Live updates (closed)
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Key updates, 28 August 2026:
Trump announces new US ‘Space Academy’
US President Donald Trump holds up a flight jacket presented to him by Artemis II crew members Christina Koch, from left, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen, obstructed, after the crew accepted the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, August 28, 2026, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
US President Donald Trump announces the creation of a “Space Academy” to train future civilian and military recruits for an arena where the United States faces rivalry with China.
Speaking at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Trump says the institution would be modeled on the famed US military academy at West Point.
“It’s called the US Space Academy. That’s a big deal,” Trump says as he signed an executive order creating the new school.
“It’ll serve both the United States Space Force as well as NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry, and it’ll attract, train and graduate the very best of our nation.”
Trump has credited the US Space Force, the sixth branch of the US armed forces, with an important role in the recent American military operations in Venezuela and Iran.
He does not say where the new academy would be built.
The US president also presents the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the crew of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, which flew past the moon in April.
Outer space has become an increasingly strategic domain for global powers in the military and technology fields.
The United States is competing with China in the race to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, more than 50 years after humans first walked the lunar surface.
Trump last week pledged a “golden age” of space in a push to launch more rockets, including to Mars and the Moon.
Armed settlers filmed raiding Palestinian village alongside IDF soldiers
Armed settlers are filmed raiding the central West Bank Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir this evening, alongside Israeli troops.
Two residents were struck by live fire from IDF troops while trying to confront the settlers raiding the Palestinian village, according to the official Palestinian Authority news site Wafa.
مستوطن يعتدي على مواشي فلسطينية بحماية الاحتلال، ما أدى إلى نفوق عدد منها في المغير شرق رام الله. pic.twitter.com/dq9vu9Qst8
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 28, 2026
Wafa says the IDF blocked an ambulance from entering the village in order to treat the wounded.
Several sheep belonging to residents of al-Mughayyir were also wounded during the Israeli raid.
#شاهد| إصابات أثناء اقتحام قوات الاحتلال برفقة مستوطنين مسلحين قرية المغير، شمال شرق رام الله. pic.twitter.com/rQMAyiZisJ
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 28, 2026
A clip from earlier in the day outside the village shows masked settlers attacking a Palestinian vehicle, forcing the driver to turn around and flee the area.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the incident.
???? شاهد | فيديو يوثق سرقة مستوطنين بحماية جنود الاحتلال عدداً من رؤوس الماشية في قرية المغير، شمال شرق رام الله. pic.twitter.com/b3dWPOpI7V
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) August 28, 2026
Such settler attacks have been taking place on a near-daily basis across the West Bank, with arrests highly rare.
تغطية صحفية: مستوطنون يهاجمون مركبات المواطنين عند المدخل الغربي لبلدة المغير، شمال رام الله. pic.twitter.com/EfeTc60MBa
— الجرمق الإخباري (@aljarmaqnet) August 28, 2026
ADL says it surfaced mosque threat by suspect in FBI investigation
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says it surfaced threats against a mosque to law enforcement officials last month.
The suspect in the case, Giovanni Pimienta, was arrested on August 11 in Florida. Authorities said he had threatened to “shoot up a mosque.”
Carla Hill, the vice president of research and investigation at the ADL’s Center on Extremism, says ADL researchers reported findings linked to the case with the FBI and South Carolina authorities on July 16.
Hill says the ADL reported Telegram users discussing weaponry and carrying out an attack, posting an AI video of a South Carolina mosque, and discussing an attack on a San Diego mosque earlier this year.
The ADL researchers also obtained a 61-page manifesto from the Telegram chat that included anti-Jewish rhetoric.
Hill says the manifesto said “Jew,” “Jewish,” or “ZOG” 185 times. “ZOG” stands for “Zionist Occupied Government,” a conspiratorial term common on the far right.
The Center on Extremism says one of the users in the Telegram chat is “believed with a high degree of certainty to be Pimienta.”
The FBI has not confirmed that the ADL information led to the arrest and does not comment on pending investigations, but details in the affidavit filed against Pimienta appear to corroborate the connection.
