Aug. 24: Nearly 90% of parents say their kids’ education was hurt by Iran war — poll

After Hasan Piker blames Jews for ‘making antisemitism worse,’ El-Sayed says streamer doesn’t speak for him

Hasan Piker, left, and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for US Senate in Michigan, center right, take a selfie with young fans following a campaign event, April 7, 2026, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Michigan Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed distances himself from one of his most prominent boosters, the popular anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker, after Piker said Jews were “making antisemitism worse” by linking their identities to Israel, and warned that someone would “take action” against them as a result.

In a statement, El-Sayed, a harsh critic of Israel, reiterates his opposition to antisemitism. But he does not directly condemn Piker’s remarks or mention the streamer’s name in his statement on the comments, which have drawn backlash. Piker campaigned alongside El-Sayed during his primary run for the state’s Democratic nomination.

Earlier this week, Piker said on his stream that Jews were inviting danger if they continued tying their identities to Israel, which he called the “Jewish ISIS.” Piker made the comments while discussing Jeremy Moss, a Jewish Democratic candidate for US Congress who has yet to endorse El-Sayed, asking the Senate candidate to reach out to Jews in his district.

“If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action. Not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews,” Piker says, with a picture of Moss on screen. “I don’t know how people don’t recognize how dangerous this predicament is, how dangerous this is for Jews.”

At another point in the stream, he says, “You’re running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as basically Jewish ISIS, and you’re saying, as Jews, ‘This is all we care about.’ You’re making antisemitism worse.”

In a statement today, El-Sayed says, “My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters. Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. And I stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk.”

He refers to Piker as a “Twitch streamer” without referencing Piker’s involvement in his campaign.

“But I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” he says in the statement, taking a shot at “politicians and pundits [who] try to make this race about a Twitch streamer.”

Hegseth says US is not ruling out military force against Iran

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says President Donald Trump’s administration is not ruling out using military force against Iran, even as Washington unveiled an “economic D-Day” sanctions regime against Tehran.

“By no means are we foreclosing using kinetic strikes anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz or around Iran,” Hegseth tells reporters, adding that Iran cannot handle the economic pressure being put on it.

Iran predicts ‘another defeat’ for US after Treasury announces new sanctions

Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh predicts “another defeat” for the United States, saying the Islamic Republic has a “two-year plan” to counter Washington’s new sanctions.

“They have done everything they could to test the determination of the Iranian people and the country’s officials, but they have failed every time. It seems they wished to suffer yet another defeat,” Madanizadeh tells state television.

“We’ve been waiting for these plans for a long time, and the government is and was ready and has a two-year plan to manage these events,” he adds.

Netanyahu praises fresh US sanctions against Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises the secondary sanctions on Iran announced by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent today.

“You justly exact a steep price from that cruel dictatorship and from those who assist its continued aggression,” Netanyahu says in a statement.

Bessent announced today that the US is targeting five sectors with sanctions, including digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping, and warned countries to stop doing business with Iran.

UN offers to facilitate fertilizer transit through Strait of Hormuz

Illustrative: A farmer applies fertilizer to her land in Limuru, Kenya, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jackson Njehia, File)

The United Nations offers to facilitate the transport of fertilizer, which has been hampered by the disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war.

“The purpose is simple: to reduce immediate risks, support more orderly and predictable transit, and help rebuild the confidence necessary for diplomacy and de-escalation,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tells a press briefing.

He insists that the UN “would not authorize passage” through the strait or “alter the rights or obligations” of states under international law.

The world body would rather serve as a “neutral facilitator,” registering and verifying ships carrying fertilizer and related products.

“Of course, it can only be done if the countries that are involved in this conflict all agree to accept the mechanism,” Guterres says.

Iran has blocked shipping through the strait since the beginning of the war in late February. That has not only impeded global transit of oil and natural gas but other key commodities, including fertilizer.

Guterres, who launched discussions on the issue in March, says the coordination mechanism would be managed from Oman — which lies on the southern side of the strait opposite Iran.

Tehran has indicated it intends to impose fees on ships transiting the strait, which the United States and others in the region oppose.

US President Donald Trump insists he has “total control” of the strait and has even asserted the strait is US territory, as it blocks shipping to and from Iranian ports.

Israeli aid group announces opening of new medical clinic in Gaza refugee camp

A teacher educates children at the al-Mawasi camp in the Gaza Children's Village. (Courtesy)

The Israeli humanitarian organization NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief announces the opening of a new medical clinic that it will support at the Mega Academy of the Gaza Children’s Village (GCV), a humanitarian project aiming to give Palestinian children nutrition, healthcare, and trauma-informed support in addition to education via a curriculum devoid of hateful messaging.

The clinic, to be based in the Al-Mawasi camp, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians live in tents in packed and squalid conditions, will be staffed by GCV nurses and doctors, while NATAN will offer telemedicine support. The clinic will provide preventive screening, pediatric primary care including vaccinations, specialist consultations, and dedicated rehabilitation support for children with disabilities, serving up to 10,000 children.

“Every child deserves access to basic medical care, no matter where they were born or what circumstances surround them,” says Alice Miller, CEO of NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief. “This clinic is a direct response to a need we have seen firsthand at the Gaza Children’s Village.”

“These children need a place to gather and learn, a meal so they aren’t left with empty stomachs, and physical care for bodies enduring extreme humanitarian conditions,” says Dr. David Hasan, founder of Gaza Children’s Village. “This clinic gives us that last piece — the physical care they need.”

All Haifa beaches closed for swimming following abnormal seawater sampling

The beach at Kiryat Haim in northern Israel, with the Haifa Bay in the background, July 2, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

Following abnormal seawater sampling results, the causes of which are currently unclear, the Health Ministry orders the closure of all beaches in the northern city of Haifa for swimming.

Sampling is being repeated, a Haifa Municipality statement says, and depending on the results and Health Ministry guidelines, a decision will be made on whether to continue or lift the swimming ban.

Four people, including two children, said killed in IDF strikes in Gaza

Health officials in the Hamas-run portion of Gaza say Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed two young children and at least two other Palestinians there today.

Medics and relatives say 10-year-old Amal Abu Khater was hit by a bullet in her back while she was eating inside her family’s tent in the enclave’s southern city of Khan Younis. The fire came from Israeli forces to the east, they added.

The IDF says it is not aware of any incident involving a 10-year-old girl.

Medics also say a 4-year-old boy and another Palestinian were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes on a house in Bureij refugee camp and a road in Khan Younis, medics said.

The IDF does not specifically respond to questions about the reported attacks in Khan Younis and Bureij.

Earlier today, another Israeli airstrike killed one person and wounded another at a tent in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, medics say.

This afternoon, the IDF said a strike in Deir al-Balah killed Mohammad Abd al-Nasser Jabr Abu Asaad, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, attack. The strike also targeted a second terror operative, who also invaded Israel during the onslaught, though he apparently survived the strike, the army said.

