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Israel Tours from Tel Aviv

Planning trip to Israel? Staying in Tel Aviv? Looking for a daily Group Guided Tours from Tel Aviv . We offer the best selection of daily Group Guided Tours from Tel Aviv. Guaranteed departures daily. Pickup from your Tel Aviv hotel or closest pickup point as per your request. Group Guided Tours from Tel Aviv cover all “ must see ” sites in Israel. See the full list of Israel guaranteed departure day tours from Tel Aviv visiting:  Jerusalem , Bethlehem ,  Jericho , Masada , Dead Sea ,  Nazareth , Galilee , Jordan River Yardenit – Baptismal Site, Golan Heights , Caesarea, Haifa , Acre ( Akko ), Petra & more. We make it easy. Book your tours in advance to guarantee your amazing vacation in Israel. Best itineraries approved by more than 13.000 happy travelers. Tours available in English Spanish German and French. Best prices guarantee. No additional fees or hidden fees. You pay what you see. 

How do our daily tours work select the tours you want to book from tel aviv. book your tours online. receive instant booking detailed confirmation to your email. you are all set, enjoy the tours change of plans free of charge reschedule. easy one step – super user friendly booking system. have all your tours from tel aviv booked and organized in advance. have a great stay in israel, holy land & enjoy your group guided tours from tel aviv with compass.  , israel one day group tours from tel aviv include:.

•   Pickup from your hotel or closest pickup point according to your location / Airbnb  
•   Return transfer to your hotel or pickup point 
•   Government licensed tour guides in English / Spanish / German / French  
• Transfers in A/C vehicles according to itinerary during the tours  
• Entrance fees to the sites visited during the tours according to our itinerary

ISRAEL DAILY GROUP GUIDED TOURS FROM TEL AVIV

Group tours from tel aviv includes.

Pickup from your hotel or closest pickup point according to your location / Airbnb    Return transfers to your hotel or pickup point   Government licensed tour guides in your chosen language All transfer in A/C vehicles according to the itinerary    All transfer in A/C vehicles according to the itinerary   All entrance fees to the sites visited according to the itinerary Personal assistance on WhatsApp +972587076611  Best prices and service 100% Guaranteed   Available languages English Spanish German French  

Jerusalem Old New Cities Tour from Tel Aviv

Jerusalem & Bethlehem Tour from Tel Aviv

Jerusalem & Dead Sea Tour from Tel Aviv

Jerusalem Half Day Tour from Tel Aviv

Bethlehem & Jericho Tour from Tel Aviv

Masada & Dead Sea Tour from Tel Aviv

Dead Sea Relaxation Tour from Tel Aviv

Nazareth Sea of Galilee & Yardenit Tour from Tel Aviv

Caesarea Haifa Rosh Hanikra & Akko Tour from Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv Old Jaffa Tour from Tel Aviv

Bethlehem Half Day Tour from Tel Aviv

Jericho Dead Sea Jordan River Tour from Tel Aviv

Jerusalem Jesus Footsteps Tour from Tel Aviv

Israel Desert Jeep & Dead Sea Tour from Tel Aviv

Golan Heights & Katzrin Tour from Tel Aviv

Petra Jordan 1 day Tour from Tel Aviv (with flights)

Christmas Tour & Bethlehem Mass from Tel Aviv

Petra & Wadi Rum 2 Days Tour from Tel Aviv (with flights)

City of David & Underground Jerusalem Tour from Tel Aviv

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Tours from Tel Aviv

With day tours from Tel Aviv, you can reach northern destinations like the Galilee, Golan, Rosh HaNikra, Acre, Haifa, and Caesarea. There are also day tours from Tel Aviv that travel south to the Dead Sea and Masada as well as east to Jerusalem, Jericho, and Bethlehem. Israel tours from Tel Aviv, include a complimentary pick-up and drop-off service from points in Tel Aviv. Even if your tour is within Tel Aviv, you will have the pick-up and drop-off service. For an additional fee, you can be dropped off at Ben Gurion Airport at the end of the tour for your return flight home.

Our guided tours are accompanied by professional tour guides and travel in air-conditioned transportation. From Tel Aviv, you can join standard-size group tours and smaller group tours. Private tours from Tel Aviv can also be arranged with your personal tour guide and tailor-made itinerary.

Tours from Tel Aviv, including  Tel Aviv tours , are offered in English on all days of the week. With prior arrangements, these tours are also available in French, German, Spanish, or Russian. From Tel Aviv, you can take one-day tours, including Tel Aviv tours, which return you to Tel Aviv in the evening or join a multi-day tour package that includes accommodation in other cities. For all inquiries and questions you may have, including those about Tel Aviv tours, please feel free to contact our helpful customer service team.

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Departure Day

Masada and Dead Sea Day Tour

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Jerusalem and Bethlehem Tour

Nazareth and Sea of Galilee Tour

The Perfect Tel Aviv Walking Tour

Bethlehem & Church of the Nativity Full Day Tour

Caesarea, Acre and Rosh Hanikra Tour

Jerusalem and Dead Sea Tour

Bethlehem, Jericho and Qasr al-Yahud

Tel Aviv Graffiti Tour in Nachalat Binyamin

Tel Aviv Food Tour: The Magic of Carmel Market

Jaffa Walking Tour - Old Jaffa, Jaffa Port, the Flea Market and More

Jerusalem Half Day Tour

Golan Heights Tour

Mount of Olives, Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock Tour

Christian Jerusalem Jesus Tour

City of David Tour Jerusalem

Jericho, Dead Sea and the Jordan River Tour

Judean Desert Jeep Tour

Jerusalem Old City Tour

The Dead Sea Relaxation Tour

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Jerusalem Palm Sunday Procession Tour

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Best 7 day Tours from Tel Aviv

Find the best 7 day adventures and trips starting from Tel Aviv. Choose from 435 tours - we've found the most popular time to visit is in October with the most number of tour departures.

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67 trips from tel aviv with 435 reviews.

• In-depth Cultural
• Christmas & New Year

Highlights of the Holy Land Best Experience - 8 Days

It was wonderful experience! Our tour guide, Boaz, was awesome and very knowledgeable.

• Sightseeing

Heritage of the Holyland Tour - 8 days

All was good Alice was a great guide The last couple of days in Bethlehem and the old City I felt was rushed and we were pushed into eating and souvenir shops I didn’t want to go Please allow tourists to negotiate with guides about eating and buying places Suggestion: allow for a coffee break mid morning, it was a long time between breakfast and lunch which was sometimes 2.30pm Meals at the Tiberias hotel we’re disorganised: they didn’t seem to know we were come Shalom hotel was excellent Alix was a great guide Edmond in Bethlehem was pushy and repetitive: he was knowledgeable and helpful but again felt he pushed us into buying and eating places which were over priced Over all I had a great time and only mention the above because I am Australian and the Filipino and 3 South African with me don’t need large meals in the middle of the day. A couple of coffee/drink breaks with a small sandwich/roll would have been enough Tim Moloney

• 10% deposit on some dates Some departure dates offer you the chance to book this tour with a lower deposit.

Highlights of Israel - 8 days

Our guide was excellent. The tour itself was too full, no time to explore and do our own thing. The included food was mediocre. Overall, we had a great time.

8 Days Highlights of Israel

I had a wonderful time! Our tour guide Orna was very knowledgeable, caring and with very good sense of humor! The same thing I would also say about our bus driver Namir. We felt very safe and cared of.

Heritage of the Holy Land

Itinerary covered all the places we wanted to see. The accommodation for tourist class was a little too far from the main city centre especially in Jerusalem (we were at Rimonim and had to take tram plus additional bus or taxi to get to and from the main centre of Jerusalem) and also Tiberias (stayed at Prima where we had to walk up and down a hill for 25 minutes to get to the seafront). We took half board option and the hotel buffet dinners provided every night was delicious and well worth the cost! Breakfast was also good. Would recommend going outside of summer time as the heat can get quite unbearable at times especially with the outdoor sites included in the itinerary. Transportation to and from sites and airport transfers were excellent. Guide was knowledgeable. Overall, good experience!

