isram tours of israel

844.947.7235 or 844.9ISRAEL

Israel & Jordan

Thursday departures.

Tour Departs on:   Thursdays Number of Nights:   11 Starting:   May 9th, 2024   |   Through:   May 15th, 2025

An Isram Israel Exclusive Tour Limited to 28 participants

• Tour Overview
• Detailed Itinerary

Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Petra, Amman

Tour includes, deluxe hotels.

• All Transfers as indicated
• All Touring with Professional Isram Guide Services
• All Entrance Fees to sites as indicated
• VIP Assistance for Crossing at Allenby Bridge
• Permit for entry to Jordan (USA or Canadian passports only)
• Buffet Breakfast Daily

Thursday: En Route

Depart the U.S.A. on your flight to Israel.

Friday: Tel Aviv

Welcome to Israel! Arrive Ben Gurion Airport; special meeting, assistance and transfer to your hotel in trendy Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean beach. Balance of the afternoon at leisure. Tonight, Get Together Dinner. (D)

Saturday: Tel Aviv

Morning walking tour through the city’s well known streets including Dizengoff Square ending at Ben Gurion House, former residence of the First Prime Minister. Early afternoon optional visit to Machon Ayalon, the fascinating underground Ammunitions Factory (must be pre-booked with minimum 2 persons; $120 per person including roundtrip transfers). Remainder of the day is at leisure to enjoy all of the delights of this Mediterranean paradise. (B)

Sunday: Tel Aviv/Haifa

Depart Tel Aviv and drive to the extraordinary Israeli Museum at the Yitzhak Rabin Center. Continue to ancient Caesarea; explore the Roman and Crusader ruins including the impressive 2,000-year-old theater and aqueduct. Arrive in Nazareth, the sacred town where Jesus spent part of his youth; visit the Church and view Mary’s Well. On to the sparkling port city of Haifa; check into your hotel atop Mt. Carmel. Evening: Enjoy Dinner and a special cultural presentation (subject to min. 10 participants). (B.D)

Monday: Haifa

View the golden-domed Baha’i Shrine and visit the breathtaking “Hanging Gardens”, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Drive along the coast to Rosh Hanikra; descend by cable car to see the magnificent underwater grottoes. Continue through the picturesque seaside town of Nahariya to the timeless Crusader city of Acre; walk through the subterranean city and bazaars that recall the colorful middle Ages. Then, to Safed, one of Judaism’s holiest cities; visit the ancient synagogues and the charming Artists’ Quarter. Return to your hotel for overnight. (B)

Tuesday: Haifa/Jerusalem

Depart Haifa en route Capernaum to see the fantastic ruins of the ancient synagogue dating back to the 5th-century. Ascend the strategic Golan Heights and learn about the 20th century battles. Continue to Katzrin, capital of the Golan and to the Monument of the 7th Brigade. In the magnificent strip of the Golan known for producing the finest wines in the world, enjoy wine tasting and a tour of the wine making process. Continue for a visit to a former Syrian army bunker at Kibbutz Kfar Charuv, settled by Americans and Israelis together. Enjoy a late lunch in the communal dining room. Then drive south to Jerusalem, stopping first for a blessing and a toast to our arrival in the eternal city. Overnight in Israel’s capital. (B.L)

Wednesday: Jerusalem

Drive to Hadassah Medical Center to the see the sublime Chagall Windows. On to Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Memorial and Museum of the Holocaust, visit the Children’s Pavilion and Avenue of the Righteous. Then, continue to Mount Herzl to pay respects to Israel’s founders and heroes. Pass the Supreme Court and the Knesset (Parliament) en route to the Shrine of the Book, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Walk through the Israel Museum and the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden; see the Scale Model of ancient Jerusalem. Evening: Night Tour of illuminated Jerusalem followed by a restaurant dinner and the “Night Spectacular” Sound & Light Show at the Citadel Museum (weather and schedule permitting). (B.D)

Thursday: Jerusalem

Drive to Mt. Zion to visit the Tomb of King David and the Room of the Last Supper. Enter the Old City to the restored Jewish Quarter; walk along the Cardo – the main street of Byzantine Jerusalem. Continue to the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Second Temple and view the Dome of the Rock. Proceed through the Hasmonean Tunnel (tunnel schedule permitting) or tour the Herodian Mansions, a completely excavated residential quarter from 2000 years ago. Follow the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; stroll through the exotic bazaars. End today with a visit to the fabulous Friends of Zion Heritage Center before returning to your hotel; or, an optional visit to Bethlehem may be arranged. (B)

Friday: Jerusalem

Descend through the Judean desert to the Dead Sea, lowest point on Planet Earth. Ascend Masada by cable car and see this last stronghold of the Zealots in their struggle against the Romans. Visit the excavations, Herod the Great’s palace, synagogue and bathhouse. Then, opportunity to enjoy an “unsinkable” swim in the buoyant waters of the Dead Sea. Drive via the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, on your return to Jerusalem. Stop at the Western Wall, time permitting, beautifully illuminated on this Sabbath eve before arriving to the hotel. Tonight, home traditional dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B.D)

