US Energy Secretary Chris Wright cancels his upcoming six-day visit to Israel after Energy Minister Eli Cohen refuses to sign off on a massive gas export agreement recently agreed upon between Jerusalem and Cairo, Cohen’s office says.

In August, Israel’s Leviathan field signed a $35 billion to export natural gas to Egypt, the largest export agreement in Israel’s history.

But Cohen’s office says he won’t approve the deal until “fair prices are agreed upon for the Israeli market,” adding that the Trump administration applied significant pressure on Cohen and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the deal.

The US energy giant Chevron, which operates the gas field, also has been pressing Israel to ratify the deal, reports Israel Hayom.

Cohen “demanded that the prices for the Israeli market will remain attractive,” according to his office. “Since the negotiations have yet to be completed, Cohen refused to approve the export until the issue is solved.”

It is exceedingly rare for a minister to publicize his role in shaking up Israel’s relationship with any US administration. The statement from Cohen’s office was especially notable in creating friction with US President Donald Trump’s White House while US officials are working with Israel to advance Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

The gas deal in its current form is expected to funnel hundreds of millions of shekels in revenues from gas royalties and taxes to the country’s state coffers.

The deal was announced as growing domestic energy needs have sparked heated discussions over natural gas exports. Earlier this year, the Finance Ministry warned that Israel is poised to face a natural gas shortage in the next 25 years as domestic energy needs are growing faster than forecast and gas export sales are robust. A shortfall would lead to higher electricity prices for consumers.

Natural gas from Leviathan, one of the world’s largest deep-water gas discoveries, started to flow to the Israeli domestic market in December 2019. The partners in the Leviathan reservoir began exporting natural gas to Egypt in January 2020 after signing a deal for 60 billion cubic meters, which is expected to be supplied by the early 2030s. To date, Leviathan has supplied 23.5 billion cubic meters of gas to the Egyptian market.

“At the same time, efforts are underway to sort out the diplomatic aspects between Israel and Egypt,” says Cohen’s office.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that the leak of a video allegedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner by IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility was the “most serious public-relations attack” against Israel to date.

As the scandal continued to rock the IDF and Israel, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara sparred Sunday over whether the latter has the authority to investigate the incident, while several of the suspected soldiers asserted that their names should be cleared.

The August 2024 leak “caused enormous reputational damage to Israel, to the IDF, and to our soldiers,” the premier said at the start of the cabinet meeting, as he called for an “impartial inquiry.”

“It is perhaps the most serious public relations attack Israel has experienced since its founding — I cannot recall one so concentrated and intense,” Netanyahu said. “This requires an independent and impartial inquiry, and I expect that such an investigation will indeed take place.”

On Friday, military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi admitted to approving the leak of the video and resigned from her position.

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The leak followed the arrest of 10 IDF reservists suspected of involvement in the abuse, which triggered riots by right-wing activists and demonstrators — including serving coalition ministers and MKs — at the base and at the military court where the suspects were taken.

Five soldiers were indicted in February for abusing the Palestinian security prisoner after he was brought to the detention facility in July 2024. The assault left him with severe injuries, including broken ribs and a tear in his rectum.

Multiple right-wing ministers and MKs have claimed the leak of the footage from security cameras at the Sde Teiman base constituted a blood libel against falsely accused soldiers, despite the indictments.

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AG, Levin clash on probe authority

Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday rejected Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s declaration that she was legally barred from overseeing the investigation into the leak by the IDF Military Advocate General’s office, in the latest clash between the two top legal officials.

In a statement, Baharav-Miara said the justice minister had no authority to make such a determination.

Baharav-Miara further maintained that Levin was not authorized to appoint another official to oversee the investigation, which he said he would do, nor to block officials in the Attorney General’s Office from handling the case.

His attempt to do so, she said, “lacks any basis, factual or legal” and his letter “constitutes an effort to unlawfully interfere with investigative and enforcement processes.”

