The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
A tennis match between Israeli player Lina Glushko and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the first round of the ASB tennis classic in Auckland is disrupted by anti-Israel protests. A small group of demonstrators outside the venue can clearly be heard in the venue and in television broadcasts of the match. Journalist Ben Rothenberg writes on X that play was briefly stopped for a couple of minutes due to the noise from the protesters. He says that organizers were unable to move the demonstrators as they were on a public street. Chants appear to include “Israel is a terror state.”
British government sources tell London’s The Times that Asma al-Assad, the London-born wife of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, is effectively barred from the United Kingdom as her passport is not valid. It is unclear if the travel document expired or was actively blocked. Sources tell the newspaper that because the exiled former Syrian first lady’s passport is not valid, and the British government will not allow her back in on compassionate grounds due to her health, Assad will be unable to seek medical treatment in the UK. Assad is said to have a 50% chance of survival after an aggressive form of blood cancer is believed to have returned following treatment for the disease earlier this year, the UK’s Telegraph newspaper reported earlier this month. According to the report, the exiled former first lady, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in May of this year, is completely isolated in Moscow as she undergoes treatment for the aggressive cancer. While her husband fled to Moscow after his brutal regime was toppled in a lightning rebel offensive earlier this month, Asma is said to have already been in Russia for some time before that as she was seeking treatment there. According to The Times, it is thought that her treatment in Moscow is being managed by cardiologist father, who has apparently left his home in London along with his wife.
Herzog remembers late US president Carter’s ‘deep commitment to forging peace between nations’ President Isaac Herzog eulogizes former US president Jimmy Carter, who died yesterday at age 100. “In recent years I had the pleasure of calling him and thanking him for his historic efforts to bring together two great leaders, Begin and Sadat, and forging a peace between Israel and Egypt that remains an anchor of stability throughout the Middle East and North Africa many decades later,” Herzog said of the 1978 Camp David Accords. “His legacy will be defined by his deep commitment to forging peace between nations. On behalf of the Israeli people, I send my condolences to his family, his loved ones, and to the American people.”
Houthi official: ‘As long as Gazan children are being killed every day, the Zionists won’t be allowed to sleep’ Houthi official Hezam al-Asad posts a threat in Hebrew on X, warning Israelis: “As long as children in Gaza are being killed every day, the Zionists will not be allowed to sleep.” In recent days, as the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels have stepped up their attacks on Israel, al-Asad has posted several mocking messages to X, some of them in Hebrew. Millions of Israelis have been sent running for shelter in the middle of the night by missiles and drones fired from Yemen over the past two weeks. In the most recent such attack, Israeli air defenses intercepted a missile fired from Yemen that triggered sirens in the Jerusalem, southern West Bank and Dead Sea areas early Saturday morning, The Houthis, a rebel group dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews, have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The vast majority did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military or Israel’s allies in the region.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says he is”deeply saddened to hear about the tragic crash in South Korea” and offers his condolences to the families of the victims, after 179 people were killed yesterday when their aircraft went up in flames. “Israel stands in solidarity with South Korea during this difficult hour,” Saar writes on X. Only two people survived when the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 plane skidded off the runway and slammed into a wall at Muan International Airport.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hails former US president Jimmy Carter as “a symbol of humanitarian efforts” for his role in brokering the historic 1978 Camp David Accords, which established peace between Egypt and Israel. “His significant role in achieving the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel will remain etched in the annals of history, and his humanitarian work exemplifies a lofty standard of love, peace, and brotherhood,” the Egyptian leader says in a post on social media platform X. Following the 1978 agreements, Carter witnessed the signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty by then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at the White House on March 26, 1979.