Saturday: Jerusalem

Enjoy a full day at leisure for relaxation and on your own exploration. For those still craving to see and do as much as possible, your tour manager will provide tickets to the Museum of the History of Jerusalem in the Old City, definitely worth a visit! Overnight in Jerusalem. (B)

Sunday: Jerusalem / Petra, Jordan

Morning transfer from Jerusalem to the Allenby/ King Hussein Bridge. Our representative will meet you at the Terminal Building on the Israeli side of the Border, attend to all required procedures at this crossing and escort you to the awaiting vehicle to begin your tour of Jordan; an Exclusive Isram Service with no waiting for shuttle buses! Meet your Jordanian guide and begin your drive through the dramatic desert scenery of the Kings Highway. First stop is the Byzantine Church of Mt. Nebo, highest point of the Moabite mountain range, offering a remarkable view of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. Then proceed to Madaba, home to some of the finest Byzantine mosaics in the world. View the 6th century mosaic map of the Holyland. After lunch, visit the magnificent crusader castle of Kerak before continuing on to Petra. Dinner and overnight in Petra. (B.L.D.)

Monday: Petra / Amman

Today, discover a most unforgettable day in the “hidden” city of Petra. Travel on horseback or on foot into the “rose-red” city to the awesome “Siq”, a winding canyon road. Continue by foot to visit one of Petra’s most impressive monument, the Treasury, made famous in the movie “Indiana Jones”, carved out of solid rock from the side of the mountain. Beyond the Treasury, you’ll discover soaring temples, elaborate royal tombs, a theatre, burial chambers and water channels. After lunch, depart Petra and drive north to Amman. Check into your hotel for overnight. (B.L)

Tuesday: Amman / Jerash / Ajloun / Israel (Ben Gurion Airport) / En Route

Begin with a tour of Amman, the capital of Jordan. See the Roman Theatre and the Citadel containing the remains of the massive Temple of Hercules. Continue to Jerash, known as the “Pompeii of the East”, one of the world’s best-preserved Greco-Roman cities. Tour the Temples of Artemis and Zeus, the Roman Forum, Hadrian’s Arch, the massive Theatre and the mile-long Street of Columns. On to Saladin’s 12th-century mountain top castle, Ajloun Castle, one of the finest examples of military architecture. Enjoy a late afternoon lunch before continuing to the border between Jordan and Israel – Sheikh Hussein. Cross to Israel and transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for your late evening flight home arriving U.S.A. the next day; special assistance is provided for check-in services. (B.L) Note: Passengers extending in Israel may be transferred to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv with an additional charge.

Scroll right for more prices.

May ’24 – May ’25

Prices Oct’24-May’25 are subject to change.  * Revised touring in Israel due to holidays.

Tour guaranteed on minimum of 4 passengers. Should the tour fall below 4 passengers, you’ll be offered the option of touring by Share-a-car in Israel at a supplement of $495 per person (3 persons minimum).

Border Crossing Fees are not included and must be paid locally (approximately $75 per person at printing).

ꝉ SINGLE TRAVELING ALONE, PLEASE INQUIRE as subject to confirmation of minimum participants required throughout this tour. Additional supplement applies.

THIS PROGRAM MAY OPERATE ENDING AT AMMAN AIRPORT FOR DEPARTURE HOME.  Please inquire.

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Great 10 day Isram Tour of Israel - Isram Israel

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A trip of a lifetime! Arrival to departure was well done and effortless. Hotels (Dan) were first... read more

Went to Israel for the first time with my daughter. We spent 9 days there and had the time of our... read more

Great 10 day Isram Tour of Israel

Wow. I never write reviews but this time I have to. If you are reading reviews like I do to figure out who to use and what to see than I owe it to the you to share my experience. My wife and I just completed a 10 day tour of Israel with Isram and it was great. We had our tour arranged by Susan Weissberg at Wylly's Travel (look it up on the internet-they are the only travel company recommended by Conde nast for Israel and Middle east) and the our Tour Guide/Manager was Mrs. Yahaloma Ygael. If you are reading reviews for touring Israel you should know that the multi day tours get the best Tour guides and we had the best of the best. Yahaloma Ygael is an Israeli Certified Tour Guide requiring 2 yrs of training plus a Masters degree in Mid Eastern History and 15 years honing her guide touring skills. She was absolutely fabulous in every way. She created important context for each day and sight. Causing us to be able to link tons of information together in important ways. Then she made everything you could see with your eyes come alive in your heart as well as your mind. It was an amazing "experience". We were graciously taken through 4000 years of Israel's history and came away with a profound appreciation of how this nation has been formed. Historically, politically, culturally, religiously, even spiritually. As a result we arrived home grateful and excited with a new, fresh perspective and respect for all the 3 great religions who call this country holy and especially for the people there now who have transformed it again in just over the last 68 years. For my wife and I who have traveled extensively this was a trip of a lifetime. So, if I wanted to insure my friends who someday may read this get Yahaloma or someone comparable (as hard as that might be) the key will be calling Susan Weissberg at Wylly's Travel. She helped us figure out the right tour for our interests, time frame and budget. She had the professional and personal influence and respect of her vendors to get the best combination of people, hotels and travel arrangements who made our day to day experiences great . In addition, Susan is a big "worrier". She and Yahaloma sweat all the details and make sure "everything" works smooth as glass and better than we even had a right to expect. Look them up on the web and see their credentials. Susan, Isram and Yahaloma. They made this a trip of a lifetime for us and we are very grateful.