The affidavit says that the threatening posts were “captured and reported” to the FBI and that law enforcement interviewed Pimienta on July 17, a day after the ADL reported the threat.
Iran’s Supreme Leader bans acts that ‘harm social cohesion’
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has banned people from “committing anything that harms social cohesion” and urges authorities to avoid any “discouraging statements that weaken national and public motivation,” in a written statement.
Khamenei hasn’t been seen publicly since he was wounded in an Israeli strike on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Source familiar with PM-approved direct talks between Israel, Hamas credits channel for hostage deal breakthrough
Hamas official Ghazi Hamad and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. (Collage/AP)
Channel 12 offers new details on the recently revealed direct channel of communication between Israel and Hamas during the recent Gaza war.
The channel was established in August 2024 shortly after Hamas operatives executed six Israeli hostages after sensing IDF troops approaching their tunnel.
There was considerable frustration in the Israeli security establishment after that incident, leading to the conclusion that a direct channel of communication was needed with Hamas and that relying on mediating countries Egypt and Qatar alone was not sufficient.
A channel was established between a senior Shin Bet official — on behalf of agency chief Ronen Bar — and senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad.
The channel was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Khalil Hayya, who at the time served as deputy to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The communication between the senior Shim Bet and Hamas representatives took place strictly over the phone, with dozens of calls taking place between them. Bar would listen in on them in real time.
A source familiar with the channel said it was used to neutralize many obstacles in the hostage talks.
But they also devolved into shouting matches, with each side arguing over names, and Israel making clear which Palestinian security prisoners it would not release under any circumstance, the source says.
The source claims that the direct channel run by the Shin Bet was also essential for overcoming obstacles set by Qatar.
The Shin Bet and Mossad sparred throughout the war over their preferred mediating country, with the Shin Bet preferring Egypt and the Mossad preferring Qatar.
The source familiar with the Shin Bet channel says it was responsible for getting Hamas on board with the deal that was eventually reached in January 2025.
“Witkoff got Netanyahu on board. We got Hamas on board,” the source claims.
Due to West Bank tensions, IDF said to freeze plan allowing 10K reservists to go home for High Holidays
Channel 12 reports that the IDF has placed on hold plans to allow some 10,000 reservists serving in the West Bank to go home for the High Holidays in two weeks, amid ongoing tensions in the territory.
Egypt says US Iran sanctions limited to Banque Misr’s UAE branches
Egypt’s central bank says that US Iran-related sanctions on Banque Misr only affected that lender’s branches in the United Arab Emirates and did not extend to any other Egyptian banks.
The US Treasury said on Friday it moved to cut off Banque Misr’s branches in the United Arab Emirates from dollar transactions for its dealings with Iran.
The move was part of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s campaign to increase economic pressure to try to break a stalemate six months into Washington’s war with Iran.
Number of missing in Nepal after flood rises to 1,924
Nepal’s disaster authority has sharply raised the number of missing to 1,924, two days after devastating floods that killed at least 579 in the country.
The number of missing includes 517 foreigners, as well as 933 workers on hydropower projects on the rivers where a wall of water powered down on Wednesday morning, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
US issues fresh Iran-related sanctions as war marks six months
The United States issues more Iran-related sanctions targeting one entity and one individual after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week threatened further action amid the ongoing war.
The sanctions target one entity based in Hong Kong and one person linked to Iran’s Bank Melli, a notice posted on the Department of Treasury’s website shows.
IDF says it killed 3 Palestinian terror operatives in rare West Bank airstrike
Three Palestinian terror operatives, including a commander, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Jenin this afternoon, the military announces.
The strike had targeted Qais Bitawi, who, according to the Shin Bet, was the head of Hamas’s activities in the Jenin refugee camp.
בית שהותקף בידי צה"ל סמוך לג'נין, היום
צילום: השימוש נעשה לפי סעיף 27א' לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/5CGjYCsm1Z
— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) August 28, 2026
IDF troops and members of the police’s elite Yamam unit launched an operation to kill Bitawi, following information provided by the Shin Bet of his whereabouts.