Yesterday, health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza claimed that an Israeli strike killed two people, including a four-year-old boy.

Report: 9 kites launched from Gaza at IDF troops in June without Israeli response

Soldiers seen inspecting a kite, flown from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, August 22, 2026. (Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Nine kites were launched from the Gaza Strip toward IDF troops in June, but the incidents were neither publicly reported nor met with an Israeli response, Channel 12 reports.

The IDF reportedly assesses that Hamas was behind the launches, rejecting suggestions that they were carried out independently or by children.

According to Channel 12, the security establishment believes Hamas is using the launches to provoke an Israeli response and trigger a deliberate escalation, for which it would then blame Israel, amid US efforts to advance reconstruction in Gaza following the October ceasefire.

The report comes as kites have been launched from Gaza toward Israeli border communities in recent days, most recently today, when one landed in Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

A total of 12 kites and four balloons have reportedly crossed from Gaza in August as of today.

So far, none of the kites launched from Gaza in recent days have carried any suspicious items on them. But many have associated the objects with the kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices that were launched by Gaza terror groups for a number of years in the run-up to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, in which terrorists on hand gliders crossed the border.

US removes Syria’s designation as State Sponsor of Terrorism

The US State Department removes Syria from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, according to a notification from the Treasury, in a move that was first announced earlier this year, pending a review by Congress.

IDF’s top West Bank general said to warn PM settler violence could spark major rise in Palestinian terror

IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth watches as Palestinians pass through the Qalandia checkpoint on their way to attend Ramadan prayers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, February 20, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the most senior IDF officer in the West Bank, warned during a closed-door security assessment today that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory, Channel 12 reports.

“There has been a significant decline in the scale of [Palestinian] terrorism over the past two years, but there is one match that could ignite everything in an instant – nationalist crime,” Bluth is quoted as telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.

“The IDF’s attention is constantly being diverted to such incidents instead of thwarting Palestinian terrorism,” he reportedly added.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu then asked IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir what the military would do if the West Bank erupted and what plan it had in place.

“We did not come prepared to present that at this meeting,” Zamir reportedly replied.

Defense officials cited by the network stress that the IDF does have a contingency plan, but say the meeting was convened at short notice and was expected to focus specifically on settler violence, leaving Zamir without the asked-for presentation and details on how the IDF would deal with a drastic escalation in Palestinian West Bank terrorism.

This is at least the second time in recent days that IDF brass have warned that the surge of near-daily settler attacks — which are rarely prosecuted — could lead to an outbreak of Palestinian terrorism.

Left-wing MK calls Netanyahu ‘dictator’ due to photo of armed guards clearing Tel Aviv beach ahead of PM’s Altalena video

After Channel 12 publishes a photo of security officers with drawn weapons clearing the Tel Aviv beach of bathers so that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could record a video hailing the discovery of the Altalena ship, MK Naama Lazimi of the left-wing The Democrats party criticizes him as a “dictator.”

רודן. https://t.co/K2bkMO8uAm

— Naama Lazimi – נעמה לזימי (@naamalazimi) August 24, 2026

It’s one of a few instances of Netanyahu’s rivals criticizing his response to the discovery overnight of the Irgun gun-running ship that was shot down by the fledgling IDF in a deadly 1948 confrontation, an incident that saw 19 people killed and has become a rallying cry for the Israeli right.

Former premier Naftali Bennett, a Netanyahu rival, appears to obliquely criticize him for politicizing the rediscovery of the Altalena, after the prime minister uses the occasion to discuss the upcoming election.

During his remarks, Netanyahu repeated his campaign pledge to establish a “broad national government” following the October 27 election.

In a lengthy post on Twitter, Bennett praises Irgun leader and future Likud founder Menachem Begin for declining to shoot back when the Altalena came under fire, writing that “He understood that there are moments when leadership isn’t about firing up the base or beating your political opponent. Leadership is putting the country before yourself.”

Netanyahu also cited Begin’s reaction positively in his own address.

In a video addressed to Netanyahu, MK Avi Maoz, the sole representative of the far-right Noam party, argues that his government “refused to address the state’s critical core issues,” instead leaving them “in the hands of the deep-state bureaucrats” — and calls for a unified right-wing slate.

“Mr. Prime Minister, to guarantee right-wing rule and to save you from a compromise government with the left, you need Noam in the next Knesset. I call upon all other right-wing parties to join us under one roof for a unified right-wing alliance,” Maoz says.

IDF says forces nabbed Palestinian in Jenin planning to commit terror attack in Israel

Israeli commandos nabbed a Palestinian in the West Bank city of Jenin this morning who the military says was planning to carry out a terror attack in Israel.

The suspect is Imam Hazem, the son of Fathi Hazem, who was killed while trying to stab Israeli troops in Jenin last week. Fathi’s other son, Imam’s brother Raad Hazem, is a terrorist who killed three Israelis in Tel Aviv in 2022.

Following Fathi’s killing, Imam “expressed his intentions to carry out a terror attack against Israeli civilians and security forces,” the military says.

The army says soldiers of the Duvdevan Commando Unit apprehended Imam this morning.

In a separate raid in the village of Sanur near Jenin yesterday, troops detained a Palestinian who the army says was planning a terror attack against Israeli civilians.

#عاجل‼️خلال نشاطات في لواء منشيه: مقاتلو جيش الدفاع اعتقلوا مخربين اثنين خططا لتنفيذ عمليات ضد مواطني دولة إسرائيل*

⭕️ خلال ساعات الصباح (الاثنين)، نفّذ مقاتلو وحدة “دوفدوفان” نشاطًا خاصًا في جنين بقيادة لواء منشيه، واعتقلوا بتوجيه من جهاز الشاباك المخرب همام خازم، الذي خطط… pic.twitter.com/omeURBtqe9

— Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya | إيلا واوية (@CaptainElla1) August 24, 2026

WATCH: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent holds press conference on Iran sanctions

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is holding a press conference in which he is expected to detail new secondary sanctions on Iran.

Watch the press conference live here:

IDF says it destroyed 2 Hamas weapons depots located inside Gaza mosques

The Israeli military says it destroyed two Hamas weapons depots in the Gaza Strip, which were located inside mosques.

The mosques in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah were used by Hamas to store dozens of assault rifles and other weapons, according to the IDF.

“This is another example of Hamas’s systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure, including mosques, in violation of international law, to advance and execute terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the military says.

Ahead of the strikes, the IDF published warnings to Palestinians residing in the area.

Reveling in Altalena discovery, Ben Gvir takes implicit jab at Netanyahu, seems to liken himself to Begin

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds a press conference at the Etzel Museum in Tel Aviv following the announcement that the wreck of the Altalena had been located, August 24, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says the finding of the Altalena — the right-wing Irgun militia’s gun-running ship that was sunk by the fledgling IDF in June 1948 — closes the “bleeding wound” of marginalization of the Israeli right.