My wife and I just got back for an Isram Tour of Israel. This was our first trip to the "Promised Land" and all the promises of Isram were kept and then some. The tour provided us with wonderful accommodations and and countless other positive surprises. On this trip we made many friendships which I feel will last a lifetime. The most wonderful feature of our trip was our tour guide. Nicknamed "Diamond" (full name Yahaloma Ygael) was a Major in the Israeli Defense Forces and holds a masters Degree in Israeli History from Haifa University. She took her Tour Guide job very seriously by making every effort to cram as much of the Israel Experience into our two weeks as was humanly possible. Being a Lawyer and having been a Trial Judge I was constantly peppering Diamond with questions and she always had a cogent answer. Even after the tour was over she e-mailed me with an answer to a question which I had posed towards the end of the trip. I cannot comment on how well other tours compare , this Tour having been my first. But I am certain that this tour was very well organized and this Diamond was flawless!

During late spring/early summer 2013, my sister, sister-in-law, and I visited the Holy Land via arrangements made through Altour Travel/Am.Express (Pamela Delgado, NY location), and Isram World Tours. The tour was very spiritual, educational and inspirational; and it was simply the best. Isram World did an excellent job in planning and organizing the hotels, and providing the excellent tour guide, Hilik Silfin, of Israel, Ministry of Tourism. The meals at all three hotel sites were really nice. The last hotel, Leonardo Plaza, Jerusalem, was exceptional. The meals were truly very nice. We all plan to visit Israel again in the future as second time visitors, and we all plan to utilize the services of Altour Travel/Am.Express (Pamela Delgado), and Isram World Tours!!! Finally, we cannot say enough about Isram World Tours' planning and attention to details to accommodate all of our needs while in Israel. I would definitely recommend Isram World Tours to all of my colleagues, friends, and family; and anyone else seeking to travel on a spiritual, inspirational and educational tour of the Holy Land.

We can't say enough good things about our experience with Isram Travel and our trip to Israel, Jordan and Petra. From the very first contact with Ruth Peled in the New York office to the last rep ushering us at Ben Gurion Airport for the trip home, every arrangement was handled perfectly. Our guide throughout the tour, Vered Ravid, was perfection. Her knowledge of the geography, history and human interest of Israel was unparalleled. She was caring and compassionate of all in our tour group. There was never a moment on the tour that we were disappointed in the activity or place of interest. We can only highly, highly recommend Isram Tours.

This was our first visit to Israel and we booked the Israel Rhapsody tour – and loved it! Our guide, Daron Hoffman was knowledgeable and did a wonderful job of keeping our small (12 person) group together and “on task”, and our driver, Walif, was exceptional! The itinerary was jammed pack with places to go and sites to see and, with one weather related exception, we managed to experience it all! We did a great deal of walking, but were able to rest in our very comfortable bus (with wifi) as we traveled from place to place. Daron’s commentaries were extensive and we learned much about the Israeli people and country in addition to background on the places we visited. We were very pleased with our hotels and meals. Israeli buffet breakfasts are extensive – and delicious! The dinners we had were also very good. The vegetarians in our group had a wide selection to choose from and all of the food was very fresh. Our New York based Isram agent, Ruth Peled, was extremely helpful in booking our tour and flights and cheerfully answered our many questions. All in all we had a fabulous experience!!

I just got back from a tour with Isram and Yahaloma (Diamond) our tour guide. Let me say I've never wanted to go on a group tour because I thought it would be slow and boring, having Diamond as our guide changed my mind. Diamond was bright, enthusiastic, considerate, accommodating, challenging, knowledgeable, multi -faceted just as her name implies a beauty of a guide! If I go again to Israel, I would insist on Diamond. She is constantly reading books to keep up with new historical findings and developments, offering up to the minute perspective and insights. Highly recommend you request Diamond for your energetic, thought provoking, truth seeking group. Peggy C - Tallahassee

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Anti-israel protesters sue columbia, claiming they’re the real victims.

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A pro-Palestinian group has filed a federal lawsuit against Columbia University — saying anti-Israel protesters with the extremist group Students for Justice in Palestine are the ones being harassed on campus.

The complaint comes as Jewish community leaders and Jewish students have spoken out to say they do not feel safe at the Ivy League school with hundreds of protesters camping out in tents on the lawn, prompting university administrators to allow students to take their classes online for the rest of the year.

But, Palestine Legal — which filed the complaint Thursday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — said that four pro-Palestinian students and the student group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine are the real victims.

The group calls for an investigation into the university’s handling of alleged discrimination and harassment against pro-Palestinian students by Columbia students, professors and administrators under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“As a Palestinian student, I’ve been harassed, doxxed, shouted down and discriminated against by fellow students and professors — simply because of my identity and my commitment to advocating for my own rights and freedoms,” said Maryam Alwan, one of the four students represented in the suit.

