"US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday is also set to include Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, Arabic media reported Sunday..."
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trumps-meeting-with-saudi-ruler-said-set-to-include-leaders-of-pa-lebanon-syria/
"International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal said Saturday, in a report that questioned whether the allegations may have prompted his decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The report said that at the time — weeks after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught — Khan was coming under increasing pressure to take action over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and that he had been lashing out at his team.
A Malaysian lawyer in her 30s reportedly asked to meet with Kahn to ask him to change the manner in which he interacted with the staff. In response, he summoned her to his suite in the Millennium Hilton Hotel next to the UN headquarters in New York. According to the report, the woman testified to UN officials that Khan started to touch her in a sexual manner, something that she said had been occurring for a number of months.
“She said she attempted to leave the room several times, but he took her hand and eventually pulled her to the bed. Then he pulled off her pants and forced sexual intercourse, according to the testimony,” the report said.
“He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed,” she said in testimony reviewed by the Journal. “It’s the feeling of being trapped.”
The report said the woman, a married mother, claimed it was one of multiple incidents of “coerced sexual intercourse” but that she stayed in the job because she felt it was an important role in human rights, and she was additionally paying for medical care for her mother. The report said she also began to fear retaliation if she were to complain.
The woman alleged that Khan carried out “nonconsensual sex acts” in New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, and Paris, as well as at a residence owned by his wife in The Hague, the report said.
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal said Saturday, in a report that questioned whether the allegations may have prompted his decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The report said that at the time — weeks after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught — Khan was coming under increasing pressure to take action over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and that he had been lashing out at his team.
A Malaysian lawyer in her 30s reportedly asked to meet with Kahn to ask him to change the manner in which he interacted with the staff. In response, he summoned her to his suite in the Millennium Hilton Hotel next to the UN headquarters in New York.
According to the report, the woman testified to UN officials that Khan started to touch her in a sexual manner, something that she said had been occurring for a number of months.
“She said she attempted to leave the room several times, but he took her hand and eventually pulled her to the bed. Then he pulled off her pants and forced sexual intercourse, according to the testimony,” the report said.
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“He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed,” she said in testimony reviewed by the Journal. “It’s the feeling of being trapped.”
The report said the woman, a married mother, claimed it was one of multiple incidents of “coerced sexual intercourse” but that she stayed in the job because she felt it was an important role in human rights, and she was additionally paying for medical care for her mother. The report said she also began to fear retaliation if she were to complain.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (left) Netanyahu at the Knesset, November 11, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); An exterior view of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 30, 2024. (AP/Peter Dejong); Then-defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a press conference at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, on November 5, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
The woman alleged that Khan carried out “nonconsensual sex acts” in New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, and Paris, as well as at a residence owned by his wife in The Hague, the report said.
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Khan, through his lawyers, told the newspaper that it is “categorically untrue that he has engaged in sexual misconduct of any kind.”
The newspaper said that just two and a half weeks after Khan learned of the allegations, on May 20, 2024, he announced his intention to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over the war in Gaza, in addition to Hamas leaders. The day before, he had canceled a fact-finding mission to Israel and Gaza for which he had pressed then-US secretary of state Anthony Blinken to convince Israel to grant him access to Gaza, the report said, citing a May 3, 2024, phone call between the two. According to the newspaper, it was at that time that Khan found out about the allegations against him.
“The timing of the announcement has spurred questions about whether Khan was aiming to protect himself from the sexual-assault allegations. The day before announcing the warrant application, Khan abruptly canceled a trip to Israel and Gaza that he had previously said was important to make his decision,” the report said.
According to the Journal, Alan Dershowitz had been organizing a meeting that was set to take place during the trip between Khan and Netanyahu.
Lawyers for Khan denied any connection between the allegations and the warrants.
Khan said the fact that the ICC judges approved the warrants shows that the evidence for them “met the rigorous legal threshold required.” The report also noted that already in March 2024, Khan had notified US State Department officials that he intended to seek the arrest warrants, and that was before the allegations were made against him. However, court officials told the newspaper that the arrest warrants ensured support for Khan from anti-Israel countries if the allegations were to become public and additionally discouraged his accuser from coming forward.
The woman allegedly told investigators that Khan had informed her that her accusations would harm the investigation into the Gaza war.
“Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants,” she said he told her, according to her testimony. The woman, a Muslim, was said to support investigations of Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas. She reportedly later told colleagues she didn’t want to harm the arrest warrant process by filing a complaint. On April 29 of that year, she eventually told officials about the alleged assaults, and on May 5, the ICC’s internal investigation agency contacted her.
On November 24, 2024, the ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. The Prime Minister’s Office panned the move in a statement as an “antisemitic decision” and asserted that it stemmed from Khan’s efforts to “save his skin from the serious charges against him for sexual harassment” as well as the beliefs of “biased judges motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel.”
ICC Warrants were also issued against three Hamas leaders, all of whom have since been killed by Israel.
Last month, it was reported that United Nations investigators examining the allegations of sexual misconduct were also looking into allegations that Khan retaliated against staff who reported the allegations or were critical of his handling of the matter.
Khan has alleged that the accusations against him were part of an effort to undermine the ICC. The Journal report said that court officials were concerned that the Mossad was operating at The Hague. No further details were given.
Khan remains in his position. The ICC did not respond to a Journal request for comment."
https://www.timesofisrael.com/sexual-allegations-against-khan-spurred-israeli-icc-arrest-warrants-report-suggests/
"Iran and the United States began a fourth round of negotiations Sunday over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, officials said, amid Washington’s increasing opposition to Iranian uranium enrichment and with Israel watching with concern.
Iranian state media reported that the negotiations began around noon in Oman’s capital, Muscat. The Omani-mediated talks follow earlier rounds that began nearly a month ago, marking the highest-level contact between the two foes since Washington withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal in 2018, during US President Donald Trump’s first term.
Both sides have reported progress after previous talks, but there have been some delays and disagreements over Iran’s right to enrich uranium, which Tehran says is “non-negotiable” but a US envoy has called a “red line.”..."
https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-us-to-hold-4th-round-of-talks-in-oman-with-focus-on-uranium-enrichment/
"The Mossad spy agency and the Israel Defense Forces recovered the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman, who went missing in the First Lebanon War’s battle of Sultan Yacoub in 1982, officials announced on Sunday.
The battle, nearly 43 years ago, was a skirmish between the IDF and the Syrian army in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. It claimed the lives of 21 Israeli servicemen, and more than 30 were injured during it.
Feldman, a tank soldier, went missing during the battle along with Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz and Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel. Baumel’s remains were recovered and returned to Israel in 2019...."
https://www.timesofisrael.com/body-of-soldier-zvi-feldman-missing-for-43-years-recovered-by-mossad-and-idf/
"
Jonatan Urich, the senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, received payments from Qatar dating back to just after war broke out between Israel and the Hamas terror group on October 7, 2023, Hebrew media reported Friday, marking the latest development in the “Qatargate” affair.
While Urich initially denied any involvement with the Qataris and said the investigation was politically motivated, he later admitted to assisting Qatar with matters related to the 2022 World Cup. Sources told Channel 12 news that the latest findings have rendered Urich the main suspect in the Qatargate investigation. According to Channel 13 news, the police possess documents, text messages, and bank data showing that Urich received payments from Doha after October 7, 2023, when Israel was determining whether to accept the Qataris as mediators in negotiations with Hamas. Payments that could be traced back to Qatar continued to be made to Urich throughout 2024, the Channel 13 report said...."
https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-netanyahu-aide-urich-received-payments-from-qatar-after-war-broke-out/