Israel & Jordan Charming Tour - 8 Days

Naomi (nah-o-mi) (נָעֳמִי‎) who was our tour guide, was amazing. She was full of knowledge, patient and carring. This is a great tour which you will be able to see all highlights in Holly land. I highly recommend this tour however you will need to have some flexibility in terms of security and situation in the middle East.

Jewish Israel Tour Package, 5 Days

A wonderful trip for the adults and children alike. Our tour guides—Eli, Erez, Dorit, and Yitzak—were all incredibly knowledgeable and engaging.

• Coach / Bus

Heritage & Holy Land - 8 days

Everything is great I had an amazing time. Thanks be to God. And thank you, tour radar. Thanks also to CTO and our tour guide Joseph. He is the best. I can’t say anything more.

Discover Israel

Excellent tour guides, transportation services, and hotel accommodations. We were able to visit several historical and significant sites, with enough time in the afternoon to roam around and explore the area. Highly recommended!

Biblical Israel

I hardly know where to begin. Our group was small consisting of only 11 (eight Americans, two Brits and one Aussie) combined together from six travel agencies. We got along marvelously largely due to our guide and driver Doron Hoffman. The Mercedes bus/van which would seat 15 or 16 was new and always clean and neat and very comfortable. Ours was a Holy Land Christian tour and the sites we visited were just amazing - right out of the Bible, supported with Scripture. We had a couple of requests not on the itinerary, one a camel ride, that Doron very graciously accommodated. We, the whole group feel the same, can not say enough about Doron. He has a great sense of humor, is very proud of Israel and is extremely knowledgeable! His English is probably better than mine and he is conversant in all subjects concerning Israel from society and cultural, to history, to politics, to the Bible and the many many sites we visited. We will be taking another trip to Israel and it will be with Rent a Guide Israel Tours and Doron Hoffman!!!

Classic Israel

I went on the Classic Israel Tour. It was a fantastic experience. Our tour consisted of six people and our tour guide/driver. He was fantastic, and it was the trip of a lifetime. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this tour and go!

Jewish Israel Tour Package, 8 Days

Tour was very good. Hotel in Jerusalem was old dirty and in dire need of upgrade. Also didn't feel safe walking around hotel. Hotel in TEL Aviv was excellent. The tour guides were all nice and informative

5 days in Israel

The tour was great. I saw everything I wanted , and even a little more. Tours were conducted by experienced and knowledgeable guides. The sea, temples, sights - all at the highest level, and the price is acceptable. I recommend it!

Holy Land Discovery - Faith-Based Travel - Catholic Itinerary

The Catholic component was not as evident as I expected.

Israel the Holy Land

There is so much to see and absorb that some days were just too jam-packed. In particular, the Jerusalem day started out on the Mount of Olives and by the end of the day, everyone was completely exhausted and suffering from information overload. It was all relevant and interesting but simply too much for one day.

Reviews of 7 day Tours from Tel Aviv

We had the most amazing guide Leah Dor and the best driver Hassan they both was so lovely, accomodating and went out their way to be so helpful and gave us some extra nice suprises throughout the tour. Everything was a good pace, never rushed and saw so much place and Leah was an expert with knowledge. Transfer drivers was on time when arrived plus to leave. Reliable company and organised well. Only thing, if you want to visit where Jesus was born inside the church, there is a big que and it is not part of this tour as this is just the highlights, they visit the church but not to que for certain things like that which many was not aware of so read the intinary clearly

I loved the Heritage of the Holy Land tour. Our tour guide Leah was very knowledgeable and informative. Our bus driver Hassam was very good about navigating the narrow streets with a tour bus. We all became like family by the end of the week.

We have just finished our tour with CTO , what a wonderful experience, visiting so many historical sites and given such an in depth and comprehensive tour, we were so fortunate to have such a great guide as Yossi, ( he is a walking encyclopaedia ) he has the ability to make you think and question historic events Brilliant! This trip is full on, and we could not believe just how much we got to see and learn, we were in a small group of 15 which was perfect and what an amazing group of people who we will remain in touch with. Thank you Yossi!

• Israel Travel Guide | All You Need to Know

Best Tours from Tel Aviv

Tour guide | Tzur Tours

We at Tzur tours offer a variety of private day excursions from Tel Aviv:

Daily tours from Tel Aviv

Tours to jerusalem from tel aviv.

Of course, the most popular are the tours to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, we offer carefully planned private tours to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, visit the sites of your interest, and enjoy the professionalism of your personal guide.

Tours to Bethlehem from Tel Aviv

When visiting Jerusalem it’s common to combine a visit to Bethlehem too.

In Bethlehem, you will find major Christian sites such as the church of Nativity and the milk grotto.

Tours from Tel Aviv to Dead sea

Also very popular are the tours from tel Aviv to dead sea. We offer an excellent private tour, including a visit to Masada , the 2000 years old fortress and place of king Herod. A lovely hike at the Ein Gedi reserve and at last a swim and relaxation at the Dead sea.

this tour is available at sunrise as well: Masada sunrise tour from tel aviv

tours to petra from tel Aviv

Join our special tours to petra from tel aviv.

We offer small group tour to petra departing every week

Read more about our weekly petra tours from Tel aviv or Jerusalem

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About Tzur Tours

Tzur Tours, a company with a family atmosphere, was founded by Eliyahu Tzur, based on his vast experience as a qualified tour guide. Our expertise is in Private tours and organized tours for small and medium-sized groups. Our aim is to connect you to this wonderful country, to maximize your experience, and this with good quality service and at competitive prices.

Private Day Tours Packages

Private tour prices start at $650 per group.

Christian tour of Jerusalem

Judean Hills tour

Golan Heights and Galilee

Masada Sunrise Tour

Herodium and Beit guvrin Tour

Classic Jerusalem Tour

Caesarea Acre and Rosh Hanikra tour

Masada Ein Gedi and Dead Sea Tour

Negev Desert Tour

Hebron Day Tour

Biblical Tour in the North of Israel

Samaria Shiloh and Beit El Tour

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Home » Tours » Tours from Tel Aviv

• Tours from Tel Aviv

Ignite your senses in Tel Aviv, a city pulsating with life and ranked among the world’s best for quality of living! As Israel’s first modern city, born in 1909, it’s where the state of Israel burst into existence in 1948. Venture into Tel Aviv, where modernity was embraced while other cities were under siege, and savor the vibrancy of Israeli life!

Here are some great ideas for tours and activities to enjoy while staying in Tel Aviv.

Neighborhood Tour of Tel Aviv

One of the oldest port cities on the planet, it was added to Tel Aviv after 1948. It has a beautiful artist colony overlooking the Mediterranean, as well as the Flea Market, one of the most desirable neighborhoods for young adults.

The American Colony

A little piece of New England in the Middle East. The first settlers from the West arrived here in 1869 and have a fascinating story to learn about.

This neighborhood was established in the 1930s and has some of the most vibrant street art scenes. You can take a whole tour of the neighborhood focusing on street art.

Neve Tzedek

The “Paris” of Tel Aviv. This neighborhood was established in 1887 by those who left Jaffa. Some of Israel’s most famous founders and authors lived in this neighborhood. This neighborhood was also central to the project to resurrect the Hebrew language.

Rothschild Street

This is where the state of Israel was declared on May 14th, 1948. It is also famous for having the international architectural style also known as “Bauhaus”.

Rabin Square

In the year 1995 during a Pro peace demonstration, The prime minister of Israel was assassinated right outside City Hall.