“I’m horrified at the way Columbia has utterly failed to protect me from racism and abuse, but beyond that, the university has also played a role in this repression by having me arrested and suspended for peacefully protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” she added.

The anti-Israel students claim they have been “the target of extreme anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamophobic harassment on campus since Oct. 9, 2023, including receiving multiple death threats as well as being called terrorists and ‘Jew killers.'”

Plus, the students allege they have been treated differently by high-ranking administrators, including Columbia President Minouche Shafik.

“Despite students filing dozens of complaints, Columbia has failed to take meaningful steps to end the harassment, prevent it from occurring, or remedy its effects,” the complaint said.

An example Palestine Legal cites was Shafik’s decision to clear a large campus anti-Israel encampment April 18 by “inviting the New York Police Department (NYPD) onto campus for the first time in decades, leading to the arrest of more than 100 protesters,” the complaint indicates.

Meanwhile, Jewish students were outraged Friday as the pro-Palestine student protesters’ encampment was still there despite Columbia’s deadline for it to evict the campus coming and going — twice .

Palestine Legal partnered with the New York City Liberties Union in a March lawsuit against Columbia for what they call the unlawful suspension of its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace for engaging in peaceful protest.

Columbia declined to comment. Palestine Legal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did DOE.

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• International

Iran launches barrage of strikes toward Israel

By Tori B. Powell , Sophie Tanno, Emma Tucker , Kaanita Iyer , Paul LeBlanc and Adrienne Vogt , Jerome Taylor and James Legge, CNN

Our live coverage of Iran's attack on Israel has moved here .

Iran warns its response will be "stronger and more resolute" if Israel retaliates following latest strikes

From CNN’s Alireza Hajihosseini and Eyad Kourdi

Iran has warned that it will respond with more force if Israel retaliates over this weekend's strikes, which Tehran said were themselves a reply to an Israeli attack earlier this month on its embassy complex in Syria's capital Damascus.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right of self-defense when required," Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said in a statement.

Citing self-defense against repeated Israeli military aggressions, Iravani said the strikes were specifically in retaliation to an Israeli attack on April 1 against what Iran says were diplomatic facilities in Damascus.

Iran claims the attack violated international law and led to the death of seven Iranian military advisors, including key commanders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The statement also criticizes the United Nations Security Council for “failing to uphold international peace,” allowing Israel to “breach” established international norms and “escalate” regional tensions.

Additional context: Israel has carried out numerous strikes on Iran-backed targets in Syria, often targeting weapons shipments allegedly intended for Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian proxy in Lebanon. 

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the April 1 attack which destroyed an Iranian consulate building in the capital Damascus, including Mohammed Reza Zahedi, a top Revolutionary Guards commander.

However an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN that their intelligence showed the building was not a consulate and was instead “a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.”

China expresses 'deep concern', calls for ceasefire

From CNN's Philip Wang and Irene Nasser

China has expressed "deep concern" over the "current escalation" following Iran's attack on Israel, according to a spokesperson for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, adding that it is a "spillover of the Gaza conflict" and a ceasefire should be implemented without delay.

In a statement, China called "on relevant parties to exercise calm and restraint to prevent further escalations."

"The ongoing situation is the latest spillover of the Gaza conflict," the spokesperson said, adding that a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas should be implemented without any more delay.

Beijing did not  name or condemn Hamas  in the wake of the initial October 7 attacks. Since then, it has condemned the war and been a vocal  proponent of an immediate ceasefire  and the implementation of a “two-state” solution.

Last month, Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, the first meeting between a Chinese and Hamas official publicly acknowledged by Beijing since the outbreak of the  war in Gaza .

Wang’s visit follows efforts by Beijing to step up its profile as a  peace broker in the Middle East conflict.

US forces intercepted 70+ drones and at least three ballistic missiles, US officials say

From CNN's Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky

US forces intercepted more than 70 one-way attack drones and at least three ballistic missiles during Iran's attack on Israel, according to two US officials familiar with the situation.

The ballistic missiles were intercepted by warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, one of the officials said. Iran launched more than 100 ballistic missiles in total at Israel, according to a senior administration official.

The US Navy currently has two destroyers in that area, both are guided missile destroyers capable of intercepting missile and drone launches.

US fighter jets were also part of the response to Iran’s attack on Saturday and shot down drones launched towards Israel, another US official told CNN.

Biden to meet with G7 leaders Sunday as he condemns Iran's "brazen attack"

From CNN’s Lauren Koenig

US President Joe Biden will meet with G7 leaders Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” according to a statement released by the White House. 

“My team will engage with their counterparts across the region. And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders,” the statement from Biden reads. “And while we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people.”

US defensive assets moved to the region earlier this week and “helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” according to the statement.

Biden also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu following Saturday’s attack “to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.” 

United Airlines cancels three Middle East flights

From CNN’s Sara Smart

At least three United Airlines flights headed to or departing from the Middle East have been canceled amid the ongoing conflict unfolding between Iran and Israel.

