in scope and more destructive than previous attacks.
The army says it targeted US bases in Kuwait and Jordan, warning its neighbors that allowing the US to launch attacks against it will not go unanswered.
“Our neighbors should know that providing a base to the Americans and allowing them to fire on Iranian soil is unacceptable and will not go unanswered,” Iran’s army says.
Departing Likud MK says party has ‘failed,’ reveals third of party sought to remove PM after Oct. 7
Likud MK Dan Illouz attends a plenum session in Knesset, July 15, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Likud MK Dan Illouz says that following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, about a third of the party’s lawmakers sought to remove Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.
“When something like October 7 happens, a country that wants to survive cannot simply carry on as usual,” he tells Ynet. “That also has to be reflected in the leadership, which needs to change. After October 7, that was obvious to a great many Likud members. Some of my colleagues, who today are very busy showing how close they are to Netanyahu, were back then focused on how we could replace him.”
Illouz, who announced yesterday he will not seek reelection in October due to his party’s support for legislation enabling blanket military exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students, goes on: “I think at least a third of the Likud faction understood that the right thing for the State of Israel was for the leadership to change. Not through elections, because we were in the middle of an intense war, but through a vote of no confidence.”
He says the only reason this effort did not move forward was failure to agree on who should replace the premier.
The Canadian-born Illouz immigrated to Israel in 2009. He says he joined Likud on the day he arrived.
“I believed in the path that Likud said it would pursue — a free-market economy, the integrity of the Land of Israel, and military service for everyone. I entered the Knesset as part of a ‘full right-wing’ government. That was our dream, and I thought we’d advance those goals. But now, as I reach the end of the Knesset’s term, I see that we’ve done exactly the opposite. The movement’s objectives have not advanced. We’ve completely failed to promote our values.”
IDF says strike killed Hamas sniper commander in Gaza
A Hamas sniper commander was killed in an Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip yesterday.
The strike killed Omar Ahmed Abu Qasem, who the military says took part in attacks on troops in the Strip throughout the war.
Recently, Abu Qasem acted to restore Hamas’s capabilities and advance attacks, “in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF adds.
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Government approves sweeping overhaul of wounded veterans’ rehab system
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visits an injured soldier in Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center in Ra’anana, April 9, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)
The government announces that it approved overnight a sweeping overhaul of the rehabilitation system for wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel, adopting recommendations made by a public committee last month amid warnings that the existing system could collapse under the growing number of casualties since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught triggered a multifront war.
The reform will transform the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department into a national authority with expanded staffing, funding and independence, while reducing bureaucracy, introducing artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, and expanding rehabilitation and mental health services.
Every wounded veteran will be assigned a dedicated case manager to coordinate treatment and benefits, eligibility procedures will be streamlined, family members will receive expanded psychological support, and a new automated system will proactively update veterans’ benefits.
“The plan we approved will provide them with a broad and comprehensive support system,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says. “Our wounded soldiers went into battle to defend the state, and we are fighting for them and for their rehabilitation. This is not only our moral duty – it is our national duty.”
“Today’s government decision is a historic reform that we have led in the rehabilitation system for wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel. It fundamentally changes the way the State of Israel treats the wounded,” says Defense Minister Israel Katz. “Our responsibility now is to implement these decisions in full.”
The decision comes after the Defense Ministry warned earlier this month that its rehabilitation system was struggling to cope with the unprecedented influx of casualties from the war. According to the ministry, some 26,200 wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel have sought treatment since the war began, roughly 65 percent of them for psychological conditions. The total number of wounded veterans under the ministry’s care is expected to surpass 90,000 in 2026 and reach around 100,000 by 2028.
Iran says Hormuz a red line, warns of attacks on regional infrastructure
By Reuters
The spokesperson for Iran’s top military command says Tehran will not allow US interference in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a red line.
Iran would target infrastructure across the region if US President Donald Trump carries out threats to attack Iranian infrastructure, the spokesperson warns.
Iran’s Guards say they struck US base in Jordan
By AFP
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they struck a US air base in Jordan with ballistic missiles in response to what they describe as an American attack near a children’s cancer hospital in Iran.
The IRGC says US forces “used air bases located in Jordan to target various parts of Iran, including the vicinity of a children’s cancer hospital,” and that its aerospace force responded by “launching two waves of missile strikes” on the bases in Jordan.
Defense Minister Katz speaks with US’s Hegseth on Iran operations
Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke with his American counterpart, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overnight, his office says.
Katz’s office says that Hegseth updated the defense minister “on the American military’s activities in Iran, and the two agreed to continue cooperation between the countries in the face of any possible developments.”
Katz also briefed Hegseth on Israel’s activities in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon, his office says.
“We have never asked the United States to act on our behalf along our borders. We are committed to defending the citizens of Israel against every threat, and that is what we intend to do,” Katz says.
Iran army says it struck US targets in Kuwait, Bahrain with drones
Iran’s army says it carried out drone attacks against US bases and facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, state TV reports, after the United States carried out strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s military says it targeted “radar systems, a Patriot air defense system, and fuel storage facilities at Ali Al Salem Air Base” in Kuwait and US military facilities at the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, IRIB reports.
Meanwhile Jordan says it has intercepted eight Iranian missiles today, according to the country’s state news agency.
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