She said the investigation would continue under the leadership of the state’s top law enforcement officials, including herself, State Attorney Amit Aisman, and the head of the Israel Police’s Investigations and Intelligence Division.

Levin responded Sunday by saying that he “totally rejects” Baharav-Miara’s claim that he has no authority to exclude her.

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Writing to Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon, who authored the letter to Levin on behalf of the attorney general, the justice minister said the public “no longer accepts your custom of having one law for yourselves and another law for everyone else.”

It appeared likely that government watchdog groups would file petitions to the High Court of Justice asking it to rule on whether Levin can sideline Baharav-Miara.

In a sharply worded letter to Baharav-Miara on Saturday night, Levin implicitly accused the attorney general and her staff of attempting to obstruct the investigation into the source of the leak. He argued that Baharav-Miara was therefore legally disqualified from involvement in the case under the 1959 Law for the Civil Service.

Levin further accused the attorney general of acting in lockstep with Tomer-Yerushalmi and implied she had long known of the leak, though he provided no evidence for the claim. The justice minister has refused to refer to Baharav-Miara as the attorney general since the government formally fired her in August, despite the High Court’s order freezing her dismissal.

Indicted soldiers demand fair trial

One of the five soldiers who was charged with abusing the Palestinian detainee in the video accused the military justice system on Sunday of carrying out an unfair “drumhead court martial” against himself and his fellow defendants, while speaking to journalists at a press conference outside the Supreme Court.

Also appearing at the press conference organized by the Honenu right-wing legal aid organization, attorney Moshe Polsky, who represents two of the defendants, claimed that the suspects cannot have a fair trial due to the leak by Tomer-Yerushalmi, saying “the wheel cannot be turned back” and that the indictment process was tainted.

Speaking to reporters, one of the defendants — all of whom appeared at the press conference wearing ski masks to avoid identification — said that “on October 7, we left unquestioningly our families, children, parents. We knew we had to defend the country. Since that day, dozens of fighters are still fighting for justice not on the battlefield but in courtrooms.”

The suspect added: “Dozens of fighters who need the backing of the country and the system, because they defended our home, and we are here only in their merit.”

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Also appearing at the press conference, the wife of one of the defendants said that the country “spat in the face” of her husband by putting him on trial and “broke my heart,” saying her husband had “collapsed from the inside, not on the battlefield but because of the country.”

Though the legal aid group asserted last week that all the charges against their clients should be dropped, Honenu has yet to file an official request for the indictments to be annulled.

Israel has intensified its demolitions of buildings in southern Gaza, with reports indicating that the army is also shelling parts of the enclave. Concerns are also mounting over Israel’s continued restrictions on humanitarian aid despite the ceasefire.

According to The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Israeli army demolished several homes in Khan Younis early Sunday morning, while military vehicles opened fire east of Jabalia in the enclave’s north. Al Jazeera English also reported that air raids and artillery fire struck Rafah in the south and Beit Lahiya in the north.

These developments come as Israel maintains a tight siege on Gaza, despite the ceasefire agreement remaining in effect and largely holding.

The Gaza Government Media Office confirmed on Saturday that Israel continues to violate the terms of the agreement, stating that the number of aid trucks allowed into the besieged territory between 10 and 31 October 2025 amounted to only 24 percent of what was stipulated.

The United Nations further reported that humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza remain heavily restricted, despite modest improvements in food distribution.

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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the leak of a video from a detention facility showing the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee was perhaps the most “severe public relations attack” on Israel since its founding.

Netanyahu made the remarks during his weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, referring to the clip that sparked outrage after it was aired by Israel’s Channel 12 television in August last year.

Israel’s top military prosecutor, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, resigned on Friday in connection with the affair at the Sde Teiman detention camp.

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Israeli media reported that she took responsibility for releasing the footage, saying it was done to counter “false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities.”