And in an implicit jab at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dodging a joint photo-op with him at the event, he appears to liken himself to Menachem Begin, the leader of the Irgun who later became prime minister.

Speaking at a press conference at the Etzel Museum, named for the Irgun’s Hebrew acronym, on the beach near Jaffa, Ben Gvir begins his comments with the “Shehecheyanu,” a traditional Jewish blessing for watershed moments.

“For decades they’ve tried to hide this wound, to silence this story,” Ben Gvir says, without specifying whom he is accusing.

The ship, which carried firearms and hundreds of Jewish refugees, is “a symbol of the national camp, led by Menachem Begin,” Ben Gvir says.

After the IDF bombed the Altalena, Begin famously ordered his men to stand down rather than fight other Jews.

“In the face of all the prosecution, Menachem Begin held to his truth, with one very clear belief: We are brothers, the entire House of Israel — it doesn’t matter what our origins, color or ethnicity are, or what party we vote for. There will never be a civil war,” Ben Gvir says. “Against our enemies, we must not blink, be confused or show compassion. But with our brothers, we need to be together.”

Ben Gvir also notes at the press conference that Begin was “familiar with boycott.”

“He knew, intimately, what it tastes like when others don’t want to be photographed with you on the same stage,” says Ben Gvir.

The comment comes after Netanyahu released his own statement from the Tel Aviv promenade in honor of the Altalena discovery, but avoided coming to the press conference where Ben Gvir spoke.

Ben Gvir himself was long a pariah in Israeli politics because he was a disciple of the slain extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Sources close to Ben Gvir are cited in Hebrew media as saying that Netanyahu decided to split off from Ben Gvir at the last moment “to avoid contact and a joint photograph.”

New Haredi party puts up billboards declaring ‘Those who do not learn should serve’

The new ultra-Orthodox party that supports IDF conscription and secular studies, called The Charedi Public, launches an advertising campaign in Haredi neighborhoods, posting billboards declaring that “Those who do not learn should serve” and “Haredi children too need math and English.”

The party’s campaign also features slogans criticizing the current Haredi political leadership, asking, “Where were you during the last term in office?

לאחר שהודיעה על ריצה לכנסת, מפלגת ׳הציבור החרדי׳ השיקה קמפיין חוצות נרחב בערים החרדיות ובו המסרים: ״מי שלא לומד – ישרת״ ועל הצורך בשילוב לימודי ליבה ״גם ילד חרדי צריך מתמטיקה ואנגלית״ pic.twitter.com/YlhPEaWlGh

— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) August 24, 2026

According to Army Radio, the campaign costs over NIS 2 million ($666,333). It also reports that the party held talks with the existing Haredi parties.

The party officially launched its Knesset campaign in Beit Shemesh on Sunday with a closed event intended to prevent disruptions by extremists.

IDF says it bombed ‘terror infrastructure’ in central Gaza

The Israeli Air Force bombed a “terror infrastructure” in the central Gaza Strip a short while ago, according to the military.

Palestinian media publishes footage of the strike in the Deir al-Balah area.

The IDF is expected to provide more details on the strike soon.

???? شاهد | خرق جديد.. فيديو آخر يوثق لحظة قصف طيران الاحتلال على دير البلح وسط قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/78nW530wRE

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) August 24, 2026

After being forced to remove ad with soldier, Deri posts messages of support from troops’ families

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri posts a series of tweets featuring pictures of IDF soldiers supporting his ultra-Orthodox Shas party, after the Central Elections Committee ordered him to remove a campaign video featuring an IDF soldier.

The video was ordered removed because it violated a ban on using images of security forces in election materials. The Central Elections Committee does not immediately respond to an inquiry as to whether Deri’s latest posts also violate the ban.

Each of Deri’s posts also contains notes of support for the Haredi politician, ostensibly from the people in the photos. The notes echo the message of the removed Shas ad and paraphrase the language it used.

One message reads, “Our family, the Barnas family, also has members who chose to dedicate their lives to the Torah, alongside those who chose meaningful service in the IDF. This is the Shas home on which we were raised in the light of our teacher, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed and righteous memory: Torah, love of Israel, and unity.”

לכבוד הרב אריה דרעי,
גם אצלנו, במשפחת ברנס, יש בני משפחה שבחרו להקדיש את חייהם לתורה, ולצדם מי שבחרו בשירות משמעותי בצה״ל.
זה הבית הש״סי שעליו גדלנו לאורו של מרן רבנו עובדיה יוסף זצוק״ל – תורה, אהבת ישראל ואחדות.
משפחת ברנס pic.twitter.com/W5Z4SkxYCA

— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) August 24, 2026

“The Shas video is so moving because it is simply real, and no one will be able to erase the truth. We are the Maimon family from Bat Yam, and this is exactly our story: two sons studying in yeshivas and defending the people of Israel with their Torah, the eldest son served meaningful service in the IDF, and the father of the family has served hundreds of days of reserve duty days since [the October 7 attack],” another states.

לכבוד הרב אריה דרעי,

הסרטון של ש״ס כל כך מרגש, כי הוא פשוט אמיתי ולא יעזור לאף אחד לנסות למחוק את האמת.
אנחנו משפחת מימון מבת ים, וזה בדיוק הסיפור שלנו: שני בנים לומדים בישיבות ומגינים בתורתם על עם ישראל, הבן הגדול שירת שירות משמעותי בצה״ל, ואב המשפחה יצא למאות ימי מילואים מאז… pic.twitter.com/39g4bN0RGr

— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) August 24, 2026

Following a complaint filed by Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition Yashar party, Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg yesterday issued an interim order requiring Deri to take down the video in question and giving him two days to respond to the petition.

The video — an apparent bid to hold onto moderate voters turned off by the party’s active, hardline stance against IDF conscription of ultra-Orthodox men — featured a religious family waiting for their son to arrive home from the army for Shabbat dinner. As the young soldier runs in, he is hugged by his father and brother, a full-time yeshiva student. A message comes up on the screen claiming that “more than 30,000 conscripts and career soldiers voted for Shas in the last election.”

The claim of 30,000 soldiers voting for Shas is unsubstantiated.

Haredi anti-enlistment protesters block busy interchange at entrance to Bnei Brak

Several dozen Haredi men are blocking the Geha Interchange, where the Route 4 highway and major Jabotinsky Road meet at the northeastern entrance to Bnei Brak, footage shows.

Navigation apps show that the section of Jabotinsky Road surrounding the interchange has been sealed off.