Specialty Tour of Tel Aviv

One of our specialty tours is a tour revolving around the resurrection of the Hebrew language . You can read more about it here. Other options could include street art in South Tel Aviv or Food Tours of the market.

Museums of Tel Aviv

These include the Tel Aviv Art Museum, the Rabin museum and “Anu”, the Museum of Jewish communities (new museum, highly recommended). Another great option to check out is the Palmach Museum. Different from other museums, it offers an interactive experience that incorporates the participants in discussions during the war of independence.

Tours from Tel Aviv, a Short Drive Away:

A wine tour of the judean hills..

For more information about this link here.

Caesarea and Acre (Akko).

On this tour, you will be exploring two of Israel’s ancient capitals . While Jerusalem was the capital of the Jews for the past three thousand years, the conquerors of Israel established other administrative capitals. Two thousand years ago King Herod, appointed by the Romans, established Caesarea, the most advanced Port City on the planet. 800 years ago the Crusaders established their capital in the northern Port City of Akko.

Zichron Yaakov

19th-century Zionism and the first wineries in Israel. This tour combines the history of Zionism alongside the history of the first modern industry in Israel. The Rothschild family supported this early modern community as well as the first winery. Zichron Yaakov has a charming well-preserved 19th-century street.

Jerusalem tour

It is very possible to tour Jerusalem while staying in Tel Aviv. To read more about Jerusalem tour options please link here .

Judean Hills

Some of the options this tour could include are:

Participate in an archaeological dig in the Judean Hills.

Visit the Ella Valley , the battle site of David and Goliath.

Kayafa. An ancient 3000-year-old Jewish town with fascinating archaeology.

Ayalon Institute underground bullet Factory from the war of Independence. Discover how a group of teens helped win the war of Independence in 1948.

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We offer an array of VIP experiences in Israel, Jordan, and Egypt and create tailor-made journeys for discerning travelers. We are a one-stop-shop solution for all your travel needs in the region, organizing visas and private luxury transport, as well as booking guided tours and anything else you may need during your journey.

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The link you provided has a WhatsApp number. Try texting. Your credit card will NOT refund money if you decide not to go on a running tour.

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Middle East Crisis C.I.A. Director Is Heading to Cairo for New Truce Talks

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• A destroyed house in Rafah in southern Gaza. Reuters
• Mourning relatives killed during strikes in Rafah. Fatima Shbair/Associated Press
• Blocking a road in Tel Aviv to call for the return of hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack led by Hamas. Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• A camp for displaced people in Rafah. Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• A house destroyed in a strike in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza. Mohammed Saber/EPA, via Shutterstock
• Aid dropped into northern Gaza. Leo Correa/Associated Press
• Palestinians searching for survivors under the rubble of a house after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah. Haitham Imad/EPA, via Shutterstock
• Israeli soldiers near the Israel-Gaza border. Hannah Mckay/Reuters
• A poster on Wednesday in Tehran of Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria. Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

The C.I.A. director is heading to Cairo for new hostage talks.

The C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, is expected to travel to Cairo this weekend for further talks on releasing Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, according to two people briefed on the plans.

American officials believe negotiating a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas and the exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel is the only way to put a temporary cease-fire into effect and increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Mr. Burns, a key figure in the continuing negotiations, is expected to be joined by David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, and negotiators from Egypt and Qatar. Neither the Americans nor the Israelis speak directly to Hamas. Instead, their proposals are relayed through Egyptian and Qatari officials, who speak to members of Hamas.

Mr. Burns’s travel plans were earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The talks between Mr. Burns, Mr. Barnea and the other officials are set to begin on Sunday, according to one of the people briefed on the talks.

American officials said U.S. negotiators intend to deliver the message that the United States wants Israel to work toward a deal and not let small requests from Hamas or details of proposals derail the larger goal of beginning a phased approach of freeing the hostages.

The cease-fire talks have been stuck for weeks. This round will be taking place after President Biden spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel by phone on Thursday, repeating his call for a negotiated deal that would result in an “immediate cease-fire” and the release of hostages taken by Hamas.

Negotiators have at times seen the possibility of breakthroughs, only to have setbacks. A push for a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last month also was unsuccessful .

The current sticking point appears to be the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, a main Hamas demand that Israel has been reluctant to give in to, according to people briefed on the talks.

Mr. Burns, a seasoned diplomat and negotiator before he became the C.I.A. leader, has put various proposals on the table, prodding parties to endorse plans to take to Hamas. It is not clear if Mr. Burns will be taking a new deal to the meetings.

Negotiations have been slow in part because it can take two days or more to relay proposals from negotiating sessions to Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza and the presumed mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Mr. Sinwar has been approving all Hamas counterproposals on hostage negotiations. He is believed to be hiding in the tunnels under Gaza, protected from Israeli raids by a group of hostages he is using as human shields.

— Julian E. Barnes reporting From Washington

Israel to open another crossing for aid after pressure from Biden.

Israel has agreed to open another crossing and increase the flow of aid getting into Gaza, a move seemingly aimed at tempering the U.S. president’s growing frustration over the dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

The Israeli government confirmed the new measures in an overnight statement, after the Biden administration announced them late Thursday after a tense phone call between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the call, Mr. Biden threatened to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses his concerns about civilian casualties and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council said that Israel had agreed to open the Erez crossing to allow aid into northern Gaza, to use the port of Ashdod to direct aid into the enclave and to significantly increase deliveries from Jordan — “at the president’s request.”

“These steps,” the spokeswoman, Adrienne Watson, said, “must now be fully and rapidly implemented.”

The Israeli government did not say when it would open Erez crossing, a checkpoint between Israel and northern Gaza that Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 and that Israel had refused to re-open since. It said only that Israel would allow the “temporary delivery” of aid through the Erez crossing and the port of Ashdod, which sits about 16 miles north of Gaza on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

Israel has come under rising pressure from U.S. officials and humanitarian agencies to open more border crossings for aid amid warnings from the United Nations that famine looms after nearly six months of war.

Mr. Biden has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s approach to the war against Hamas in Gaza, saying that more must be done to protect civilians. The killing of seven aid workers this week by Israeli forces appeared to bring that to a head, with Mr. Biden saying he was “outraged” and that Israel has “not done enough to protect civilians.”

That frustration carried over into his call with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday, when Mr. Biden tried for the first time to leverage American aid to influence the conduct of the war against Hamas — prompting Israel to commit to letting more food and supplies into Gaza.

“As the president said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers,” Ms. Watson said in the statement.

The most dire shortages are in northern Gaza, where desperation has prompted people to swarm trucks carrying assistance and where aid groups say they have struggled to deliver supplies because of Israeli restrictions and widespread lawlessness.

Nearly all of the aid allowed into Gaza since the war began has entered through two main crossing points: Kerem Shalom and Rafah, which are both in the southern part of the enclave. But getting truck convoys from the southern border crossings to the north is difficult and dangerous, and the route is sometimes blocked by roads damaged by Israeli bombardment, Israeli checkpoints or battles between Hamas fighters and Israeli troops.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, in a call with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday, also “raised the need for the rapid increase of aid coming through all crossings in the coming days,” according to the Pentagon.

Late last month, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered Israel to ensure the “provision of unhindered aid” into Gaza, using some of its strongest language yet. Israel has rejected accusations that it is responsible for delays in the delivery of aid.

Patrick Kingsley contributed reporting.

— Cassandra Vinograd and Erica L. Green

Biden tells Netanyahu that U.S. support hinges on treatment of Gaza civilians.

President Biden threatened on Thursday to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses his concerns about civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, prompting Israel to commit to permitting more food and other supplies into the besieged enclave in hopes of placating him.

During a tense 30-minute call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mr. Biden for the first time leveraged U.S. aid to influence the conduct of the war against Hamas that has inflamed many Americans and others around the world. The announcement of additional aid routes hours later met some but not all of Mr. Biden’s demands.