On Saturday a flight from Newark, New Jersey to Tel Aviv, a flight from Washington D.C. to Amman, Jordan, and one from Dubai to Newark were canceled, the airline told CNN in a statement.

There have been no changes to any Sunday flights for United as of Saturday night, according to the airline. 

CNN has reached out to other airlines regarding cancellations.

Biden told Netanyahu US will not participate in offensive operations against Iran, US official says

From CNN's MJ Lee

The US will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran, US President Joe Biden has made clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior administration official told CNN.

The comments were relayed during the phone call that the two leaders shared in the aftermath of Iran's retaliatory strikes against Israel.

Biden tells Netanyahu tonight was a win, nothing of "value" hit in Israel, US official says 

Israel should consider tonight a win because the current US assessment is that Iran’s attacks had been largely unsuccessful and demonstrated Israel’s superior military capability, President Joe Biden told Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their phone call, a senior administration official told CNN.

The US’s assessment tonight was that almost all of the drones and missiles – including more than 100 ballistic missiles -- launched by Iran had been knocked out of the sky. No cruise missile made impact, the official said, and nothing of “value” was hit. 

Bolton: 'Passivity at this point for Israel would be a big mistake'

From CNN's Heather Chen

John Bolton, the former US national security adviser and ambassador to the UN, said “passivity at this point for Israel would be a big mistake,” warning of more attacks. 

“This is not time to play academic games and message and signal. This is a question of power,” Bolton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. "If they came from a different location containing nuclear warheads, Israel might not be so lucky.”

A known Iran policy hawk, Bolton served in senior national security positions during the Trump and Bush administrations. A neoconservative, Bolton has in the past advocated war with Iran and a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.

In 2022, he was the target of an alleged assassination attempt orchestrated by a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

He has warned against underestimating Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran has said is for peaceful purposes only.

“I think we have enough experience with faulty intelligence by now, not to be so sure, not to know how much of Iran’s uranium enrichment program is really being conducted under a mountain in North Korea,” Bolton said.

If Tehran sent “a wire transfer to Pyongyang,” it would give the North Koreans “enough time to put a couple of warheads on an airplane and fly them to Tehran. (But) if you take away their nuclear capability, that would be a dramatic hit to the regime, maybe enough to topple it.”

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Middle East Crisis U.S. Won’t Suspend Aid, for Now, to Israeli Unit Accused of Abuses

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• Israeli police detaining protesters during a demonstration by Israeli and American rabbis near the Erez crossing into Gaza. Reuters
• Palestinian children waiting for a water supply tank in Rafah, southern Gaza. Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Damage in the area of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon. Ramiz Dallah/Anadolu, via Getty Images
• Walking past posters in Tel Aviv of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
• Hanging around the apparent remains of a ballistic missile near the southern Israeli city of Arad. Amir Cohen/Reuters
• Palestinians on a hot day at a beach west of Deir al Balah in southern Gaza. Mohammed Saber/EPA, via Shutterstock

Follow live news updates on the crisis in the Middle East .

Blinken says the U.S. could take action if Israel fails to hold its troops accountable.

The Biden administration, which has been under pressure for its support of Israel’s war in Gaza, will not withhold military aid from a troubled military unit accused of human rights violations in the West Bank, so long as Israel continues with steps to hold the members of the unit accountable.

In an undated letter, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told the House speaker, Mike Johnson, that the United States was working with Israel to address charges against the unit, the Netzah Yehuda battalion. Though the letter did not mention the battalion’s name, a U.S. official confirmed that Mr. Blinken was referring to Netzah Yehuda, which has been investigated for crimes in the West Bank predating the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that set off the war in Gaza.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate diplomacy, said that the Biden administration could still take action against Netzah Yehuda if it concludes that Israel has not taken sufficient steps to hold its members to account.

The letter, obtained by The New York Times, said the State Department had determined that Netzah Yehuda had committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

U.S. officials had reached similar findings about two other Israeli military units and two civilian units, the letter said, but in those cases the Biden administration had decided not to withhold military aid because Israel was already acting to “bring to justice” culpable service members.

Mr. Blinken assured Mr. Johnson in the letter, reported earlier by ABC News , that the United States “will not delay the delivery of any U.S. assistance, and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress.”

Under federal statutes commonly known as the Leahy law , the U.S. government must deny aid to foreign military units found to have committed gross violations of human rights without accountability. The law allows for the targeting of individual units without cutting off entire foreign militaries.

It was not clear what practical effect any such move might have, given that funding of specific Israeli units is hard to track, and it is unclear whether the units mentioned in the letter receive American training or equipment.

Still, the news last week that U.S. officials were considering withholding aid from Israeli military units for abuses prompted a furious response from Israel and from Mr. Johnson, a strong supporter of the current Israeli government. Mr. Johnson said this week that he had called the White House in protest and had received an assurance in writing that none of the billions in additional U.S. aid to Israel approved by Congress this week would be affected.