מפגיני הפלג הירושלמי חוסמים את כביש 4 במחלף אם המושבות, במחאה על מעצר עריקים חרדים. המשטרה חסמה את התנועה עד מחלף אלוף שדה – עומסים כבדים במקום@MHlpryn pic.twitter.com/4YMJ8bL7cO

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) August 24, 2026

Police warned of traffic disruptions in and around Bnei Brak ahead of the demonstration by the Haredi extremist Jerusalem Faction, which says it is protesting the arrest yesterday of a Bnei Brak yeshiva student who failed to enlist in the military.

Kite flown from Gaza again lands in Israeli border kibbutz, local official says

A kite, apparently flown from the Gaza Strip, seen flying over Kibbutz Nahal Oz, August 22, 2026. (Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Another kite apparently flown from the Gaza Strip landed in Kibbutz Nahal Oz a short while ago, local authorities say.

“The additional kite discovered in Nahal Oz reinforces the understanding that this is not an isolated incident,” says Uri Epstein, head of the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. “While Hamas is returning to its former strength, Israel is returning to a policy of containment and reaction instead of initiative.”

Israeli leaders have threatened Hamas over the recent launching of kites, but the terror group has claimed they are merely “children’s toys” from Gaza refugee camps.

So far, none of the kites launched from Gaza in recent days have carried any suspicious items on them, but many have associated the objects with the kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices that were launched by Gaza terror groups, and plagued southern Israel, for a number of years in the run-up to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, in which terrorists on hanggliders crossed the border.

Epstein says that the border communities “expect a clear and unequivocal Israeli policy: every object that crosses from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory must be identified and dealt with in real time, not only after it lands in our communities.”

IDF says it strikes weapons depot in Gaza City as mosque, desalination plant reportedly hit

The Israeli Air Force bombed a weapons depot in Gaza City a short while ago, according to the military.

Palestinian media reports that the strike hit a mosque and a desalination plant in the city’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

Prior to the strike, the military issued warnings to residents of the area, according to the reports.

The IDF is expected to provide further details on the strike later.

لحظة قصف طيران الاحتلال مصلى ومحطة لتحلية المياه في حي الشيخ رضوان، شمال مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/VZx1ZNzT6p

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 24, 2026

Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked vessel off Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi terror group says it attacked a vessel off Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu, according to the group’s ​military spokesperson Yahya Saree on Telegram.

Saudi Arabia has confirmed that one of its ships has been attacked.

Shin Bet reportedly allows armed guards for Eisenkot — but won’t provide them itself

Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot attends an election campaign conference at the Drom HaSharon Regional Council building in central Israel, July 27, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Shin Bet is allowing Gadi Eisenkot’s private guards to carry weapons, but will not be providing an official security detail for the election frontrunner, according to a Channel 12 report.

The decision by David Zini, chief of the domestic security agency, comes as concern has risen across the ideological spectrum of political violence ahead of the October 27 election.

In a statement reported by Channel 12, Zini says he “bears sole responsibility” for the decision not to provide a detail to Eisenkot. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Eisenkot’s rival for the premiership, reportedly instructed the Shin Bet to ensure Eisenkot’s security “at an adequate level, as needed.”

According to the report, Eisenkot’s private security detail will also have access to the Shin Bet’s intelligence and its headquarters.

Netanyahu huddles with senior officials on West Bank ‘security challenges’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with senior officials about security in the West Bank, August 24, 2026. (Maayan Toaf / GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security assessment today at the IDF Central Command headquarters on “the security challenges” in the West Bank area, his office says.

The discussion was attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and National Security Council head Shmuel Ben Ezra, as well as the heads of the military’s Central Command, Military Intelligence Directorate, Operations Directorate and West Bank Division, and other senior officials, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The assessment comes amid heightened tensions in the West Bank.

Yesterday, an Israeli man was moderately wounded in a stabbing attack near the Palestinian village of al-Auja in the Jordan Valley. The IDF later arrested a 16-year-old Palestinian male suspected of carrying out the attack.

The West Bank has also seen a surge in settler attacks on Palestinians and their property in recent months, including a siege on Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra. The rise in settler violence has reportedly led the IDF brass to warn the country’s political leadership that the area is on the brink of a violent escalation.

Netanyahu’s security agent drew rifle on crowded Tel Aviv highway last week, footage shows

Footage shows an officer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal security unit drawing his assault rifle on a crowded highway during a routine drive by the premier's convoy in Tel Aviv, August 19, 2026. (Screenshots/Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

An officer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal security unit drew his assault rifle on a crowded highway during a routine drive by the premier’s convoy in Tel Aviv last week, footage shows.

The video, filmed on August 19 from a nearby building, shows the armed security officer aiming the rifle at a target while perched in an open door of the moving vehicle.

In response to the footage, the Shin Bet security agency — responsible for Netanyahu’s security detail — says that “all actions carried out by the security guard were conducted as required, without posing any risk to civilians, in accordance with the procedures and authority granted to him by law.”

סרטון חדש של GTA 6 pic.twitter.com/AZ4OPKoANq

— Michael Lugassy (@mluggy) August 20, 2026

US Treasury to broaden scope of sanctions on those who do business with Iran, source says

The US Treasury is expected to broaden the scope of secondary sanctions it can impose on entities and countries that maintain business ties with Iran as the Trump administration seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran, a source familiar with the plans tells Reuters.

The action is aimed at giving a final warning to countries to sever their business ties with Iran in an effort to force an end to the nearly six-month conflict that has bottled up the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf energy exports, says the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to announce more details of the Iran actions on Monday at a 1 p.m. Eastern Time (8 p.m. Israel time) press conference. The source said that Bessent also intended to provide a broader overview of an economic pressure campaign against Iran that he and US President Donald Trump have described as an “economic D-Day,” and would make it clear to countries that they must side with the US or risk having key companies and entities cut off from the dollar-based financial system.

Police warn of traffic jams ahead of Haredi anti-enlistment protest in Bnei Brak

Illustration: Haredi protesters attempt to block traffic on a road in Beit Shemesh during a demonstration on June 9, 2026. (Israel Police)

Police warn of disruptions on major roads in the Bnei Brak area in central Israel ahead of a Haredi protest.

The disruptions are expected to affect Route 4 between the Aluf Sade and Em Hamoshavot interchanges, along Bnei Brak’s eastern border, police say.

Police say they are also preparing for possible obstructions on Jabotinsky Road, a main traffic artery that connects Petach Tikva to Tel Aviv via Bnei Brak.

The public is advised to take alternate routes and check for updates.

The extremist Haredi Jerusalem Faction announced that it would rally in Bnei Brak this afternoon over the arrest of a yeshiva student yesterday for failing to enlist to the military. The rally is expected to begin at 5 p.m.

Renewed ‘security failure’: Bereaved October 7 families say Israel again failing to see Gaza dangers

The October Council, an anti-government group of relatives of October 7 victims demanding a state commission of inquiry into the security debacle leading to the 2023 Hamas-led onslaught, publishes a report warning that the current leadership has not adequately adjusted its security approach in the years since the unprecedented attack.