“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” according to a White House summary of the call. “He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

The statement was the sharpest the White House has issued on Israel’s conduct in the six months of its war against Hamas, underscoring the president’s growing frustration with Mr. Netanyahu and his anger over this week’s killing of seven aid workers by Israeli military forces. But while the president repeated his call for a negotiated deal that would result in an “immediate cease-fire” and the release of hostages taken by Hamas, White House officials stopped short of saying directly that he might limit U.S. arms supplies if not satisfied.

By the middle of the night in Jerusalem, Israel made its first gestures to Mr. Biden. In a statement, the government said it would increase aid deliveries to Gaza, including through the port of Ashdod and the Erez crossing, a checkpoint between Israel and northern Gaza that Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 and Israel had kept closed ever since. The statement did not say when the crossing would be reopened.

Biden administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private call in more detail, said that Mr. Netanyahu agreed to additional commitments intended to assuage the president. Among others, the officials said, Israel would promise to institute more measures to reduce civilian casualties and to empower negotiators brokering a temporary cease-fire deal in exchange for the release of hostages.

The reported agreement came as American officials held out the prospect of consequences if Mr. Netanyahu resisted. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who dialed into the call between the president and prime minister, said afterward that Israel needed to do more to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza, a challenge that has expanded exponentially since the attack on aid workers prompted some groups to reconsider their activities on the ground .

“If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront,” Mr. Blinken said during a stop at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “Here’s the current reality in Gaza despite important steps that Israel has taken to allow assistance into Gaza: The results on the ground are woefully insufficient and unacceptable.”

The secretary of state made clear that the Biden administration was now ready to exact a price if Israel continued to rebuff its counsel. “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in policy,” he said.

The president has long refused to curb the arms flow to influence Israel’s approach to the war. Mr. Biden said after Hamas killed 1,200 people and took hundreds of hostages in October that his support for Israel was “rock solid and unwavering.” While he has increasingly criticized what he sees as the excesses of the military operation, he has until now stuck by his vow.

But with rising agitation on the political left, particularly in electoral swing states like Michigan, even some of Mr. Biden’s closest Democratic allies are coming around to the view that Washington should exercise more control over the weaponry, including Senator Chris Coons, a fellow Democrat from Delaware and confidant of the president.

“I think we’re at that point,” Mr. Coons said on CNN on Thursday morning. If Mr. Netanyahu were to order the Israeli military into the southern Gaza city of Rafah in force and “drop thousand-pound bombs and send in a battalion to go after Hamas and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid,” he added, then “I would vote to condition aid to Israel.”

Mr. Netanyahu did not immediately release a description of his call with Mr. Biden, but in other comments on Thursday he appeared unbowed. In a meeting in Jerusalem with visiting Republican lawmakers organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, the prime minister pushed back strongly against Mr. Biden’s longstanding insistence on a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict.

“There is a contrary move, an attempt to force, ram down our throats a Palestinian state, which will be another terror haven, another launching ground for an attempt, as was the Hamas state in Gaza,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “That is opposed by Israelis, overwhelmingly.”

In a separate video statement, he focused on the threat he sees from Iran. “For years, Iran has been acting against us, both directly and through its proxies, and therefore Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, in both defensive and offensive operations,” Mr. Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli airstrike that killed seven Iranian military officers in Syria this week.

“We will know how to defend ourselves,” he added, “and we will operate according to the simple principle by which those who attack us or plan to attack us — we will attack them.”

The White House statement noted that Mr. Biden stood by Israel against Iran during his Thursday call with Mr. Netanyahu, which in addition to Mr. Blinken included Vice President Kamala Harris and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser.

“The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people,” the statement said. “President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.”

Unlike previous comments, however, the latest White House statement made no mention of Oct. 7 nor the by-now ritual defense of Israel’s right to respond to Hamas. Instead, it emphasized that “an immediate cease-fire is essential” and said that Mr. Biden “urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.” A person briefed on the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said negotiators including William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, will travel to Cairo on Saturday for further talks on such a deal.

At a briefing after the call between the leaders, John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said the president wants to see “concrete tangible steps” to reduce the violence against civilians and increase access for humanitarian aid to Gaza and predicted that Israel would make announcements of specific changes within hours or days.

But Mr. Kirby would not outline specific metrics for judging Israel’s response or what Mr. Biden would do if not satisfied. “What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side and, you know, if we don’t see changes from their side, there will have to be changes from our side,” he said.

Some Israel supporters criticized Mr. Biden for giving in to pressure from the left, arguing that it could prolong the war by emboldening Israel’s enemies. “Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, and the rest of the destroy-Israel axis are sitting back and reveling in the growing tensions and signs of a coming breach between Washington and Jerusalem,” said John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

The pivot stemmed from the killing of the seven aid workers, who were deployed in Gaza by World Central Kitchen, the humanitarian group founded by the celebrity chef José Andrés. Mr. Biden called himself “ outraged and heartbroken ” over the incident and made a point of calling Mr. Andrés to express his condolences.

Inside World Central Kitchen’s Work in Gaza

World central kitchen has suspended its relief efforts in gaza after seven aid workers were killed in israeli airstrikes on monday. videos reveal the challenges of food distribution in a territory under siege..

Zomi Frankcom and Damian Soból arrived in Gaza on a mission to feed Palestinians, documenting their efforts in social media videos like these. Then on April 1, they were killed by Israeli airstrikes, along with five other colleagues, bringing the work of the World Central Kitchen in Gaza to a halt. The charity’s videos offer a rare window into the challenges of food distribution in Gaza, a territory on the brink of famine that’s been cut off from the outside world. Celebrity chef José Andrés started World Central Kitchen in 2010 in response to the earthquake in Haiti. The organization brings meals to areas impacted by natural disasters or conflict, including communities displaced inside Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks. Since October, the group said it delivered more than 43 million meals to Palestinians through community kitchens, truck convoys and airdrops. In mid-March, they were the first to deliver aid by sea with a ship carrying nearly 200 tons of food from Cyprus. The Israeli military released footage of the coordination behind that effort, which brought food to northern Gaza, where the U.N. says people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. “I’m very hopeful that we can be bringing millions and millions of meals daily. We may fail, but the biggest failure will be not trying.” A second maritime delivery arrived just hours before the attack. In a video statement, the Israeli military called the attack a grave mistake. Since Oct. 7, nearly 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, according to the U.N. And for now, the World Central Kitchen has suspended its operations there.

The seven workers were killed by three successive strikes on three cars traveling along a road in Gaza. Israeli officials have called the episode a tragic mistake based on a misidentification of the vehicles, but have not explained more expansively how it happened. The cars were marked with World Central Kitchen logos, although the attack took place at night. Mr. Andrés has said his organization kept in touch with Israeli officials about movement plans.

As of Thursday morning, the Israelis had not yet communicated any initial findings of their promised investigation into the strikes to the United States, according to a senior Biden administration official who insisted on anonymity to detail internal conversations.

Mr. Biden’s shift on Thursday came as he absorbed withering criticism from Democrats. Among those speaking out have been former colleagues in the administration he served as vice president under President Barack Obama, who assailed him for voicing shock without taking action against Mr. Netanyahu, known by the nickname Bibi.

“The U.S. government is still supplying 2 thousand pound bombs and ammunition to support Israel’s policy,” Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to Mr. Obama, wrote on social media on Wednesday. “Until there are substantive consequences, this outrage does nothing. Bibi obviously doesn’t care what the U.S. says, its about what the U.S. does.”

Jon Favreau, a former chief speechwriter for Mr. Obama, was even more derisive of Mr. Biden. “The president doesn’t get credit for being ‘privately enraged’ when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people,” he wrote, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. “These stories only make him look weak.”

