Hezbollah fires barrage of projectiles into Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement regarding the murder of a Moldovan-Israeli rabbi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that it "will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death." 

The statement comes after the UAE said it had arrested three suspects in connection with the killing. 

An Israeli foreign ministry official told Reuters on Sunday that the body of the 28-year-old would be repatriated to Israel "hopefully tomorrow but it is not confirmed."

Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting on Sunday that he was "deeply shocked" by the rabbi's death and praised the the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation, adding that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said they have arrested three people suspected of murdering an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, the Emirati Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Tzvi Kogan's body was found by security services in the Gulf Arab state, the Israeli prime minister's office and the foreign ministry said earlier Sunday.

Neither Emirati nor Israeli officials provided any details about the circumstances of Kogan's murder.

Israel has condemned the murder of the rabbi as an antisemitic "terrorist attack."

"The Ministry of Interior announced that the UAE authorities have arrested in record time the three perpetrators involved in the murder" an Emirati statement carried by the official WAM news agency said.

Kogan was described by the UAE's Interior Ministry as "a Moldovan national according to his identification documents at the time of entry into the UAE, where he lived as a resident."

The 28-year-old dual Israeli-Moldovan national was a representative of the Chabad Hasidic movement, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group known for its outreach efforts worldwide.

The Israeli military (IDF) said around 250 projectiles had been fired by Hezbollah militants from Lebanon into northern and central Israel on Sunday, with some rockets reaching Tel Aviv.

Rescue workers say at least seven people had been injured by shrapnel.

The Israeli military said many of the rockets and missiles were intercepted, but others caused damage to houses in central Israel.

The Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalated in late September, almost a year after Hezbollah launched further strikes in support of Hamas following its October 7 attack on Israel.

Israel also struck Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Sunday. It comes a day after it had carried out one of its deadliest and most powerful strikes on the centre of Beirut.

The UN special envoy for Syria said on Sunday it was "extremely critical" to avoid the country being pulled into a regional war.

Since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting the military and Iran-backed groups.

Those strikes have intensified since its conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon escalated in late September.

"We need now to make sure that we have immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, that we have a ceasefire in Lebanon, and that we avoid Syria being dragged even further into the conflict," said Geir Pedersen ahead of a meeting with the Syrian foreign minister in Damascus.

"We agree that it is extremely critical that we de-escalate so that Syria is not further dragged into this," he added.

Iran said it would hold talks in the coming days with three of the countries that recently proposed a resolution against it with the UN’s atomic watchdog. The UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adopted the censure, which was proposed by France, Germany, the UK and the US.

According to an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, talks between the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, France, Germany and the UK would take place Friday. A venue was not specified. 

"A range of regional and international issues and topics, including the issues of Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the nuclear issue, will be discussed," the spokesman said in a statement.

The dispute over Iran's nuclear program has recently come to the fore again. After being censured by the IAEA, Tehran said it would activiate new centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. According to experts, more than 90% purity is required for nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for non-military purposes only.

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Efforts to revive the deal have stalled since then. 

The Israeligovernment approved a legislation which rules the state’s authorities or those funded by it will not be able to work with left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, known for its criticism of the government.

It comes after publisher Amos Schocken’s speech which criticized Prime Minister’s Netanyah and his right-wing government, also calling the country’s treatment of the Palestinians “apartheid.”

According to Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, the newspaper has been spreading “false propaganda.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called for pressure to be exerted on both the Israeli government and on Lebanon's Hezbollah to accept a US-brokered ceasefire proposal.

Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, Borrell also urged Lebanese leaders to pick a president to end the two-year power vacuum in the country, while also pledging €200 million ($208 million) in support for the national army.

Borrell has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel's operations in Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks.

One soldier was killed and 18 others wounded in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said.

Some of the wounds are "severe," and damage was also caused to an army center facility, the army's statement said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident. 

Israel has repeatedly said that its conflict is with Hezbollah in Lebanon and not the Lebanese military.

Israel said on Sunday that the body of a missing Israeli-Moldovan rabbi has been found calling it a "heinous antisemitic terror incident."

Zvi Kogan, missing since Thursday, was murdered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said, adding that Israel "will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death."

Kogan managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai and was an emissary for the Chabad Lubavitch movement.

Israeli authorities reissued their advisory against nonessential travel to the UAE, urging those currently in the country to exercise caution regarding their movement and remain in secure locations.

The death comes amid heightened tensions with Iran, which has a history of intelligence operations in the UAE.

Israeli authorities are treating the disappearance of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi living in the United Arab Emirates as a "terrorist incident," the prime minister's office said on Saturday.

Zvi Kogan, a representative for the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Hasidic movement in the UAE, has been missing since Thursday afternoon.

The Israeli prime minister's office said the Mossad spy agency was leading the investigation and added that there is "information indicating that this is a terrorist incident."

The Chabad Lubavitch movement, based in Brooklyn, New York, said in a statement that "emissaries are working closely with authorities as they investigate his disappearance."

Although the Israeli statement did not reference Iran, Iranian intelligence has previously been linked to kidnappings in the UAE.

Meanwhile, the Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being "missing and out of contact" and said search operations were ongoing, involving "extensive measures."

The Foreign Ministry said it was in close contact with the rabbi's family.

The UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

A gunman was killed, and three policemen were injured in a shooting near the Israeli embassy in Jordan's capital early on Sunday, state media reported.

The gunman opened fire on a police patrol in the Rabiah neighborhood in Amman, and was shot dead after security forces engaged, according to the official Petra news agency.

"The Public Security Directorate announced that it dealt with an incident of gunfire at a patrol operating in the Rabiah area in the capital, Amman, at dawn on Sunday," Petra news agency said.

The injured officers are receiving treatment, and investigations are ongoing.

Authorities asked residents to remain indoors as the incident unfolded.

Witnesses reported heavy police and ambulance presence near the embassy. The area was cordoned off by police after gunshots were heard.

The area is a frequent site of anti-Israel demonstrations.

Jordan, home to many citizens of Palestinian origin, has seen large protests against the Gaza conflict.

ss/rmt,ab (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)