After Bitawi and two of his accomplices were spotted exiting a car next to a structure in Jenin, the Israeli Air Force carried out a drone strike against them, killing the trio, according to the IDF.
בפעילות מיוחדת בהובלה מודיעינית של שב"כ, כוחות הביטחון חיסלו שלושה מחבלים בג׳נין בהם המחבל קייס ביטאוי, בכיר בהתארגנות הטרור בג׳נין לשעבר
לכל הפרטים👇https://t.co/AXL5bhIPZA pic.twitter.com/QekHteFqqR
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 28, 2026
The military says troops later located a firearm inside the car.
Bitawi had acted to advance “significant terror activities and was involved in directing, financing, and carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces,” the military and Shin Bet say, adding that he also “maintained ties with Hamas in Gaza and Hamas abroad.”
The IDF adds that the slain commander is also a relative of Nour Bitawi, a previous commander of a terror network in Jenin, who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in May 2025.
#صور الشهيد القسامي "قيس البيطاوي" الذي ارتقى في قصف إسرائيلي لمنزل بمخيم جنين pic.twitter.com/rmo8mTKbJI
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 28, 2026
NY Hasidim seen blocking antisemitic YouTuber from entering New Square
Members of the Hasidic community in New York are seen blocking YouTuber Tyler Oliveira from filming in their area.
Oliveira, who has nearly 10 million followers on YouTube, has published videos accusing Orthodox communities of a “Jewish invasion” and welfare fraud that were widely seen as discriminatory and misleading.
A January video, filmed in the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel, New York, was titled, “Inside the New York town invaded by welfare-addicted Jews.”
The Anti-Defamation League said Oliveira had made “outrageous claims that harken back to age-old antisemitic stereotypes.”
Hasidic Jews swarm me in New Square 😂 pic.twitter.com/OTH9MFIpoX
— Tyler Oliveira (@tyleraloevera) August 27, 2026
Oliveira had also asked his followers to send him “tips” about other Orthodox communities in the region.
Those videos prompted community leaders and media to issue warnings against engaging with Oliveira.
Messages and photos circulated in WhatsApp groups this week showing Oliveira in different Jewish areas in and around New York City.
“Just ignore the guy and don’t engage. He had his 15 minutes of fame. No need to give him any more attention,” says a message sent out to a major community WhatsApp group.
Oliveira posts videos showing residents blocking him in New Square, New York, an area with a large Jewish community north of New York City.
The footage shows Hasidim standing in a street, facing Oliveira, as he walks away. The community members then follow Oliveira at a distance.
“I don’t think we’re going to find what we came out here looking for,” Oliveira says.
Four plead guilty to London arson attack on Jewish community ambulances
Four young men have admitted to being behind an arson attack on London ambulances owned by a Jewish charity at a UK court hearing.
British nationals Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and British-Pakistani Saif Ali, 18, all pleaded guilty to criminal damage linked to the March 23 attack.
Four ambulances run by the Hatzola charity were destroyed in a London neighborhood home to a significant Jewish population, amid a spate of attacks in the British capital targeting Jewish or Israel-linked locations.
The vehicles were parked near a synagogue, and the damage was valued at one million pounds ($1.4 million).
At a previous hearing, prosecution lawyer Emma Harraway told the court there was strong evidence this was “a premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community.”
Several antisemitic attacks in London this year targeted synagogues and other Jewish sites.
An Iran-linked group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyah (HAYI) had previously claimed multiple attacks, including the destruction of the ambulances.
The UK government has announced plans to ban HAYI, also known as the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, as a national security threat.
Defense lawyers denied that the four defendants had any “terrorism” connections to groups proscribed in the UK.
Nearly 3 weeks into Qusra siege, settlers filmed freely roaming through closed military zone
Settlers are filmed driving freely through what is supposed to be a closed military zone that the IDF instituted in the Palestinian village of Qusra, purportedly to break a siege set nearly three weeks ago by the Israeli extremists.
While the IDF dismantled several outposts that the settlers set up on the outskirts of Qusra at the start of the siege, settlers continue to roam the area, without any repercussions.
Meanwhile, a pair of Palestinian families say they remain trapped in their homes, unable to leave without coordinating their exit with the soldiers in the area.