Some Palestinian advocates reacted with aggravation to Mr. Biden’s articulation of anger over the deaths of the aid workers because in their view he has not responded with nearly enough indignation over the killing of more than 32,000 people living in Gaza, most of them civilians.

The president evidently has taken heat even from within his own family. Mr. Biden told Muslim community leaders at the White House on Tuesday evening that the first lady, Jill Biden, had weighed in , telling him, “Stop it, stop it now, Joe.”

Julian E. Barnes , Katie Rogers and David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington, Patrick Kingsley from Jerusalem and Lara Jakes from Brussels.

— Peter Baker Reporting from Washington

A call for early elections by a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet highlights the domestic pressure he is under.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is facing challenges on multiple fronts, with his domestic support appearing to erode at a time when international frustration with the war in Gaza has reached new heights.

The Israeli leader has come under ever-sharper criticism from allies like the United States as the civilian death toll climbs in Gaza, and the Israeli military’s killing there this week of seven aid workers has heightened global anger. President Biden spoke with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday, telling him that “the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.”

At home, Mr. Netanyahu has been confronted with protests and divisions within his governing coalition.

A call Wednesday night for early elections from a former general who is a key member of Mr. Netanyahu’s war cabinet heaped more pressure on the prime minister. Benny Gantz, a popular political rival to Mr. Netanyahu, said that elections should be held in September — around the one-year mark of the war. (New elections in Israel are not legally required until late October 2026.)

“This agreed-upon date for elections will leave us time to continue the security effort, and it will allow Israeli citizens to know that we will soon need to renew the trust between us,” he told a news conference. “It will prevent the rupture among the people.”

Mr. Gantz’s remarks — which featured prominently on Israeli news websites on Thursday — underscored how government unity in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel is showing signs of strain nearly six months into the war.

A departure by Mr. Gantz’s party would not topple Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition on its own, which holds 64 seats in the 120-member Parliament. But it would dismantle the emergency wartime unity government formed after the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, potentially creating even more momentum in favor of a push for elections.

Mr. Gantz’s words also echoed the calls of thousands of anti-government protesters who filled the streets outside the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem this week in a four-day demonstration to demand early elections and Mr. Netanyahu’s ouster.

At the same time, Mr. Netanyahu is facing sharp criticism from his far-right coalition partners , Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over any indication that he is hesitating in the war against Hamas or in the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The pressure comes as the Biden administration’s frustration with Mr. Netanyahu appears to be coming to a head. The 30-minute call between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Biden on Thursday came a day after Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had a tense call with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.

Mr. Austin upbraided Mr. Gallant over Israel’s deadly attack on the aid workers, according to the Pentagon’s account of the call , expressing “outrage” in remarks that demonstrated a significant change in tone from the American secretary’s previous calls with the Israeli defense minister.

Despite the tough language, there was no indication that Mr. Austin had threatened to halt the flow of American munitions to Israel or place conditions on their transfer, as many congressional Democrats are now urging.

Adam Rasgon , Aaron Boxerman , Johnatan Reiss , Peter Baker and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.

— Cassandra Vinograd reporting from Jerusalem

World Central Kitchen demands an independent investigation into Israel’s deadly strike.

World Central Kitchen on Thursday called for an independent investigation into the killing by Israeli forces of seven of its staff members this week as they worked to deliver aid in Gaza.

Governments around the world have condemned the killing of the workers . They included a man from Gaza and citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland, as well as a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said that Israel “deeply regrets” the strikes, in which the military fired upon three vehicles carrying the aid workers on a coastal road in Gaza on Monday night. He said that Israel would make sure it did not happen again.

Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said on Tuesday that the attack followed a misidentification, and that the Israeli military had started an investigation. But World Central Kitchen, the disaster relief organization founded by the Spanish chef José Andrés, issued a statement Thursday saying that was not enough.

“We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law,” the group said .

Other Israeli actions in Gaza have prompted similar calls. In one example, António Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said in February that there needed to be an independent investigation of an incident in which dozens of people died while trying to collect aid, after Israeli forces opened fire and there was a stampede. To date, no such investigation has begun.

World Central Kitchen also called on Israel to preserve any documentation related to the strikes, and pushed back on Mr. Netanyahu’s assertion that the mistake was something that “happens in war.”

“This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three W.C.K. vehicles,” the statement said. “All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as W.C.K. vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities.”

— Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Israel’s military cancels leave for combat units and jams GPS signals.

Israel’s military said on Thursday that it was canceling leave for combat units, calling up more reservists and blocking GPS signals.

The Israeli military did not explicitly cite the reason behind the moves. Israeli newspapers said they came amid fears of an increased threat from Iran , a prospect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to in remarks to his Security Cabinet on Thursday night.

“For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively,” he said, without directly referring to the military’s moves. “We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle of whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them.”

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran has vowed to punish Israel for killing top Iranian commanders this week in an airstrike in Syria. The attack was one of the deadliest in a decades-long shadow war between the two enemies, and American officials have voiced concerns that it could prompt retaliatory strikes against Israel or its ally, the United States.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday night that it had decided to draft reserve soldiers for its aerial defense unit. It did not provide further details.

An announcement about pausing leave for all combat units came in another brief statement, issued on Thursday morning. The military said the decision — which it described as temporary — was taken given “the latest situational assessment,” adding that Israel is “at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment.”

A military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said later on Thursday that Israel also had been disrupting GPS signals over the past day to intercept any threats. He did not attribute those threats to Iran or any group or country in particular.

“During the war, we dealt with a large number of threats launched toward Israel — missiles, UAVs and cruise missiles,” he told a news briefing, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, like drones, and adding that “most of them were manufactured in Iran.”

The moves come as Israel’s military is under strain from months of fighting against Hamas in Gaza. Reservists have been called to serve longer or additional tours of duty, and a fierce national debate over whether ultra-Orthodox Jews should be required to join the army has been reignited.

Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to press on in Gaza with a ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge. His promise to invade Rafah comes despite mounting calls for a cease-fire and international criticism over Israel’s conduct in the war.

U.S. officials have expressed alarm over the scale of civilian deaths in Gaza and warned that Israel’s plans to invade Rafah could lead to catastrophe. Israel’s deadly strikes on a convoy of aid workers this week amplified those concerns, prompting sharp critiques from President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.

— Cassandra Vinograd Reporting from Jerusalem

More than 600 lawyers and retired judges call on the U.K. government to end arms sales to Israel.

The British government is coming under escalating pressure to suspend arms sales to Israel after the strike on a convoy in Gaza that killed seven aid workers , including three Britons. More than 600 lawyers and retired judges sent a letter to the government, arguing that the sales violated international law.

Citing the risk of famine among Palestinians, a potential Israeli military assault on the city of Rafah and a finding of the U.N.’s top court that there was a “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza, the lawyers urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems” to Israel.

“Serious action,” the 17-page letter sent on Wednesday concluded, “is moreover needed to avoid U.K. complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention.”

Among the signatories are Brenda Hale, a former president of Britain’s Supreme Court; Jonathan Sumption and Nicholas Wilson, former justices on the court; and dozens of the country’s most prominent lawyers.

Mr. Sunak has hardened his criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in recent weeks, while stopping short of punitive measures. On Tuesday, he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy, in which the three Britons were killed, was “appalling.”

But Mr. Sunak has not signaled he is considering a halt to arms sales. Speaking to The Sun, a London tabloid, on Wednesday, he said, “We’ve always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to. There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we’ll always follow.”

Britain’s arms trade with Israel is nowhere near that of the United States. Grant Shapps, the defense secretary, told Parliament that British exports to Israel totaled 42 million pounds ($53 million) in 2022, a figure he described as “relatively small.” It sells parts for military aircraft, assault rifles and explosive devices. Under a 10-year agreement reached in 2016, the United States provides $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel.