The Biden administration has faced growing calls to restrict American aid to Israel over its military offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attacks in October. President Biden so far has declined to place conditions on U.S. aid over Israel’s devastating tactics in the Gaza war, though he has taken several steps in response to violence by Israelis in the West Bank, including placing sanctions against several Israeli settlers for what the U.S. has called “extremist” acts of violence against Palestinians.

In his letter to the Republican House speaker, Mr. Blinken said that two Israeli battalions and “civilian authority units,” none of which he named, had committed human rights abuses but that he had “determined that the Israeli government has conducted effective remediation of the units involved.” He defined remediation as a process in which a foreign government takes “effective steps to bring to justice the responsible members of the unit.”

In the case of Netzah Yehuda, which he did not cite by name, he said that “there has not been effective remediation to date” but that the Israeli government “has presented new information regarding the status of the unit, and we will engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit.”

Mr. Blinken is planning to travel to Israel next week for meetings with Israeli leaders to discuss efforts to free hostages from Gaza and an impending Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an Israeli official said on Friday. It was not immediately clear whether he would discuss Netzah Yehuda. Mr. Blinken has discussed the matter by phone with senior Israeli officials in recent days.

Under the terms of a 10-year security agreement that the United States and Israel reached in 2016, the United States must consult with Israeli officials before placing restrictions on security assistance. That consultation is ongoing, according to the U.S. official.

Netzah Yehuda, which was created to accommodate the religious practices of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, has been repeatedly accused of mistreating Palestinians.

In January 2022, according to witnesses, its soldiers bound and gagged a 78-year-old Palestinian American who died of a heart attack while in military custody. An investigation concluded that the two soldiers who bound the man thought he was sleeping. The soldiers faced disciplinary action but no criminal charges were brought.

The unit was transferred in 2022 from the West Bank to the Golan Heights in northern Israel, according to Mr. Blinken’s letter.

Mr. Blinken added that no other Israeli units had been found culpable of rights violations under the Leahy Law and that the administration’s deliberations “will have no impact on our support for Israel’s ability to defend itself against Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah or other threats.”

— Michael Crowley reporting from Washington

Blinken will make another wartime trip to Israel.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will visit Israel next week, an Israeli official said on Friday, as talks on a cease-fire deal that would allow for the release of hostages held in Gaza appear stalled and tensions have risen between Israel and the United States over the war.

The Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of lack of authorization to speak publicly on the matter, said talks with Mr. Blinken would center on hostages and an impending Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Mr. Blinken last visited Israel in March, when he warned that its plans to invade Rafah , where more than a million displaced people are sheltering, would pose severe risks to civilians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with those plans, saying that such an operation is necessary to eliminate Hamas battalions in the city.

Still, the Biden administration has stuck by Israel as mediators have failed to broker even a temporary cease-fire in Gaza that would give Palestinians some respite and allow for the release of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel .

The United States has proposed a deal through Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries in which Hamas would release 40 of the most vulnerable hostages in exchange for a six-week truce and the release of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on Thursday on condition of anonymity under official ground rules put the blame solely on Hamas for blocking the deal.

The official said that while Israel had signaled it would accept those terms, the response from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader hiding underground in Gaza, had been “totally nonconstructive.” Hamas has since signaled that it is not completely rejecting the deal and is willing to sit down again, the official said, adding that the United States and its partners would test that in coming days.

President Biden and the leaders of 17 other nations called on Hamas on Thursday to release all the hostages in a joint statement that appeared intended to send the message that the world is not entirely against Israel and that Hamas is the main impediment to ending the war.

Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington.

— Patrick Kingsley reporting from Jerusalem

Israel fires into Lebanon after a deadly Hezbollah missile strike.

An Israeli man was killed in an anti-tank missile attack from Lebanon, the Israeli military said on Friday, the latest in a growing string of civilian casualties on both sides of Israel’s northern border as tit-for-tat strikes intensify with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .

The Israeli military said in a statement that the man had been carrying out “infrastructure work” when two anti-tank missiles were fired late Thursday into the area of Har Dov in northern Israel, a disputed sliver of land where Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet. Also known as the Shebaa Farms, the area is claimed by Lebanon but occupied by Israel, and has long been a crucible for violence.

Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful regional proxy , described the overnight attack as an “ambush,” claiming that two vehicles had been destroyed in a combined missile, artillery and rocket assault on an Israeli military base in the area. The Israeli military statement did not say whether a base had been hit.

Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, identified the man killed as Sharif Suwayed, 35, and said that his truck had been hit while he was working to improve defenses at a military base, modifications that were being carried out at night to protect against Hezbollah attacks. The Israeli military was investigating, the broadcaster reported.

Israeli forces responded by striking Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, among them a weapon storage facility and military compound, according to a military statement. Lebanese state media reported on Friday that multiple towns had been targeted by heavy Israeli bombardment, damaging dozens of houses. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, the heaviest between the sides in nearly two decades, has shown no sign of subsiding. Israeli strikes inside Lebanon have begun to creep deeper into the country’s interior, though the hostilities for now have been confined largely to areas along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

In Israel, 19 soldiers and civilians have been killed in the recent violence, which began after Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel in support of the deadly Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7.