The comment apparently alludes to attempts by some in Israel to portray the video and reports of detainee abuse as fabricated.

The video reportedly shows the severe mistreatment of a Hamas militant. Five reservists were indicted in February over the incident. Lawyers for the accused have strongly denied allegations of sexual assault.

Media reports said the detainee was injured so badly that he required hospital treatment, though this is not clearly visible on the security footage, as soldiers partially obscure the view with their shields.

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The human rights group Amnesty International has accused Israel of mistreating and torturing Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip at Sde Teiman. Various media outlets have also reported allegations of abuse at the site.

She offered her resignation after an investigation was launched last week into whether members of the Military Advocate General’s office were involved in releasing the footage.

Suspects in the gang rape of a Palestinian detainee call for the trial to be cancelled after the advocate general admitted to leaking the video

Israeli Channel 12 releases a video showing soldiers allegedly sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison on 7 August 2024 (Reuters)

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The Israeli military is set to appoint a new advocate general after a scandal forced the resignation of its top lawyer, who admitted to leaking footage apparently showing soldiers raping a Palestinian detainee.

Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi stepped down on Friday after confirming her involvement in leaking surveillance video from the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

The footage, published in August last year, purportedly showed a group of soldiers at Sde Teiman gang-raping a Palestinian detainee while forming a human barrier around him.

The leak came amid backlash from ultranationalist Israelis over a military investigation into the assault.

Tomer-Yerushalmi said the video was released to the press to counter pressure from far-right groups attacking the military advocate general’s office.

At least nine Israeli soldiers were questioned over the assault in late July, sparking widespread anger across Israel.

Only five were indicted for “severe abuse” of the detainee, but not for rape. The trial remains ongoing.

On Sunday, the accused soldiers called for the case to be dropped.

“Cancel the trial immediately and prosecute the legal chief,” said attorney Adi Kedar of the far-right legal aid organisation Honenu, according to Haaretz.

Majority of Israeli Jews believe prison rape suspects shouldn’t face criminal charges Read More »

Haaretz previously reported that the victim of the gang rape suffered a ruptured bowel, severe anal and lung injuries, broken ribs and required surgery.

The original indictment said that “for 15 minutes, the accused kicked the detainee, stomped on him, stood on his body, hit him and pushed him all over his body, including with clubs, dragged him along the ground, and used a taser gun on him, including on his head”.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a criminal investigation into the leak.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the leak had caused “enormous damage to Israel’s public image” and called for an independent investigation.

“This is perhaps the most severe propaganda attack that the state of Israel has experienced since its establishment,” Netanyahu said.

Defence Minister Israel Katz is expected to meet army chief Eyal Zamir on Sunday to discuss the appointment of a new military advocate general, according to Israeli media.

Israeli rape of Palestinians

Since the war on Gaza began in October 2023, Israeli prison authorities and the military have been widely accused of abusing Palestinian detainees, including through rape, starvation, torture and the denial of medical treatment.

More than 70 Palestinian detainees have died under such conditions.

Why raping Palestinians is legitimate Israeli military practice Read More »

In March, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found evidence of the systematic use of sexual violence by Israeli officers against Palestinians since the start of the war.

The commission said it had documented cases of rape and sexual assault of male detainees, “including the use of an electrical probe to cause burns to the anus, and the insertion of objects such as fingers, sticks, broomsticks and vegetables into the anus and rectum”.

One victim told the commission that while he was “suspended from the ceiling”, officers inserted a metal tool “into his penis repeatedly until it started bleeding, and he fainted”.

Criminal investigations against Israeli soldiers rarely result in prosecutions in Israel.

In August, war monitor Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) reported that 88 percent of Israeli military investigations into allegations of war crimes by its soldiers since October 2023 have either been closed or produced no findings.

AOAV stated that these findings suggest Israel is seeking to create a “pattern of impunity” by failing to carry out conclusive investigations into cases involving “the most severe or public accusations of wrongdoing by their forces”.