But the strike on the aid convoy has provoked fury across Britain, dominating the front pages of newspapers and TV news broadcasts. The family of one of the three British victims, John Chapman, said in a statement, “He died trying to help people and was subject to an inhumane act.”

Britain summoned Israel’s ambassador to lodge a formal objection and demanded an investigation into the strike, which Mr. Netanyahu characterized as a tragic accident in the fog of war.

That explanation is unlikely to quiet the growing chorus of condemnation. Several members of Parliament from Mr. Sunak’s Conservative Party have also demanded that arms sales be halted, as has Peter Ricketts, who was national security adviser to David Cameron, the current foreign secretary, when he was prime minister.

“Sometimes in conflict you get a moment where there is such global outrage that it crystallizes a sense that things can’t go on like this,” Mr. Ricketts said to the BBC on Wednesday. “I hope that this awful incident will serve that purpose.”

Mr. Cameron, who was in Brussels on Thursday for a second day of meetings of NATO foreign ministers, said Israel needed not only to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, but also to make sure that the convoys were able to transport it throughout the enclave without further lethal incidents.

“Britain will be watching very closely to make sure that that happens,” Mr. Cameron said to reporters on Wednesday.

The Labour Party, which holds a double-digit lead over the Conservatives in opinion polls, said Britain should suspend arms sales if Israel is found to have violated international law. “I must say that I do have very serious concerns,” David Lammy, the party’s shadow foreign secretary, told reporters.

— Mark Landler reporting from London

Netanyahu Faces Pressure at Home and Abroad, From Foes and Friends

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is facing challenges on multiple fronts, with his domestic support appearing to erode at a time when international fury and frustration over the war in Gaza have reached new heights.

The Israeli leader has come under sharper criticism from allies like the United States as the civilian death toll climbs in Gaza, and the Israeli military’s killing there this week of seven aid workers has heightened global anger.

On Thursday, President Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken both suggested that American support for Israel was not unconditional in remarks that laid bare the growing divisions between Washington and Jerusalem.

In a phone call with Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Biden called the strikes on relief workers and the broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza “unacceptable,” according to a White House statement.

“He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers,” the White House statement said. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Mr. Blinken said, “With regard to our policy in Gaza, look, I’ll just say this: If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in our own policy.”

Within hours of the phone call, a spokeswoman for the U.S. National Security Council had released a statement announcing that, at Mr. Biden’s request, Israel would allow more aid crossings in Gaza. The statement said Israel had agreed to use the Ashdod port to direct aid into Gaza, to open the Erez crossing into northern Gaza for the first time since the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 and to significantly increase deliveries from Jordan.

At home, Mr. Netanyahu, who has outlasted many predictions of his political demise, has been confronted with protests, divisions within his government and falling approval ratings in opinion polls.

On Wednesday night, Benny Gantz, a former general who is a key member of Mr. Netanyahu’s war cabinet, heaped more pressure on the prime minister by calling for early elections . A popular political rival to Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Gantz said that elections should be held in September — just before the one-year mark of the war. (New elections in Israel are not legally required until late October 2026.)

Elections in September “will leave us time to continue the security effort, and it will allow Israeli citizens to know that we will soon need to renew the trust between us,” he said at a news conference. “It will prevent the rupture among the people.”

Mr. Gantz’s remarks, which Israeli news websites featured prominently on Thursday, underscored how government unity since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel was showing signs of strain nearly six months into the war. An opposition leader, Mr. Gantz crossed parliamentary lines after the attack to join the Netanyahu war cabinet as an emergency measure.

Mr. Gantz did not suggest he would quit the war cabinet, and if he were to, that alone would not topple the government; his centrist party is not part of Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right governing coalition, which holds 64 seats in the 120-member Parliament. But it would dismantle the emergency wartime leadership team formed after Oct. 7, along with the air of solidarity it created, potentially creating more momentum for new elections.

Mr. Gantz’s words echoed the calls of thousands of anti-government protesters who filled the streets outside the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem this week in a four-day demonstration to demand early elections and Mr. Netanyahu’s ouster.

At the same time, Mr. Netanyahu has faced sharp criticism from his far-right coalition partners , Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over any indication that he is hesitating in the war against Hamas or in the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Unlike Mr. Gantz, they have the power to make the government fall and to force elections by leaving the coalition.

The pressure comes as Biden administration officials are expressing more open frustration with Mr. Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In a tense phone call on Wednesday, the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, criticized his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, over the deadly attack on the aid workers, including a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. According to a Pentagon account of the call, Mr. Austin expressed “outrage” at the attack — a significant change in tone from their previous calls.

Despite the tough language, the Biden administration did not directly threaten to halt the flow of American munitions to Israel or place conditions on their transfer, as many congressional Democrats are now urging.

“I’m not going to preview any potential policy decisions coming forward,” John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. “What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side,” he said, including a significant increase in humanitarian aid, additional border crossings into Gaza and a reduction in violence against civilians and aid workers.

Israel has called the strike a tragic mistake that resulted from a “misidentification” but has not offered further details.

Another Israeli ally, Britain, is also coming under more pressure to curtail its support for Israel; three of the seven World Central Kitchen workers who were killed were Britons. On Wednesday, more than 600 lawyers and retired judges sent a letter to the British government urging it to suspend weapon sales to Israel, arguing that they violated international law.

The letter cited the risk of famine in Gaza, a planned Israeli military assault on the crowded city of Rafah in southern Gaza and a finding by the U.N.’s top court that there was a “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza.

Among the signatories were Brenda Hale, a former president of Britain’s Supreme Court; Jonathan Sumption and Nicholas Wilson, former justices on the court; and dozens of the country’s most prominent lawyers.

The international pressure to suspend military sales to Israel came as the Israeli military said that it was canceling leave for combat units and blocking GPS signals. The Israeli military did not explicitly cite the reason behind the moves, but Israeli newspapers noted that it came amid fears of an increased threat from Iran .

Israeli officials have also suggested that increased cross-border fighting between their forces and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia backed by Iran, could prompt a much larger military response by Israel than it has mounted so far.

Iranian leaders have vowed to punish Israel for killing top Iranian commanders this week in an airstrike in Syria. The attack was one of the deadliest in a decades-long shadow war between the two enemies, and American officials have voiced concerns that it could prompt retaliatory strikes against Israel or the United States.

Israel said on Wednesday night that it had decided to mobilize reserve soldiers for its Aerial Defense unit. On Thursday, it said it was pausing leave for all combat units given “the latest situational assessment.”

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said Israel had also been disrupting GPS signals to intercept any threats.

“During the war, we dealt with a large number of threats launched toward Israel” including missiles and drones, he said at a news briefing on Thursday, adding that “most of them were manufactured in Iran.”

As outrage continues to boil over the killing of the aid workers this week, their employer, World Central Kitchen, called for an independent investigation into the attack and asked Australia, Britain, Canada, the United States and Poland, whose citizens were among the victims, to join it in demanding an outside inquiry.

World Central Kitchen also called on Israel to preserve documentation related to the strikes and pushed back on Mr. Netanyahu’s assertion that strikes, while “tragic” and unintentional, were something that “happens in war.”

Reporting was contributed by Lara Jakes , Adam Rasgon , Johnatan Reiss , Eric Schmitt , Mark Landler , Katie Rogers and Michael Levenson .

— Cassandra Vinograd ,  Victoria Kim and Matthew Mpoke Bigg

String of Israeli Errors Led to Fatal Attack on Aid Convoy, Military Says

A series of Israeli failures, including a breakdown in communication and violations of the military’s own rules of engagement, led to the deadly airstrikes that killed seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza this week, senior Israeli military officials said on Friday.

The military officials said that the officers who ordered the strikes on the aid convoy had violated the army’s protocols, in part by opening fire on the basis of insufficient and erroneous evidence that a passenger in one of the cars was armed.