The report – which runs dozens of pages, citing testimonies from surveillance soldiers and combat troops as well as conversations between security personnel in the Gaza border communities and Council members – warns of continued adherence to an entrenched set of national security assumptions before October 7. The doctrine is said to have wrongly assessed that Hamas was deterred, contained, and focused on governance rather than offensive attacks.

The Council argues that the government is now backing a new version of the same type of conception by seeking to manage the Hamas threat through mechanisms including the Yellow Line withdrawal boundary and Washington’s peace plan for Gaza.

Citing testimony from surveillance soldiers serving along the Gaza border, the report says that “Hamas operatives are testing the IDF’s response, amid a sense that in some cases authorization to take action is delayed.”

One reservist officer serving in Gaza describes a similar concern: “We are just a few meters from the enemy, we see them with our own eyes — and the orders tie our hands. Instead of defeating them, we ‘contain’ them. Instead of addressing the root of the problem, we continue to manage the failure.”

“If, even today, those who identify a danger are afraid to speak up, that constitutes a security failure in and of itself,” the report states, saying that Hamas “has not yet been disarmed and continues to recruit, manufacture [weapons], rehabilitate itself and reestablish governing mechanisms.”

The report stresses that Hamas has been severely weakened by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, but has not been fully dismantled.

While Israel continues to engage with Washington’s plans for international and alternative governing mechanisms for postwar Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Washington’s latest disarmament plan for phased Israeli withdrawal alongside Hamas’s disarmament, insisting that the IDF will not withdraw further or allow reconstruction to begin until Hamas is fully disarmed.

Religious troops briefly blocked female soldiers from base — report

Female soldiers were briefly denied entry to a military outpost in northern Israel because an ultra-Orthodox unit was stationed there, Channel 12 news reports.

According to the report, intelligence soldiers from Unit 8200 arrived for routine activity at the post in the Golan Heights, where they were denied entry.

An officer at the post tells Channel 12 that a company from the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion — a unit ostensibly for Haredi male soldiers — is currently stationed there, and those troops stopped the female soldiers from entering. Eventually, the female troops were allowed in after officers at the post intervened, the report says.

The IDF, in response, says that “after commanders intervened, the incident was addressed, and the female officer entered the post and carried out her mission as required.”

It is unclear why the IDF only refers to one female officer while the report claims it was several soldiers who tried to enter the post.

“The IDF will continue to act to provide a respectful and equitable service environment, while fully preserving the way of life of all service members, and without the service of one population coming at the expense of the other,” the military adds.

Under the IDF’s protocols for service conditions for Haredi troops, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion is gender-segregated, but its soldiers may come into contact with women while serving at various bases where female troops also serve.

A new unit, the Hasmonean Brigade, is the only one where protocols allow for all personnel to maintain gender separation on base.

‘Naza’ doc about alleged Israeli abuses in Gaza added to Venice film fest lineup

An Israeli documentary that claims to “[reveal] in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” has been added to the competition lineup at the Venice International Film Festival, organizers announce.

“Naza,” directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the team behind the Oscar-winning “No Other Land” about abuses in the West Bank, will debut at the festival on September 10.

The film, which a press release says was shot “at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv,” is based on reporting that appeared in the Israeli left-wing activist outlets +972 Magazine and Local Call, and the UK’s Guardian, at least some of which has been challenged by the Israel Defense Forces.

“Naza” is a reference to a Hebrew acronym for collateral damage, used by the military.

Netanyahu warns small right-wing parties could cost him elections; claims opposition will form ‘fascist regime,’ close the internet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeals to voters not to support smaller right-wing parties, in order to improve his current coalition’s chances of retaining power, in a video released to social media on August 24, 2026. (Benjamin Netanyahu via Instagram)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a public appeal to voters not to support smaller right-wing parties that may not pass the 3.25 percent electoral threshold in October’s elections, warning that it could destroy the current coalition’s chances of retaining power, and lead to the election of a “fascist regime.”

“This election will be decided by every vote. Don’t waste your vote on small parties that may not pass the threshold and bring the left to power. Don’t waste votes. Keep the right. Vote for Likud,” the premier declares in a (Hebrew) social media post.

Netanyahu argues that the left was able to win the 1992 general election, ushering in the Oslo Peace Accords, because of breakaway right-wing parties established by those angry with then-Likud prime minister Yitzhak Shamir.

“We paid with thousands upon thousands of murdered citizens and thousands of casualties, and we are still dealing with this problem today, all stemming from that mistake, where splinter right-wing parties fell out and brought down the Right-wing government. Now, are we going to make this mistake again?” he asks.

He claims that if parties opposed to his government win the election, “there’ll be a fascist regime” running Israel, preventing free speech, including by “closing the internet” and shutting down the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14.

The post comes a day before hawkish ex-general Ofer Winter is slated to launch a new party that could draw a significant number of votes from the far right, weakening parties that currently make up Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Meanwhile Yoseph Haddad, a right-wing activist and influencer from the Arab community, registers his own new party, dubbed Brave Israel.

They join a crowded field that has developed on the right, including a number of parties started by disaffected nationalist politicians aimed at drawing votes away from Likud and forcing a compromise with Zionist opposition parties. The new factions, including Sharren Haskel’s Israel First, Yuli Edelstein and Gilad Erdan’s Unity and Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper’s Zionist Home-The Reservists, are all expected to fall short of the electoral threshold unless they coalesce.

According to a poll aired yesterday by national broadcaster Kan, Winter’s party has the potential to pass the electoral threshold.

The Kan poll found Netanyahu’s Likud only receiving 22 seats if elections were held now, down from its current 32, and trailing behind Gadi Eisenkot’s 24 seats.

The Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc is currently polling at around 58 seats, with the current Netanyahu coalition parties at around 52, and mainly Arab parties holding the balance in the 120-member Knesset.

China’s Xi says Palestinian issue at heart of Middle East affairs

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Jordan’s King Abdullah that the Palestinians “are a core issue for the Middle East” in a meeting in Beijing, Chinese state radio says.

Xi called for a political solution, the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel and for the swift “realization of Palestine’s… establishment as an independent state,” according to an official summary of the meeting broadcast on state radio.

IDF says Hamas commando who invaded on October 7 killed in overnight strike

A Hamas operative who took part in the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip overnight, the military announces.

According to the IDF, the strike in Deir al-Balah killed Mohammad Abd al-Nasser Jabr Abu Asaad, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, who invaded Israel on October 7.

The strike also targeted a second terror operative, who also invaded Israel during the onslaught, though he apparently survived the strike, the army says.

The IDF justifies the strike amid the ceasefire by saying that both terrorists had advanced attacks on troops and civilians, as well as tried to restore Hamas capabilities, “systematically violating the ceasefire.”

“The strike was conducted in order to remove the threat,” the military says.

