September 13, 2026Share to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeSeptember 13, 2026UpdatesReport: Israel launches new airstrikes and artillery fire in southern LebanonIsrael launched new airstrikes and artillery fire across southern Lebanon on Sunday, hitting areas in and around Nabatieh and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, according to Lebanon's National News Agency and Al Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-affiliated news channel.Smoke rises in southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, southern Lebanon, on Sunday. Credit: Stringer/REUTERSSmoke rises in southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, southern Lebanon, on Sunday. Credit: Stringer/REUTERSNNA reported that Israeli forces struck the area near al-Dabsha Hill on the outskirts of Nabatieh twice in less than 30 minutes. Al Mayadeen separately reported that Israel struck the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa.NNA also reported Israeli artillery fire in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area.Israel will suffer failure after failure to keep Netanyahu's skeletons in the closet | AnalysisTuesday was a Likud celebration. Amid reports of the secret warning phone call concerning a possible attack by Hamas in 2023 from the president of the UAE, the party's chairman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, celebrated with candidates of its reserved slots on the Knesset slate.Education Minister Yoav Kisch celebrated Israel's catastrophic collapse in the PISA exams. He posted a feel-good video, accompanied by upbeat music, congratulating the students for the "amazing resilience" they had shown in 2025.Netanyahu at a Likud party event, Tuesday. Credit: Itay CohenNetanyahu at a Likud party event, Tuesday. Credit: Itay CohenForeign Minister Gideon Sa'ar celebrated the complete collapse of Israel's relations with Europe over the escalation of Jewish terrorism and the ethnic cleansing being carried out in the West Bank with the government's implicit consent by announcing punitive measures against Britain. Everywhere you look, one failure follows another: Carelessness gives way to anarchy, which in turn leads to total disgrace.In any normal country, even one of these events would be enough to make ministers resign in disgrace and governments fall. Not here. In Israel, things simply carry on as though nothing has happened.The explosive investigation by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval – which not only was not denied by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, but also corroborated in one form or another by most Israeli media outlets – is nauseating. A month before the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, we're learning of yet another warning, yet another alert, yet another red flag raised before Netanyahu – all of which met the same familiar response from him.Read the full articleIranian commercial vessel reportedly hit near Strait of Hormuz, one killed and four woundedAn Iranian commercial vessel was struck early Sunday near Qeshm and Hengam islands in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one person and wounding four others, according to Qeshm County Governor Hossein Amir Teymouri, cited by Iran's state-linked ISNA news agency.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile while transiting the strait. A fire broke out following the attack, and local authorities evacuated the crew, UKMTO said.UKMTO said the strike was first reported at 2 A.M. Sunday, with the crew's status and the extent of the damage initially unknown. It later said local authorities were at the scene and evacuating crew members.There was no immediate statement from the U.S. military, which has previously struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it maintains a blockade of Iranian ports.Iran said Saturday that foreign ministers from regional countries would meet to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, which lies on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, to manage shipping through the waterway.The money race: How much Israeli politicians are spending on online adsFor nearly three years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party barely touched Meta's advertising platforms, running their campaign instead through WhatsApp groups and a Telegram chatbot that leave no public record. Two weeks ago, that changed.The data show that right-wing parties' primarily target men. Credit: Source: social media; Design: Nadav GazitThe data show that right-wing parties' primarily target men. Credit: Source: social media; Design: Nadav GazitNetanyahu resumed paid advertising on Facebook, outspending almost every rival within days. A Haaretz analysis of thousands of political ads shows what that shift – and his opponents' spending – reveals about how Israel's candidates are fighting for votes online.Over the past three months, parties in the "change bloc" – Yashar, Together, The Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu – spent more than twice as much on paid Facebook and Instagram advertising as parties in the Netanyahu bloc – Likud, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Amcha Yisrael and Shas.The main reason for the gap is that Netanyahu and Likud only resumed sponsored advertising on social media about two weeks ago, after a roughly three-year hiatus. But the gap between the blocs is narrowing fast: In the past week alone, Likud spent roughly as much as the four change-bloc parties combined.Read the full articleUltra-Orthodox schoolgirls in Israel outperform their secular counterparts, study showsNon-religious female students in Israeli state schools lagged behind their counterparts in ultra-Orthodox schools in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment, according to results published Tuesday.Ultra-Orthodox students in Jerusalem in 2022. Credit: Yahel GazitUltra-Orthodox students in Jerusalem in 2022. Credit: Yahel GazitThe study, conducted worldwide by the OECD, also showed that the reading performance of ultra-Orthodox female students was significantly higher than that of their non-religious counterparts, who lagged two school years behind.According to the results, in mathematics, a smaller gap emerged in favor of ultra-Orthodox female students, while the two groups performed equally in science.Read the full articleUKMTO says vessel struck by 'unknown projectile' in Strait of HormuzThe United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received a report that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. UKMTO added that the status of the crew, damage assessment and evironmental impact are unknown at present.Iran's President Pezeshkian: 'If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces'Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of failing to face up to Iran's military might and choosing to attack civilian targets instead, taunting, "If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces.""Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods?" Pezeshkian wrote on X. "If they're human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine? Our people can't be bullied into submission. Iran won't surrender."If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces. Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods? If they're human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine? Our people can't be bullied into submission. Iran won't surrender.Show moreIsraeli-directed film on Gaza killings wins Special Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival"NAZA," a new documentary from two Israeli directors, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, the festival's third-most prestigious award for a screened film.Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor accept the Special Jury Prize for their documentary "NAZA" at the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday. Credit: Scott A Garfitt/APIsraeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor accept the Special Jury Prize for their documentary "NAZA" at the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday. Credit: Scott A Garfitt/APAccording to the film's official synopsis, "NAZA," directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, reveals "in detail the systems behind Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza" during the war following Hamas' massacre on October 7, 2023. The film's title comes from the Hebrew military acronym for collateral damage.Its premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday earned a record 25-minute standing ovation. According to the festival's management, it was the longest recorded standing ovation for a filmmaker at any festival.Read the full articleRECAP: IDF rounds up Palestinians following shooting, Houthi strike wounds two in Saudi ArabiaHere are Saturday's latest updates:■ The Israeli military rounded up dozens of Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Faqqu'a after saying they shot a Palestinian man earlier on Saturday.■ The Israeli military told Haaretz that an initial probe determined that a soldier who was filmed shooting a Palestinian man in the leg for no apparent reason earlier on Saturday had violated IDF rules of engagement.■ Three Israeli settlers were filmed opening fire at homes on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir in the central West Bank, Palestinian reports said. No injuries were reported.■ Two explosions from the sea were heard in Iran's Qeshm Island, state media said.■ An attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen wounded two people in the Saudi port city of Jizan, the country's Civil Defense Agency said.■ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in New Delhi, signalling a thawing of relations between the countries divided by the war, as Iran and the UAE signed on to a statement calling for restraint in the Middle East.■ Iran will continue blockading the Strait of Hormuz until the United States agrees to its conditions, the country's Tasnim agency reported, citing a source close to Tehran's negotiating team in its talks with Oman.■ Iraq closed its al-Tayyib border area with Iran after discovering drone launch sites, two Iraqi military sources told Reuters. Saudi Arabia shut down its critical East-West oil pipeline following a drone attack from Iraq.■ Two men attacked a 43-year-old woman wearing a Star of David in Berlin on Rosh Hashanah eve, wounding her with a broken bottle, Berlin police said. The woman was hospitalized after suffering several cuts to her hand, police said.■ The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi issued a statement urging its citizens to exercise caution during the High Holy Days in places associated with Jewish and Israeli communities in the United Arab Emirates.Houthi attack wounds two, damages mosque, buildings, authorities sayAn attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen wounded two people in the Saudi port city of Jizan, the country's Civil Defense Agency said.The Saudi city of Jizan on the Red Sea.The Saudi city of Jizan on the Red Sea.According to Saudi authorities, the attack also inflicted material damage on a mosque, several buildings and vehicles.Jizan sits on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen.Read the full articleEmergency alert issued in two Saudi citiesSaudi Arabia's Civil Defense Agency issued an emergency alert for the cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait in the country's south, 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Saudi Arabia's border with the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen.Saudi authorities later said the danger has passed.In the NewsIranian Ship Struck Near Strait of Hormuz, Killing One, Iranian Media ReportSuspected Homicide: Three Bodies Found in Burning Vehicle Near Arab Israeli CityIsrael's Imminent Constitutional Crisis Exposes a Bigger Problem With DemocracySaudis Shut Down Oil Pipeline as Houthis Tighten Grip on Red Sea ShippingThe Evolution of Choice and Arguing About ItRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMINetanyahu Got an Explicit Warning Before Oct. 7. He Didn't Brief Security ChiefsIsraeli Documentary on Gaza Receives Record 25-minute Standing Ovation at VeniceNetanyahu Was Warned About October 7. Will Haaretz's Exposé Change Anything?Netanyahu Says He Will Sue Haaretz Following Oct. 7 ExposéIMDb Replaces the Name Israel With 'The Occupied Palestinian Territories''Baby, an Update: He's Just Died': Israeli Guards' Texts Reveal Abuse in Prison