The attack prompted a wave of international outrage and renewed questions about whether Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza properly vet targets before unleashing deadly force. Israel has come under increasing pressure over the high civilian death toll in its six-month war in Gaza . The strikes on the aid workers prompted President Biden for the first time to say he would leverage U.S. aid to influence the conduct of the war against Hamas.

On Friday, the Israeli military announced that two officers — a reserve colonel and a major — would be dismissed from their positions. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, had also decided to formally reprimand the head of Israel’s southern command as well as two other senior officers, the military said in a statement .

The military said the “grave mistake” had stemmed from “a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.”

“It’s a tragedy,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, told reporters in a briefing on Thursday night. “It’s a serious event that we’re responsible for, and it shouldn’t have happened.”

World Central Kitchen, the relief group whose aid workers were killed, called the Israeli military’s statements “cold comfort” and reiterated its call for an independent inquiry. The aid organization’s operations — which have distributed millions of meals to Gazans — remained suspended, the group said.

“It’s not enough to simply try to avoid further humanitarian deaths, which have now approached close to 200,” the group’s founder, José Andrés, said in a statement . “All civilians need to be protected, and all innocent people in Gaza need to be fed and safe. And all hostages must be released.”

Critics have said that the Israeli military has shown a disregard for Palestinian civilians in its campaign to root out Hamas, the militant group whose attack on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

The army said its findings on Monday’s strikes would be sent to military prosecutors to assess whether anyone should face criminal charges. The army is also assessing whether the two officers stripped of their posts should be moved to other roles or be fired entirely.

Though the Israeli military has assigned a special committee to investigate allegations of misconduct during several conflicts over the past decade, rights campaigners have said the military justice system has historically been slow to charge, let alone convict, soldiers accused of crimes against Palestinians.

For Abdu Rahman Mohammad, an accountant from Khan Younis who has lost eight cousins in the war, the Israeli military’s apology for the aid workers’ deaths felt like “a slap in the face” that further demonstrated that Palestinian lives were of lesser value.

According to the military, Israeli forces began striking the World Central Kitchen convoy at 10:09 p.m. on Monday, as the vehicles made their way along Gaza’s coast. The attack killed six foreign nationals and a Palestinian, all of whom had handled the food aid that had arrived in Gaza by sea.

Like many aid groups, the World Central Kitchen had sought to ensure its workers’ safety in Gaza, where, according to local health officials, Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people. The workers had coordinated their mission in advance with the Israeli military, and the roofs of the vehicles had been marked with the World Central Kitchen’s logo.

Despite those safeguards, a series of critical errors led the troops to open fire on the convoy, according to the results of the military’s preliminary inquiry. Drone footage, the inquiry found, had not captured the organization’s logo in the dark; some officers did not review documentation showing that the convoy included civilian cars; and a drone operator had identified incorrectly an aid worker, who was most likely carrying a bag, as a member of an armed Palestinian group with a gun.

The seven aid workers had arrived in northern Gaza earlier on Monday to help deliver more than 100 tons of food aid, according to World Central Kitchen. Their trucks left around 9 p.m. and headed south for the group’s warehouse, according to the Israeli military.

Along the coastal road, the trucks met with cars who joined their convoy, according to the military. Shortly after, a gunman appeared to fire a single round from the roof of one of the trucks, according to Maj. Gen. Yoav Har-Even, a reserve officer who oversees the military’s investigations into potential cases of wartime misconduct.

The drone operator and his commanding officers were unaware that the cars were part of the approved humanitarian convoy and wrongly assumed they were carrying armed Palestinians, the Israeli officials said.

Asked why the soldiers were out of the loop, General Har-Even said that certain officers had not seen the coordination documentation. “No excuses,” Gen. Har-Even said, describing the communication failure.

After the convoy arrived at the warehouse, Israeli drone footage captured what officials said were believed to be more gunmen at the scene. The Israeli military screened videos for reporters at the briefing on Thursday. The New York Times could not independently verify the military’s video.

The officers were convinced that the scene they had witnessed resembled what they said were previous attempts by Hamas militants to seize humanitarian aid in Gaza, the officials said. Basem Naim, a Hamas spokesman, denied that Hamas stole aid, calling the accusation “Israeli propaganda.”

The cars then left the warehouse — three cars went south and one went north, the military officials said. Before they left, a drone operator spotted what he believed — wrongly, General Har-Even said — was a figure bearing a weapon entering one of the three southbound cars.

Within four minutes, at least one Israeli drone struck each of the three vehicles in the convoy as they traveled south one behind the other, killing all seven passengers, the Israeli officials said. Israeli officers fired on the first car without “enough to say this is a legitimate target,” said Benny Gal, one of the Israeli generals who briefed reporters.

Some aid workers in the first vehicle struck fled to the next vehicle for protection, the officials said. That vehicle was hit, too.

The soldiers’ decision to fire on the second and third car, assuming wrongly that they were also harboring militants, failed to meet the Israeli military’s open-fire protocols, the officials said. The Israeli military’s rules of engagement are classified, making it difficult to know what the standard for using deadly force was on Monday night. But General Har-Even indicated the attack categorically broke them .

“This was against the rules of engagement,” he said.

The Israeli military also failed to convey key information about the aid workers’ plans to lower-ranking soldiers operating in the area, General Har-Even said.

Aid agencies had begged the Israeli authorities for months to open a direct line between them and Israeli military forces to avoid disastrous misfires, Jamie McGoldrick, a senior U.N. relief official, said. But those pleas had mostly fallen on deaf ears, he said, contributing to “a lot of near misses.”

Asked whether the military was concerned that more cases of indiscriminate fire had occurred over months of intensive Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip, Admiral Hagari, its spokesman, didn’t provide a substantive answer.

Referring to the strikes on the aid convoy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “deeply regrets the tragic incident.”

During a phone call with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday, the White House said, Mr. Biden described the attack on the aid convoy and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza as “unacceptable.”

Mr. Biden threatened to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses his concerns about civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, prompting Israel to say it would open up more routes for aid into the besieged enclave.

Abu Bakr Bashir contributed reporting from London and Patrick Kingsley from Jerusalem.

— Aaron Boxerman and Adam Rasgon Reporting from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

In a televised show of unity and defiance, Iran and its proxy militias denounce Israel and the U.S.

The leaders of Iran and the militia groups it backs around the Middle East made an unusual televised show of unity and defiance on Wednesday, railing against Israel and the United States, as war rages in the Gaza Strip.

On a joint broadcast, the leaders of a group that calls itself the Axis of Resistance, speaking from different locations, delivered fiery speeches ahead of the upcoming Quds Day, a show of solidarity with Palestinians held each year on the last Friday of Ramadan.

The war between Israel and Hamas gave this year’s iteration a sharper edge than usual. The broadcast also came just days after Israel struck an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, killing three generals of Iran’s Quds Force and four other Iranian officers in one of the deadliest attacks in the yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran.

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran said that Israel would be punished and made to regret its attack in Damascus. He focused most of his speech on what he called Israel’s demise in world public opinion and said any normalization of ties with the Jewish state — referring to Saudi Arabia — would be akin to “betting on a dead horse.”

Last April, a similar event took place to commemorate Quds Day, with a broader list of speakers representing political and military leaders from across the Arab world and Iran. This year’s event, however, was tightly focused on militant groups supported by Iran that have been fighting Israel on multiple fronts since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel, which they refer to as Al Aqsa Flood.

The speakers, in addition to Mr. Raisi, included Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas; Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah; Ziad al-Nakhaleh, the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which, like Hamas, is active in Gaza; Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, which controls a large part of Yemen; and Hadi al-Ameri, the leader of Hashd al-Shaabi, an Iraqi Shiite militia.