However, given that the settlers have been allowed to operate freely in the area, the Palestinians say they’re hesitant to leave out of fear that the Israeli extremists will take over their homes, as was the case in the nearby village of Jalud.
קוסרה, נפת שכם, עולם כמנהגו נוהג:
מול הבתים הנצורים בקוסרה, מתחת לחלון, יושבים חיילים במחסום. מסביב שטח צבאי סגור, מה שלא מפריע למתנחלים הרוכבים על הריינג׳ר לחלוף על פניהם, מבלי שיעצרו אותם.
כשלושה שבועות חלפו מאז שהצבא הגיע לקוסרה והמתנחלים עדיין מסתובבים באין מפריע. pic.twitter.com/wERZn0k6PP— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) August 28, 2026
Key Update
UK newspaper apologizes to JK Rowling for accusing her of Holocaust denial
Author J.K. Rowling attends the HBO Documentary Films premiere of 'Finding the Way Home' at 30 Hudson Yards on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
The Metro, a newspaper in the UK, apologizes to “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling for accusing her of Holocaust denial.
The newspaper published an article about an upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series that said Rowling had “engaged in Holocaust denial.”
The assertion referred to social media comments in 2024 in which Rowling disputed claims about Nazi Germany’s treatment of trans people.
The Metro removed the claim from the article and published an update saying that “an earlier version of this story wrongly stated that JK Rowling had been ‘engaged in Holocaust denial.'”
In a follow-up, the newspaper posts a standalone apology to Rowling on its home page.
“That allegation was false and should never have been published,” the statement says.
“Ms. Rowling is not a Holocaust denier and has never engaged in Holocaust denial. We withdraw the allegation unreservedly and apologize sincerely to Ms. Rowling for this regrettable error,” the newspaper says.
Military source: Jenin drone strike targeted head of Palestinian terror cell, accomplices
The Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Jenin a short while ago targeted the leader of a Palestinian terror cell in the Jenin area, according to a military source.
The source says two other terror operatives — the Jenin terror commander’s accomplices — were with him next to a car and at the entrance of a structure when the strike was carried out.
The IDF struck the Jenin commander because he had been attempting to advance attacks, according to the source.
Between October 7, 2023, and early 2025, the IDF carried out over 100 airstrikes in the West Bank, mostly with drones and helicopters. Five were carried out by fighter jets.
Since then, Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank have been a rare occurrence.
IDF carries out relatively rare strike in West Bank’s Jenin, targeting ‘a number of terrorists’
The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against “a number of terrorists” in the West Bank city of Jenin a short while ago.
Further details will be provided later, the army adds.
Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank have been somewhat of a rare occurrence in recent years.
IDF says it killed Hamas, Islamic Jihad operatives in Thursday Gaza strikes
A Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught and a commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were killed in separate strikes in Gaza City yesterday, the military announces.
One strike in the Shati camp killed Ibrahim Nabil Ibrahim Bass, who, according to the IDF, was a Hamas commander who invaded Israel on October 7.
A separate strike, in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, killed Hamdi Ahmad Hamid Kahlil, identified by the military as a surveillance platoon commander in Islamic Jihad.
The IDF justifies the strikes amid the ceasefire by claiming that both terror operatives had recently advanced attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, as well as acted to restore the capabilities of the terror groups, “while systematically violating the ceasefire.”
“The strikes were carried out to remove the threat,” the army adds.
מפקד שפשט ב-7 באוקטובר ומפקד תצפיות בגא״פ: צה״ל חיסל שני מפקדים מארגוני הטרור חמאס וגא״פ ברצועת עזה
צה"ל תקף במרחב שאטי אתמול, וחיסל את המחבל אברהים נביל אברהים בס, מפקד בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס.
המחבל פשט לשטח מדינת ישראל בטבח ה-7 באוקטובר pic.twitter.com/hpFWNeLxDn
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 28, 2026
The IDF announced yesterday that two other Hamas commanders were killed in Israeli strikes in the Strip.