More than 70 civilians have been killed in Lebanon, along with roughly 270 Hezbollah fighters, the group has said, a figure that exceeds its losses in the 2006 war with Israel .

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said this week that its strikes had eliminated half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon, although experts expressed skepticism about that claim . They also have cast doubt on whether targeted killings of commanders could achieve Israel’s goal of pushing Hezbollah farther from the border, reducing the threat of attacks and allowing the tens of thousands of Israeli civilians displaced by the fighting to return to their homes.

Patrick Kingsley contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

— Euan Ward Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

A baby born in Gaza after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike dies less than a week later.

A baby who was delivered through an emergency cesarean section after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike died on Thursday, a relative said, less than a week after news of her birth brought a glimmer of hope to war-torn Gaza.

The baby, who was born prematurely after a strike in southern Gaza that also killed her father and sister, suffered respiratory problems, and doctors were unable to save her, said her uncle, Rami al-Sheikh.

“I buried her in her father’s grave,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.

The mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was killed along with her husband, Shukri, and their 3-year-old daughter, Malak, when an Israeli strike hit their home in the city of Rafah shortly before midnight last Saturday. Rescue crews took the bodies to the Emirati Hospital in Rafah, where doctors performed a cesarean section on Ms. al-Sakani, who was 30 weeks pregnant.

The girls’ uncle said that Malak had wanted to name her little sister Rouh, the Arabic word for soul. The extended family decided instead to name her after her mother, Sabreen.

Sabreen weighed just three pounds at birth, said Dr. Mohammed Salama, head of the neonatal intensive care unit at Emirati Hospital. Her birth was captured on video by a journalist from the Reuters news agency, who filmed doctors providing artificial respiration to her after she emerged, pale and limp, from her mother.

Instead of a name, doctors initially wrote, “The baby of the martyr Sabreen al-Sakani” on a piece of tape across her chest.

“The baby was delivered into a tragic situation,” Dr. Salama told Reuters, adding, “Even if this baby survives, she was born an orphan.”

— Hiba Yazbek Reporting from Jerusalem

Drone attack kills 4 workers in an Iraqi gas field, but no one claims responsibility.

A drone attack on a large gas field in Iraq’s Kurdistan region killed four workers and plunged much of eastern Kurdistan into darkness because it relies on gas to fuel its electrical plants, according to a Kurdistan regional government spokesman.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. While Iranian-backed armed groups have bases in the area, there are many competing interests in Kurdistan, leaving it unclear whether the attacks are part of the larger regional fight between Iran and Israel, which has intensified during the war in Gaza.

The Kurdistan region’s president, Nechirvan Barzani, condemned the attack and called on the government in Baghdad to investigate. “These attacks endanger the peace and stability of the country,” Mr. Barzani said, adding, “The representatives of the Iraqi federal government must do their duty to prevent these attacks and find the perpetrators from any side and punish them according to the law.”

Iraq’s joint command in Baghdad issued a statement calling the attack “sabotage,” confirming that a drone was used. The statement said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani had ordered an investigation.

Friday’s drone attack was the second so far this year on the Khor Mor field in Sulaymaniyah Province. The last one, in January, did not inflict casualties.

“Four Yemeni workers have been killed, and the field has been severely damaged, which will cause electricity shortages,” said Peshawa Hawramani, a spokesman for the Kurdistan regional government.

Almost a million people in Sulaymaniyah Province were left without power, along with thousands more in adjacent provinces. It took about 24 hours to restore electricity after the last attack, but because the damage was greater this time, Kurdish authorities said it could take longer. While hospitals and security services have large generators, many ordinary residents have access only to limited power from shared generators.

Claims of responsibility were never made for previous attacks on the gas field, which is operated by Dana Gas, based in the United Arab Emirates, and a related company, Crescent Petroleum.

While the drone attack could stem from the regional conflict between Iran and Israel, there are other tensions in the region — between internal Iraqi factions and between Baghdad and Kurdistan. There has been a multiyear effort by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad and the courts to reduce the Kurdistan region’s control over its natural resources.

At the same time, there is tension between Iran and Iraq over any efforts by Iraq to expand domestic gas production. Iran sells about $4 billion of gas to Iraq each year because Iraq does not have enough gas to fuel its electricity plants. Kurdistan and the Iraqi government had been discussing expansion of the Khor Mor field.

Kamil Kakol contributed reporting from Sulaymaniyah Province, Iraq .

— Alissa J. Rubin Reporting from Baghdad

Rabbis are arrested near the Gaza-Israel border at a rally to highlight starvation.

Police arrest group of rabbis and activists near gaza, the israeli police arrested rabbis and peace activists near the border with gaza..

[singing] You can arrest us, but we’re going to walk slowly, our way towards the crossing.

Seven rabbis and peace activists were arrested on Friday near the border with Gaza after they tried to take food supplies into the territory, according to two participants and the campaign group that organized the effort.

The detainees were among a group of roughly 30 rabbis and activists from Israel and the United States who were stopped by police officers as they tried to reach the Erez crossing, a major transit point between Israel and northern Gaza.