“The Al Aqsa Flood united the Muslim people and this collective unity has manifested with the help of Iran on battlefields in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq,” Mr. Haniyeh said. He said that the United States had aided crimes committed by Israel by supporting it financially, providing it with sophisticated weaponry and vetoing cease-fire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.

Since Oct. 7, Hezbollah has launched daily attacks against Israel after a long lull in fighting, raising fears of a wider regional war, and the Houthis for the first time have launched drones and missiles against Israel and vessels in the Red Sea, disrupting international shipping.

Iran has tried to calibrate its response, applying pressure on Israel while avoiding all-out war. Earlier this year, it made an effort to rein in Iraqi militias , including Hashd al-Shaabi, that had been firing on U.S. bases.

Mr. Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, urged his followers not to “overlook the achievements of the resistance” in six months of battle with Israel.

Mr. al-Ameri focused most of his speech on the resolve of militant groups to force the American military to withdraw from Iraq saying, “we are steadfast and there is no turning back.”

Separate from that broadcast event, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, held a large meeting on Wednesday with government, military and religious leaders of the country, and pledged that Israel would receive “a slap” for killing Iranian officers in Syria. The crowd, fists in the air, chanted back, “Death to Israel.”

— Farnaz Fassihi and Hwaida Saad

Advertisement

Air Canada resumes flights to Israel after six-month pause due to Israel-Hamas war

MONTREAL — Air Canada has resumed service between Canada and Israel following a six-month pause.

The airline says flights between Toronto and Tel Aviv resumed April 9, and a once-weekly flight between Montreal and Tel Aviv will resume in May.

The Montreal-based Air Canada, like most other international carriers, suspended service to Ben Gurion International Airport on Oct. 8 after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

The airline says that in preparation for resuming service, it has undertaken an extensive safety analysis, including consultations with government authorities, unions representing its flight crews, and security experts.

The federal government still advises Canadians avoid non-essential travel to Israel due to the ongoing hostilities and the unpredictable security situation.

A number of international carriers, including United Airlines and Ryanair, have also recently announced the resumption of service to Israel.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:AC)

The Canadian Press

Israel-Gaza latest: Biden says US support for Israel is 'ironclad' following Iran threats

Iran has vowed retaliation for a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria for which it believes Israel is responsible for. Listen to a Daily episode on how the war could be worsening Yemen's humanitarian crisis as you scroll.

Thursday 11 April 2024 04:45, UK

• Israel-Hamas war

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

• Three sons of Hamas leader killed in strike | IDF gives details of attack
• Four grandchildren also among the dead, Hamas says
• Explained: Who is Ismail Haniyeh?
• Watch: Moment he is told his family has been killed
• Alistair Bunkall analysis: Targeting leader's family won't change Hamas's position
• Netanyahu's approach 'a mistake', Biden warns
• Date for Rafah offensive is bravado, US officials say  
• Alex Crawford report : Yemeni fishermen face threat of Houthi attack - but on Gaza they are firmly behind the militants

President Joe Biden has emphasised his country's "ironclad" support for Israel, as Iran vows retaliation for this month's deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria.

In a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is in Washington for an official visit, he said: "Our commitment to Israel's security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.

"We say it again, ironclad, and we're going to do all we can to protect Israel's security."

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reiterated his promises to retaliate against Israel over the killing of two Iranian generals in Syria.

State TV broadcast carried Khamenei's remarks live while he addressed a prayer ceremony in Tehran to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

He called the strikes an attack on the “territory” of Iran. “The evil regime (of Israel) must be punished, and it will be punished.”

Air traffic over the Iranian capital was suspended from midnight local time (9.30pm in the UK) for "military drills", the country's defence minister told local media.

The reports are unverified. 

It comes following suggestions by Bloomberg and other outlets that Iranian military action against Israel is expected "imminently". 

Tehran has threatened to retaliate for an attack it suspects Israel was behind - on a compound in Syria last week - that killed senior Iranian military officials.

Germany's Lufthansa airline said tonight it had suspended flights to and from Tehran from 6 April probably until 11 April, "due to the current situation in the Middle East".

A far-right Israeli politician has warned Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that he is "next", after his three sons and four grandchildren were killed in Israeli airstrikes. 

Reacting to the news in a video shared online, Almog Cohen said: "Ismail Haniyeh, you are next in line".

Mr Cohen serves as an equivalent to an MP in Israel (known as MK - or member of the Knesset, Israel's parliament) representing the Otzma Yehudit far-right political party, which is also known as 'Jewish Power'.

He briefly served on the Knesset's foreign affairs and defence committee in 2022, before Itamar Ben-Gvir, a similarly outspoken far-right politician, removed him. 

In January last year, Mr Cohen was suspended from X following his calls to "keep killing them" after an IDF raid in the Jenin refugee camp that led to the deaths of nine Palestinians.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops have been manoeuvring and making preparations on the Gaza border despite a mass pull-out of personnel from the territory.

Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he has a date in mind for the planned IDF offensive in Rafah - the only major city in Gaza yet to be assaulted by Israeli ground forces - although that date has not yet been made public. 

Israel will open a new land crossing into the Gaza Strip which will facilitate aid deliveries to Palestinians from overseas or neighbouring Jordan, the country's defence minister has said. 

Speaking to reporters, Yoav Gallant said a new crossing point would be created on the northern part of the Gaza border to reduce the time taken to truck in aid from Ashdod, which is some 40km away.

An aide to Mr Gallant later said the crossing point would be between the Israeli village of Zikim and the Palestinian village of As Siafa.

"These breakthroughs have a direct impact on the flow of aid - we plan to flood Gaza with aid," Mr Gallant said. 

"It will also streamline security checks and strengthen our work with international partners.”

A short time ago, we heard from the US president.

Joe Biden said he has been both blunt and straightforward with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in recent conversations, as reports swirl that the US president is getting fed up of dealing with the prime minister. 

He said Israeli efforts to get more aid into Gaza were not enough. 

When asked what Mr Netanyahu is doing to meet the commitments he has already made to the US, Mr Biden replied: "We will see."

Speaking during a joint press conference with the Japanese prime minister, Mr Biden said that "Hamas must decide whether to move forward towards it", refencing a fresh ceasefire deal currently on the table. 

'Ironclad' on Iran

Despite his clear frustration with Mr Netanyahu's recent decisions, the US president doubled down on its commitment to helping Israel defend itself in case of an Iranian attack.

"We also want to address the Iranian threat to launch a significant - they're threatening to launch a significant attack in Israel," he said. 

"As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israeli security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad. 

"Let me say it again, ironclad - all we can to protect Israel's security."

A statement from Hamas has said that seven members of leader Ismail Haniyeh's family were killed by an Israeli airstrike today - up from the six that had previously been reported. 

An IDF statement confirmed that the Israeli air force had struck and killed Haniyeh's sons Hazem, Amir and Mohammed.

This latest Hamas statement also says four of his grandchildren were killed in the same strike.

It said three granddaughters and one grandson had died, but did not provide ages.  

Asked about the four grandchildren killed in the airstrike, the Israeli military said there was "no information on that right now".

"This pure blood, these sacrifices and heroism, will be [the] fuel that... ignites resistance against the Zionist enemy, and fuels the resolve of the mujahideen on the ground until the occupation is defeated and eliminated," the Hamas statement read. 

Israel's war against Hamas will last so long that boys still in school can expect to fight in Gaza, Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has said. 

"Fighting against Hamas will take time," he said in a statement to the media. 

"Boys who are now in middle school will still fight in the Gaza Strip."

However, Mr Gantz said that for the time being, the group's military capabilities had been destroyed. 

"From a military point of view, Hamas is defeated," he said. 

"Its fighters are eliminated or in hiding" and its capabilities "crippled," he added. 

This video shows the moment Ismail Haniyeh is told that six members of his family were killed in Gaza. 

His immediate reaction is to say: "May God rest their souls."

You can watch the full video below...

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