The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.

A man was shot and killed and a second injured in the northern town of Arraba, emergency services say.

Magen David Adom says paramedics declared the man’s death on the scene and took the second victim, aged around 18, to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed. He is said to be in serious condition.

Murder rates have spiked over the past three years, with 2025 on pace to be the deadliest yet. Members of the Arab community blame a host of problems, including insufficient policing, and government policies that have allowed organized crime to grow.

Ukrainian negotiators will visit the United States this weekend for talks on Washington’s plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, a senior official briefed on the matter tells AFP.

“The delegation is planning to meet with the American side at the end of this week,” the source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The talks may take place in Florida, the source adds.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, was meant to take part in the talks before his dismissal today amid a widening corruption probe, the official says.

The military is considering an expanded operation in southern Syria if it finds that Syrian government forces fired on soldiers during an arrest operation in Beit Jinn, Channel 13 says in an unsourced report.

According to Channel 13, if it is discovered that forces under Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa took part in the gun battle, the Israel Defense Forces will launch airstrikes to eliminate targets and conduct fewer arrest operations.

The Kan public broadcaster reports that Israel has already identified that some of those planning attacks against IDF soldiers and the Druze community in Syria are a part of Sharaa’s intelligence forces.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, troops came under fire after they detained two members of the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) terror organization, acting on intelligence information collected in recent weeks indicating that they were planning attacks on Israel.

The military said the troops returned fire, and the Israeli Air Force also provided support with strikes from helicopters and drones. Fighter........

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