Israel holds ceremonies country-wide for Remembrance Day

Israel must stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, whether by a diplomatic deal or by attack operations, former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said on Tuesday night as the Trump administration continued negotiations with Tehran.

Multiple Israeli officials have repeatedly in recent weeks warned publicly and privately to the Jerusalem Post that Trump's deal may fall short of the Jewish state's security needs.

Speaking at a joint Remembrance Day ceremony at the Museum of Tolerance and co-sponsored by the Organization of IDF Widows and Orphans, Cohen, who heads the organization, said, "we cannot ignore this existential threat."

Israeli authorities freed a Palestinian emergency responder who went missing in late March when 15 humanitarian workers were killed in Gaza in an incident that drew worldwide condemnation, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Tuesday.

PRCS staff member Asaad Al-Nsasrah went missing after the 15 paramedics and other rescue workers were shot dead on March 23 in three separate shootings at the same location near the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The 15 were buried in a shallow grave, close to their wrecked vehicles, where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the PRCS.

IDF troops apprehended 24 wanted persons, seized three guns, an M-16 rifle, and tens of thousands of shekels in terrorist funds during an overnight counterterrorism operation in the West Bank, the military said Tuesday afternoon. 

The Hostage Families' Forum's medical division warned on Tuesday that time is running out to recover the bodies of the 35 murdered hostages still held by Hamas and other Gaza terror groups, and there is an increasing danger that they will end up as anonymous corpses in unknown burial places.

The Lebanese government must "exert more pressure" to secure a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and end attacks on the country, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech televised by Hezbollah-owned Al Manar on Monday.

He also called for the release of Lebanese prisoners who have been held in Israel since the US-brokered ceasefire.

"We will not abandon Lebanon's strength. Even the United States respects a firm stance. Lebanon was strong and will remain strong through its army, its people, and its resistance," Qassem said. 

Qassem, Hassan Nasrallah's successor, also called for the return of Lebanese people to their homes in the south of the country. "Whoever thinks that he can do what he wants in Lebanon and prevent the people from returning to their homes is mistaken," Qassem said.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during an interview with Reuters at his office in Beirut's suburbs, Lebanon August 3, 2016. (credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

Lebanon must amplify pressure on Israel, international leaders

"There is no justification" for the IDF's attack on Dahiyeh on Monday, which took place "with American approval," Qassem said.

He called for the Lebanese government to respond to the attack by exerting "more pressure" on the US, France, the UN, and the Security Council. "The state cannot demand everything while doing nothing," he said.

"The pressure applied so far has been light. This is unacceptable. Lebanon should file a complaint with the UN Security Council or summon the US ambassador to the country for an investigation. Lebanon should address Israel's violations of the ceasefire agreement in every government meeting so that we can be more active and apply more pressure."

"The Lebanese government should raise its voice on the matter, scream, intensify its talks on the matter, every day it should raise demands on the matter, pressure the US so that it understands that it cannot prosper without stopping the aggression."

Defense Minister Israel Katz's office confirmed that the IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the terror organization's stronghold of Dahiyeh, southern Beirut, on Sunday, as the materials posed a significant threat to Israel.

“Israel will not allow Hezbollah to build up its capabilities and pose any threat anywhere in Lebanon,” the ministry said. “The Lebanese government bears direct responsibility for preventing these threats.”

Violating the ceasefire agreement

Qassem accused Israel of breaking its ceasefire agreement with Lebanon more than 3,000 times.

"من أولويات نهضة لبنان واستقراره ونموه وقف العدوان الإسرائيلي والانسحاب من جنوب لبنان والإفراج عن الأسرى"

الأمين العام لحزب الله الشيخ نعيم قاسم#الميادين #الميادين_لبنان pic.twitter.com/paS1sK18Fb

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) April 28, 2025

Lebanon has not violated the ceasefire once, he asserted, and claimed he is "committed" to all the clauses of the agreement. 

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) killed a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist and two Hamas terrorists in strikes in Gaza, one of whom partook in the October 7 attacks, the military said on Tuesday. 

Reports of a breakthrough in the hostage-ceasefire deal talks are inaccurate, a source said on Tuesday following a Monday report that said that negotiations were pointing in the opposite direction. 

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is leading Israel’s negotiating team on a potential hostage deal, traveled to Cairo on Monday for talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, a senior Israeli official confirmed.

Egyptian state-affiliated media reported that the Israeli delegation’s discussions followed the visit of a Hamas delegation to Cairo on Sunday. After concluding the meetings, the Israeli team returned to Israel.

Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar will step down on June 15, he announced on Monday night.

Bar had already made clear his intention to end his tenure as the head of Israel’s internal security service, and he confirmed the date at the memorial event for fallen Shin Bet personnel at the agency’s headquarters.

Israel estimates that the negotiations between the United States and Iran are likely to conclude with an agreement, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

The official clarified that Israel does not yet know whether the agreement will align with its demands—namely, the complete dismantling of uranium enrichment facilities—or if it will resemble the previous nuclear deal, which Israel considers a "bad agreement."