While the US has been pushing for such IDF strikes to end, as it seeks to advance the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan, Israel has bucked those calls, vowing to continue to pursue perpetrators of the October 7 onslaught.
Smotrich in talks with Moshe Feiglin about parties running together
Left: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends the Religious Zionism party primary in Jerusalem, July 26, 2026. Right: Moshe Feiglin attends a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting in Jerusalem, August 11, 2024. (Both Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who chairs the far-right Religious Zionism party, is in “advanced talks” with Moshe Feiglin, chair of Zehut, about the two parties running together in the October elections, reports Channel 12’s Amit Segal.
The talks have been going on since “before the failure of Netanyahu’s initiative” in the last few days to pressure Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir to merge with Smotrich’s party, which is teetering on the edge of crossing the 3.25% electoral threshold.
Feiglin’s Zehut (“Identity”) party failed to cross the electoral threshold the last time it ran, in 2019, and is now polling at less than 1%.
Smotrich and Feiglin confirm they’ve held talks on a merger, but decline to comment further on the report.
One dead after IDF strike in Gaza City, according to Palestinian reports
Palestinian media reports one dead in an Israeli strike in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood a short while ago.
The military says it is looking into the reports.
Earlier, Palestinian media claimed three people were killed in an Israeli strike near Khan Younis, but the IDF denies conducting any strikes in the area this morning.
‘Get over your ego’: Likud excoriates Ben Gvir for ‘burning votes’ by refusing Smotrich merger
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir seen in the Knesset on July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
In a scathing statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party accuses National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, chair of far-right Otzma Yehudit, of “coronating a left-wing government” by refusing to run on a joint slate with Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism.
“In his decision to burn tens of thousands of right-wing votes and not unite with Smotrich, Ben Gvir decided today to coronate a left-wing government of Gadi Eisenkot, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan, and the Arab parties,” the statement declares.
If the far-right minister runs with Smotrich, he can allow the current government to maintain its “historic momentum in the settlement of Judea and Samaria,” the statement says, using Biblical terminology for the West Bank.
It goes on to list various purported achievements of the coalition, including “saving Israel from nuclear destruction by Iran” and killing various terror leaders in the wars that followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The government has been in office since the end of 2022.
“Or will Ben Gvir, out of political considerations, burn right-wing votes in order to coronate a left-wing government — exactly like in 1992, when we got Oslo?” it asks, referring to historic peace accords with the Palestinians that Netanyahu fiercely opposed as a politician, and Ben Gvir fought as an extremist activist.
If the anti-Netanyahu bloc forms a government instead, it will establish a Palestinian state, buckle to international pressure, weaken the IDF, close the right-wing Channel 14, and “destroy everything we’ve built,” Netanyahu’s party insists.
“They will evacuate your house, Itamar,” it says, appealing to Ben Gvir’s status as a resident of Kiryat Arba, an Israeli settlement near the West Bank city of Hebron.
“Ben Gvir, get over your personal ego. Show maturity and responsibility. Merge, for the sake of the right-wing — for the sake of the Land of Israel,” Likud says.
The statement is released after, this morning, Netanyahu publicly invited Ben Gvir and Smotrich to meet to discuss a merger. Otzma Yehudit responded almost immediately, saying the decision not to do so was final and “will not change under any circumstances.”
Iran says all countries are obliged to refrain from implementing US sanctions
Iran’s Foreign Ministry says all countries are obliged to refrain from implementing US sanctions against Tehran, adding that participation in them amounts to complicity in imposing one state’s unlawful will on independent states.
In a statement published on its X account, the ministry describes new US economic measures as illegal and reprehensible “state terrorism” and a crime against humanity, saying they put the health and livelihoods of millions of civilians at serious risk.
It calls on the international community to uphold the rule of law and says Tehran will use all its capabilities to defend itself against what it describes as a combined US-Israeli military and economic assault.
Dozens of Haredi men block highway at checkpoint after police arrest draft-dodger
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox men block Route 433 at the Ofer Crossing in the West Bank, protesting the arrest of a Haredi man earlier this morning for evading mandatory military service.
The suspect is identified as a man in his 20s from Ashdod.