Organized by Rabbis for Ceasefire, a peace movement based in the United States, the effort was intended to build support for a truce and to highlight rising reports of starvation in Gaza . A global authority on food security, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, has predicted an imminent famine in northern Gaza, the area of the territory closest to Erez.

The protest was timed to coincide with the week of Passover , a Jewish festival that celebrates the biblical story of the liberation of Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt.

“We were making the point that Jewish liberation is bound up with Palestinian liberation, that we want freedom for all,” said Toba Spitzer, a rabbi from Boston who attended the protest but was not arrested.

The group had tried to drive into Gaza with a pickup truck carrying half a ton of rice and flour but was stopped roughly a third of a mile from the border, Rabbi Spitzer said. The effort was largely symbolic and the organizers expected it to fail given the restrictions along the border; the supplies will now be donated to needy Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Rabbi Spitzer said.

The Israeli police did not respond to requests for comment.

The author Ayelet Waldman of Berkeley, Calif., was among those arrested, her husband, the author Michael Chabon, said on Instagram .

There are widespread food shortages in Gaza. Israeli restrictions on where convoys can enter the strip, Israeli bombardment and widespread damage to roads, the collapse of Gazan agriculture, and a breakdown in law and order have all made it harder to distribute aid safely.

Aid groups and United Nations officials have accused Israel of systematically limiting aid delivery. Israel denies the assertion, blaming the shortages on logistical failures by aid groups, and has recently increased the number of trucks entering the strip.

Israeli officials say that the Erez crossing, which was primarily used for pedestrian traffic before the war, is difficult to use for aid delivery because it lacks the right infrastructure and was also badly damaged during the Hamas-led raid on Israel in October.

A majority of Jewish Israelis oppose the delivery of more aid to Gaza, according to a poll conducted in February by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group.

Israeli protesters regularly gather at another crossing point farther south, trying to block aid convoys entering Gaza .

— Patrick Kingsley and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Reporting from Jerusalem and from Haifa, Israel

The U.S. Army has begun work on a floating pier to move aid from ships into Gaza, the Pentagon says.

Army engineers on Thursday began construction of a floating pier and causeway for humanitarian aid off the coast of Gaza, which, when completed, could help relief workers deliver as many as two million meals a day for the enclave’s residents, Defense Department officials said.

The construction on the “initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea” means that the project’s timing is in line with what Pentagon officials had predicted, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Defense Department’s press secretary, said. The construction is meant to allow humanitarian aid to bypass Israeli restrictions on land convoys into the besieged strip.

General Ryder said that defense officials expected the project, ordered up by President Biden early last month, to be completed early next month. The facility is meant to include an offshore platform to transfer aid from ships, and a floating pier to bring the aid to shore.

Aid organizations have welcomed the plan, which will be an addition to the airdrops of humanitarian supplies that the U.S. military has been conducting over Gaza. But aid workers say, and defense officials have acknowledged, that the maritime project is not an adequate substitute for land convoys. Such aid convoys fell sharply when the war began more than six months ago and have only partly recovered .

Some U.S. military officials have also privately expressed security concerns about the project, and General Ryder said that the military was looking into a mortar attack on Wednesday that caused minimal damage in the area where some pier work is supposed to be done. However, he said, U.S. forces had not started moving anything into the area at the time of the mortar attacks.

The floating pier is being built alongside an Army ship off the Gaza coast. Army ships are large, lumbering vessels, so they have armed escorts, particularly as they get within range of Gaza’s coast, defense officials have said.

The United Nations says famine is likely to set in within Gaza by the end of May.

Aid workers have described bottlenecks for aid at border crossings because of lengthy inspections of trucks, limited crossing hours and protests by Israelis, and they have highlighted the difficulty of distributing aid inside Gaza. Israeli officials have denied that they are hampering the flow of aid, saying the United Nations and aid groups are responsible for any backlogs.

Senior Biden administration and military officials detailed a complex plan in a Pentagon call with reporters on Thursday afternoon, explaining how the pier and causeway are being put together, and how it is supposed to work. Army engineers are constructing the facility aboard Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean. One official said that the “at-sea assembly of key pieces” of the pier began on Thursday.

Biden officials are insistent that the Pentagon can carry out aid deliveries through the floating pier without putting American boots on the ground in Gaza. Officials described a complicated shuttle system, through which aid would be loaded onto Navy ships in Cyprus and transported to a causeway — a floating platform — at sea.

The Pentagon’s military acronym for the project is J-Lots, for Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

The causeway at sea is different from the floating pier where the aid will be offloaded into Gaza. An engineering unit with the Israeli military will anchor the floating pier to the Gaza shore, a senior military official told reporters in the Pentagon call.

Shuttle boats run by aid organizations, the United Nations or other countries are then expected to transport the aid to the floating pier, where it is to be loaded onto trucks driven by “a third party,” the official said. He declined to identify the third party.

The official said that Israel was dedicating a brigade to provide security for the American troops and aid workers working on the pier.

The operation is expected to bring in enough aid for around 90 trucks a day, a number that will increase to 150 trucks a day when the system reaches full operating capacity, the official said.

— Helene Cooper Reporting from Washington

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