German Chancellor Freidrich Merz told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must not annex the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich fired back:

“The days in which Germany tells Jews where they can and cannot live are over.”

Some 40 Palestinian Arabs were caught yesterday as they attempted to illegally enter central Israel by hiding inside a garbage truck.

Today at 5pm Israel time the Israeli ambassador to the US is scheduled to meet with the Lebanese ambassador for direct ceasefire talks. The meeting will take place at the State Department in Washington.

Hezbollah is violently opposed to this meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to join the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington later today.

This is good news for Israel. Rubio is a "no nonsense" guy, and from Israel's point of view, the issue here is quite simple: Lebanon has for too long hosted a terrorist army (Hezbollah) and allowed it to attack Lebanon's neighbors with relative impunity.

Yes, it would be costly for Lebanon to confront Hezbollah, but the solution cannot be for Lebanon's neighbors to simply live with the threat.

Iranian spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei: "The ceasefire will not be extended. They [the Americans] will either recognize Iran's rights, including our control over the Strait or Hormuz, or they will have war."

Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in the ancient coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon a short time ago.

An oil tanker was attacked off the coast of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, a short time ago. No other details were provided.

The Iranian regime continues its internet shutdown.

Even in Bint Jbeil, on the battlefields of southern Lebanon, Israeli soldiers stopped and took a moment to remember the Six Million who perished in the Holocaust. (Via Amit Segal)

Today we pause and remember.

Yom HaShoah is not only a look back at the past, but also an attempt to understand what it means today.

👉 Read our full reflection on Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day here

Holocaust survivor Miki Zamir and his granddaughter, Maj. Noa Zamir, head of operations at Israel’s Home Front Command, together pressed the button to sound the Holocaust Remembrance Day siren this morning.

Consider for a moment what it must mean to these survivors who witnessed the near-extermination of their people to today watch as their grandchildren lead the most powerful military in the Middle East in a reborn Jewish state.

Israeli soldiers at the Hezbollah "memorial wall" in the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil. (Channel 12)

Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in fierce gun battles in Bint Jbeil overnight.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar: "There must be no uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, and the enriched uranium must be removed from Iran. We appreciate Trump's efforts to achieve these goals, including through diplomatic means."

Defense Minister Israel Katz: Israel agrees with the US that the removal of highly-enriched uranium from Iran would mark the end of the conflict.