Palestinians say settlers attacked West Bank factory, sparking fire

Palestinians say that a fire that broke out at an aluminum plant near Ramallah was started by Israeli settlers.

Photos shared online show flames and smoke billowing in an outdoor area next to an industrial plant.

مستوطنون يضرمون النيران داخل مصنع قرب حاجز "عين سينيا" شمال رام الله. pic.twitter.com/YrZ5cPvzeY

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) August 24, 2026

According to the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa, citing local sources, dozens of Israeli extremists raided the plant in the village of Ein Sinya north of Ramallah, throwing firebombs and starting the blaze.

There is no comment from the Israeli military or police.

Iran blacklists tankers it says are helping funnel oil out of Gulf

Tankers and cargo vessels are seen in the Gulf of Oman, along shipping routes linking the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, June 16, 2026. (AP)

Iran says it has blacklisted 45 tankers that had broken its rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and would take action against any vessels transferring loads with them, escalating its threats over the key waterway six months into the war.

The named vessels could be fined, detained and have their cargoes confiscated, according to an X post from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new body set up by Iran to manage the strait.

The restricted list includes very large crude carriers, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas tankers, and clean product vessels, among others.

Some of the named ships are owned by the United Arab Emirates’ ADNOC Logistics and Shipping, ADNOC’s subsidiary Navig8 Tankers, and Saudi Arabia’s national shipping carrier Bahri. Ships owned by Klaveness Ship Management, Stolt Tankers and South Korea’s Sinokor are also included on the blacklist.

The US has coordinated efforts to shuttle tankers quietly through the Strait of Hormuz to fill supertankers waiting just outside it.

Any vessels involved in ship-to-ship transfers with the named vessels could be added to the blacklist, Iran says.

The post does not spell out what is meant by Iran’s rules, but Tehran has in the past said ship-owners should get its clearance to transit the strait and said ships should pay for security and other services.

Haredi protesters gearing up to block highways this afternoon — reports

Haredi protesters attempt to block traffic on a road in Beit Shemesh during a demonstration on June 9, 2026. (Israel Police)

Ultra-Orthodox protesters plan to block roads in central Israel later this afternoon in a demonstration against the arrest of a man who attempted to evade the military draft, Hebrew media report.

Reports differ on whether the protest will begin at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. According to Channel 12 news, protesters will likely attempt to stop traffic on Route 4 near Bnei Brak east of Tel Aviv, but have yet to announce where and when they will gather.

The protest was called after authorities on Sunday arrested a man who was found to be a draft dodger after he was stopped for failing to pay for public transportation, according to reports.

The protest would be the first major demonstration in weeks, ending a period of relative quiet over the past month that coincided with summer break for yeshivas.

Zamir hails special forces for ‘unprecedented’ secret missions

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met yesterday with special forces of the Israeli Air Force, thanking them for “unprecedented” operations that must be kept under wraps, the IDF says.

“In recent years, you have brought new capabilities to the battlefield. The operations you have carried out are unprecedented and require courage, imagination and capabilities, and we will not be able to speak publicly about most of them,” he tells troops at the Palmachim airbase, according to remarks published today by the IDF.

Zamir says the IDF remains “vigilant and prepared across all sectors, both defensively and offensively.”

Trump spoke to Pakistan army chief ahead of Tehran trip, sought resumption of talks — sources

Newly elevated Field Marshal General Asim Munir prays after laying a wreath on the Martyrs monument during a special guard of honor ceremony at General Headquarters, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, May 21, 2025. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP, File)

US President Donald Trump spoke with Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir last week ahead of Munir’s trip to Tehran today, three Pakistani sources reveal, with one saying the main US request was to bring Iran back to negotiations.

The call, which has not been previously reported, was initiated by Trump, according to two Pakistani sources.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary does not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is unclear what Munir and Trump discussed in detail.

Munir is currently in Tehran accompanied by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s military confirms, saying the visit is “part of Pakistan’s efforts to promote regional peace and stability.”

Munir is expected to meet with people close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday, one Pakistani source says.

Another Pakistani government source says that while US-Iran tensions are a focus of the visit, Munir is also expected to discuss recent attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi fighters on Pakistan’s ally Saudi Arabia as well as the recently signed mutual defense agreement between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

“There is a trust deficit on both sides,” a third Pakistani source says about the US and Iran, adding that Munir is aiming to mitigate the lack of mutual trust.

Iranian rial slumps to new record low as economic pressure set to ramp up

Current and pre-revolution Iranian banknotes are displayed by a street money exchanger at Ferdowsi square, Tehran’s go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, in downtown Tehran, Iran, on August 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran’s currency has hit a new record low ahead of a US announcement on new measures meant to pile pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a US naval blockade.

The rial drops to 2.02 million to the US dollar as trading opens on informal currency markets. Iran’s official Central Bank rate stands at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the informal rate is what most Iranians pay.

The currency had already been under pressure before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, with double-digit inflation and negative growth, but has been hitting new record lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.

Iran threatens ‘consequences’ for countries that join US sanctions push

Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday warns countries of “consequences” if they join an economic pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic by the United States.

“The necessary warnings have definitely been given, because any complicity with America in carrying out its aggressive actions against Iran will definitely have its own consequences,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says in a weekly press briefing.

At the same time, the foreign ministry dismisses Washington’s declaration that it will impose severe sanctions, saying it disproves US claims to have dismantled Tehran’s military and nuclear capabilities.

“Your narrative doesn’t add up: you say that Iran’s military power has been ‘dismantled’, 100% of its military factories ‘destroyed’ and its nuclear program ‘buried’,” Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister, says in a post on X.

Yet, he adds, “there is a need for ‘the largest financial invasion in history’ and the mobilisation of ‘all institutions and powers’ of the United States! Is this a victory or an admission of America’s defeat?”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in the Financial Times earlier that Washington was launching the “single greatest financial offensive marshalled against an adversary” — calling it an “economic D-Day.”

Bessent posted on X that the measure came after the United States “dismantled Iran’s military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program.”

He is scheduled to explain the new US sanctions at a press conference later.

Tanker struck near Saudi port in Red Sea, monitor says

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Yanbu, leading to a fire on the vessel’s main deck, the United Kingdom ​Maritime Trade Operations says.

The UKMTO says all crew are safe and accounted for with no reported environmental impact.

Israir given final FAA clearance for flights to US

An Israir flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 25, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/ Flash90/ File)

Israir says it has received US regulatory approval necessary to start operating long-haul services to North America as the Israeli low-cost airline prepares to launch nonstop flights between Tel Aviv and New York.

Israir says it has obtained the green light from the US Federal Aviation Administration to operate scheduled commercial flights, finalizing previous authorizations from aviation authorities in both Israel and the US.

Tickets are expected to go on sale “very soon,” the airline announces. Previously, Israir was planning to start selling flight tickets for the New York route on October 19.

The debut of Israir’s long-haul flight service to New York comes after local rival Arkia launched nonstop service between Tel Aviv and New York in February 2025, bringing more local competition into the mix against flagship carrier El Al.

Uncertainty surrounding the availability of flights from international airlines in recent years due to wars has led many Israeli travelers to rely more heavily on local carriers, sparking a push for increased competition beyond El Al.

Several US airlines that canceled service with the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran in late February have yet to resume flying to and from Tel Aviv.

United Airlines is preparing to resume nonstop flight services from New York to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on September 8. US rival Delta is expected to restart flight operations to Tel Aviv on September 6, while American Airlines has suspended the route through March 27, 2027.

Wreckage found of Altalena arms ship sunk in 1948 power tussle, ministers say

The Altalena ship burns after being shelled near Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948. (Hans Pinn/GPO)

Divers have located the wrecked remains of the Altalena, a cargo ship bringing arms to the Irgun militia during the 1948 War of Independence that was sunk on the orders of then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion, government ministers announce.

The ship, still intact, was located at 12:30 a.m. at a depth of 503 meters (1,650 feet) off Israel’s coast “during a complex naval search operation,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu announce in a joint statement.

They credit “long months of meticulous planning and preparation” and “special sensors and advanced survey systems” for the find, saying more details will be revealed at a press conference.

The gun-running ship was initially brought to Israel by Menachem Begin’s Irgun militia during the country’s War of Independence in June 1948.

With the state and its military only a few weeks old, Ben-Gurion demanded that the ship and cargo be turned over to the newly formed IDF, sparking an armed confrontation.

The vessel, which ran aground in Tel Aviv, was shelled by forces on the shore under the command of a young Yitzhak Rabin, later the IDF chief of General Staff and prime minister, and caught fire.

Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers died in the incident, and the ship’s cargo was lost. The wreckage was later towed out to sea and sunk, though efforts have been made to locate it in recent decades.

A military spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that the IDF had no involvement in the operation to locate the vessel.

The Kan public broadcaster reported in August 2025 that Eliyahu had invested NIS 1 million ($335,000) in efforts to recover the historic ship, funding Israel’s “Bat-Galim” marine research vessel, which was equipped with the necessary technology to locate its remains.

Eliyahu calls the discovery “a defining moment for our national memory.”

“Tonight, we are closing a historic circle on one of the most painful and formative events in the history of Israeli society,” says Ben Gvir, whose role in the operation is unclear. Ben Gvir heads the Otzma Yehudit party, which Eliyahu belongs to.

EU announces billions more for Ukraine missile defense as leaders visit Kyiv

Britain’s prime minister Andy Burnham, center, smiles upon his arrival by train, in Kyiv, August 24, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

The European Union says it has released another 6.1 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in military aid for Ukraine to boost its air defenses against Russian missile attacks, as European leaders visit the country in a show of support of Ukraine’s Independence Day.

“On Ukraine’s Independence Day, we show our unfaltering support. Today, we approved €6.1 billion for the air and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition and radars that Ukraine urgently needs,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says on X.

The financing is part of a 90 billion-euro loan, including 60 billion euros in military aid, that the EU has said will go to Ukraine. Some 16 billion euros has already been allocated and 8.5 billion euros sent to Kyiv.

The announcement comes as UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrives in Kyiv for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders allied with Ukraine, including European Council President Antonio Costa, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Estonian President Alar Karis.

Burnham, on his first overseas trip since taking office, is expected to announce that the UK government has agreed to allow defense company MBDA to release classified information relating to British components used in the SCALP long-range missile, according to his office. This would pave the way for France and Ukraine to advance plans for local production of the weapon in Ukraine.

Former general, minister Elazar Stern makes widely expected jump to Yashar

Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern speaks during a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 13, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party announces the addition of Elazar Stern, a longtime lawmaker who left Yesh Atid last week and had been widely expected to join the former general’s new faction.

Stern “comes with rich experience as a minister, Knesset member and IDF general,” Eisenkot says of the newest addition to his electoral slate. “Over the years he has been an outspoken voice for universal service, a people’s army and statesmanship.”

אני שמח לבשר על הצטרפותו של השר וחבר הכנסת לשעבר, אלוף (מיל׳) אלעזר שטרן, לנבחרת ישר!

אלעזר הקדיש עשרות שנים לביטחון ישראל ולשירות הציבורי, מגיע עם ניסיון עשיר בתור שר, חבר כנסת ואלוף בצה״ל. לאורך השנים הוא היה מהקולות הבולטים במאבק למען שירות לכולם, צבא העם וממלכתיות, ופעל… pic.twitter.com/LmMeZn9KZN

— Gadi Eisenkot – גדי איזנקוט (@gadi_eisenkot) August 24, 2026

Stern, a former head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, was first elected to the Knesset in 2013 as part of the now-defunct Hatnua party. In 2021, while serving as intelligence minister for Yesh Atid, he came under fire for comments suggesting that he had ignored sexual harassment complaints while in the military.

Stern announced on August 14 that he was resigning from Yesh Atid, which has merged into the B’Yachad party, and had indicated in recent interviews that he was likely to join Yashar.

US scotches joint drill with South Korea, saying troops needed for Iran war

The United States has canceled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for next month with South Korea, citing constraints on the availability of US forces due to the war in Iran, Seoul’s Marine Corps says.

The US Marine Corps formally notified its South Korean counterpart in June that force availability would be constrained for the division-level exercise, known as Ssangyong, a South Korean Marine Corps spokesperson tells a press briefing.

The allies remain in close consultations on resuming the drills, the spokesperson says.

The cancellation follows US President Donald Trump’s surprise order earlier this month to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday, citing the cost and Seoul’s refusal to take part in the Iran war.

Trump also wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills sent “a signal that was totally inappropriate and hostile,” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful.”

Elections referee okays Ben Gvir to speak at police event after promise not to campaign

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads a faction meeting of his Otzma Yehudit party at the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 25, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Central Elections Committee judge Noam Sohlberg gives the go ahead for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to take part in an event for police volunteers tonight, after the minister promises not to use the appearance for campaign purposes.

A petition had been filed seeking to block Ben Gvir from taking part in the Tel Aviv confab, citing concerns that he would misuse his official position to stump for electoral support.

In his decision, Sohlberg, a Supreme Court justice tasked with adjudicating campaign disputes, notes that “Minister Ben Gvir committed, including with an affidavit, not to deliver a campaign speech at the event at issue in the petition.”

Sohlberg also recommends that Ben Gvir submit a draft of his speech to legal advisers to ensure it complies, but does not require that he do so.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had partially backed the petition, submitting an opinion that Ben Gvir be allowed to attend the event but not deliver an address.

Top Oman diplomat due in Tehran for talks on Hormuz, Iran says

In this handout photo released by the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 26, 2026, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) holds a meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi (R) in Geneva. (Omani Foreign Ministry/AFP)

Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi will visit Tehran on Tuesday to continue talks between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says.

On Sunday, Baghaei said the army chief of Pakistan, which has mediated between the United States and Iran, would visit Tehran Monday.

Burundi poised to join nascent Gaza peacekeeping mission — officials

Soldiers patrol as thousands of people fleeing fighting in Congo’s South Kivu province arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, December 11, 2025. (AP/Berthier Mugiraneza)

Burundi may move forward with a proposal to deploy troops to Gaza, officials say, after a military delegation from the African nation visited Israel last week to discuss joining the Board of Peace mission.

Nothing has been finalized with Burundi, but a Board of Peace official says they look forward to starting the process.

“We shared significant knowledge with one another, and the Burundi representatives expressed interest in our mission,” the official says, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A Burundian military official tells the AP that three other senior military officers led the delegation to Israel and that Burundi appears intent on joining.

The Board of Peace official says Uganda, which also sent officials to Gaza as part of the Burundian delegation, is finalizing details of its participation after its parliament approved the troop contribution this month.

If Burundi moves ahead, the African nations would be the latest to join the International Stabilization Force for Gaza after Morocco, Kosovo, Kazakhstan and Albania made commitments. Uganda has committed around 1,200 personnel, and Morocco has committed up to 500. Kosovo, Kazakhstan and Albania in total have committed around 80.

Last month, US President Trump announced a deal for Hamas to disarm and for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza. According to the deal, which was rejected by Israel, the International Stabilization Force would be deployed to areas of the Palestinian territory administered by an incoming technocratic committee, and Israeli forces would withdraw.

The force would help monitor the ceasefire, train Palestinian police and secure the delivery of aid, among other tasks.

Protesters sentenced to jail for blocking Golden Gate Bridge over Gaza war

Aysha Abraibesh leads a chant while pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators block traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge on February 14, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Seven protesters who blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest against Israel’s assault on Gaza have been sentenced to 30 days, with credit for time already served.

They were convicted in July of misdemeanor charges by a San Francisco jury that remained deadlocked on the more serious charge of felony conspiracy.

Defense attorneys said demonstrators acted out of a moral responsibility to oppose the devastation from Israeli strikes on Gaza and Washington’s support for its ally.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the protest caused a safety risk for those stuck in traffic and there should be consequences when laws are broken.

“Throughout history, civil disobedience has mostly involved accepting legal consequences,” Superior Court Judge Teresa Caffese is quoted as saying by local station KQED. “In that spirit, those who blocked the bridge and disrupted the lives of hundreds of commuters should be treated respectfully, but should also be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions.”

The sentences included half the time to be served in county jail while the remaining days can be served at a work release program operated by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office. There will be four days’ credit for previous time already served. The sentencing also included six months of probation, and fines and restitution of over $1,000.

The defendants will remain free while the case is appealed, SFGate reports.

The jury convicted the seven protesters on misdemeanor counts including false imprisonment, obstruction of thoroughfare, unlawful assembly and in one defendant’s case refusal to disperse.

IDF says it targeted October 7 attacker in Khan Younis strike

A Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught was targeted in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military says.

The strike in Khan Younis targeted a company commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, according to the IDF. He is not named, and his condition is unclear.

Palestinian media reported that the strike wounded several people.

In addition to invading Israel on October 7, the IDF says that the Hamas terrorist has advanced attacks on troops in the Strip.

“The terrorist’s activities posed an immediate threat to our forces,” the military says, employing a claim used to justify strikes despite a ceasefire in the Strip.

Tracking firm says fewer than 20 ships transited Hormuz over weekend, though figure could rise as some switched their transponders off

Cargo ships are seen at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz at the weekend, shipping data shows, as Iranian and US blockades restrict traffic through the vital chokepoint for energy shipments.

Four vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, initial data from shiptracker Kpler shows, with 13 on Saturday. The figures can change as some ships switched off transponders on their way through.

New British PM to announce plan to support long-range missile production during Ukraine visit

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Ukraine on Monday on his first overseas trip since taking office, and will announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.

Burnham will be in Ukraine to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries backing Ukraine, on Monday when he is also due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He is set to announce that Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile, according to his office.

That will help enable France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines for the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street.

“Ukraine’s security is our security,” Burnham says in a statement, adding that Britain will stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

EU urges Israel to halt tenders for E1 project, ‘ensure accountability’ for violent settlers

The European Union’s diplomatic branch puts out a statement condemning Israel’s issuing of a tenders for the controversial E1 settlement project near Jerusalem.

The statement charges that the planned construction will “divide the West Bank in two, isolating East Jerusalem,” and further undercut “the viability of a two-state solution.”

“These developments take place as the West Bank experiences further instability and record levels of settler violence. In this context, we note the recent charges brought by the Israeli prosecutors against some perpetrators of such violence,” the statement continues.

The EU calls on Israel “to withdraw the tender, halt its E1 plans as well as all other settlement expansion projects, and ensure accountability for settler violence.”

Syria confirms its FM met with Mossad chief for deescalation talks

Syria and Israel held high-level, US-mediated talks in Jordan on Sunday aimed at easing tensions following recent Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, Syria’s state news agency SANA reports, citing a diplomatic source at the foreign ministry.

A report carried by SANA says the Syrian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, who was accompanied by the heads of general and military intelligence. It doesn’t specify who represented Israel, though earlier reports said the Israeli delegation was led by Mossad chief Roman Gofman.

According to SANA, the talks dealt with “establishing practical mechanisms to halt” Israeli strikes and military operations in southern Syria, with Damascus also reiterating its stance “that the occupied Golan is Syrian territory” and declaring that its chief priority “is the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the lines held before December 8, 2024, and the reactivation and full implementation” of the 1974 disengagement agreement.

The statement adds that Syria is working “to bridge differences” between Israel and Israel in order to “ensure that tensions between the two countries do not spill over onto Syrian territory.” Israel has said its recent strikes on a Syrian airbase were to thwart a planned Turkish troop deployment there.

PM said to tell Shin Bet to ensure Eisenkot has ‘adequate’ security; agency says it’s ‘doing the maximum’

Left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a state ceremony on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, August 05, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90); Head of the Yashar party Gadi Eisenkott attends a conference at the Peres center in Tel Aviv. July 12, 2026. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

After Shin Bet chief David Zini said he had decided not to attach a security detail to Yashar party leader and election front-runner Gadi Eisenkot, various Hebrew media outlets report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Zini to make sure Eisenkot gets “adequate” security, “as needed.”

The security service is said to have responded that it is “doing the maximum” and “acting in accordance with the law.”

Channel 13 news meanwhile reports that Zini spoke this weekend with Eisenkot, telling him, “Here is the number for the emergency hotline. If something happens, that is the number.” The network says that a Shin Bet official later followed up with Eisenkot to say he was “the address” in case of an issue.