Border Police officers at the West Bank checkpoint discovered the draft-dodger’s status after he was found to be driving a stolen vehicle, the police say in a statement.
The demonstrators arrived “a short while later,” according to police, who say they are working ” to restore order at the scene and open the route for traffic.”
The alleged draft-dodger has not been transferred to the custody of the military police, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
חרדים חוסמים את כביש 443 במעבר עופר במחאה על מעצר עריק – שנתפס כשהוא נוהג ברכב גנוב@daniel_grovais @VeredPelman @HGoldich pic.twitter.com/hb0rDBlBFN
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 28, 2026
High Court temporarily blocks state prosecutor from handling Sde Teiman leak case
State Attorney Amit Aisman attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 2, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The High Court of Justice temporarily freezes the hand-off of the Sde Teiman leak affair to State Attorney Amit Aisman, in light of a petition to revisit a 2-1 decision earlier this month that affirmed his right to handle it.
Justice Daphne Barak-Erez says that she is taking the step “strictly out of an abundance of caution,” and that she is not thereby taking a position on whether a second hearing will ultimately be held.
The government has sought to keep the case out of the hands of state prosecutors, alleging a conflict of interest because Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara oversaw an internal probe into the leak that recommended not opening a criminal investigation into the matter.
The case concerns the leak of a highly controversial video showing the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers in 2024.
The video was leaked to press after the soldiers’ indictment sparked uproar among many on the Israeli right. It was later discovered that then-chief military prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had leaked the footage, leading to the case against her.
US declares sea routes in Hormuz mine-free; Trump: ‘That sucker is open’
President Donald Trump waves from the stairs of Air Force One upon his departure at Joint Base Andrews, Md., August 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
US President Donald Trump tells Axios, of the Strait of Hormuz: “That sucker is open.”
“The Iranian response is very mild. They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game. The rest doesn’t matter,” he says.
Overnight, US Central Command chief Brad Cooper said in a video statement that “internationally recognized sea routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines,” calling the achievement a “major milestone.”
Axios cites US officials as saying 20 to 30 tankers are moving through the strait every night — about half the amount that transited it pre-war.
An American official tells the outlet that Iran struck some 2 percent of the ships that went through the strait over the last month. However, the Islamic Republic continues to try to attack ships, almost always missing.
According to Reuters, preliminary shipping data shows seven commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, down from 17 a day earlier and below a 10-day average of 15. However, it noted those figures could change, as some ships switch off transponders during the voyage.
Key Update
PM ‘invites’ Smotrich, Ben Gvir to discuss running together, gets swift refusal
A composite photo shows National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (L), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (R). (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been urging far-right party leaders Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir to form a joint list ahead of the October elections, publicly “invites” them to meet on Sunday — an invitation immediately rejected.
“I invite [National Security] Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and [Finance] Minister Bezalel Smotrich to a meeting on Sunday. No vote can go to waste; the parties must unite in order to save the right-wing bloc!” the prime minister says in a statement.
Almost immediately, Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party responds that it will not run on a joint list with Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, and that “this decision is final and complete, and it will not be changed under any circumstances.”
“Accordingly, there will be no talks, or meetings, or discussions on the topic, not directly, and not indirectly,” the far-right party’s statement says.
Otzma Yehudit calls on Netanyahu to instead push for one of two alternatives: Either a union of all the small right-wing parties that aren’t slated to pass the electoral threshold, or granting Smotrich, whose party is teetering on the edge of it, one of the premier’s reserved spots on his own Likud party’s slate.
Israel’s system of proportional representation requires any given party to receive at least 3.25 percent of the vote; otherwise its votes are not counted.
Ex-hostage Elkana Bohbot and wife have baby daughter, less than a year after his release
Elkana Bohbot and his wife, Rivka Bohbot, with their new baby (Courtesy)
Former hostage Elkana Bohbot and his wife, Rivka Bohbot, have increased the size of their family with the birth of their second child, a girl.
Bohbot, now 36, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival, and spent just over two years in Hamas captivity before his release during the first days of the ceasefire in October 2025.
He was told by his captors that his mother had died and his wife had left him.
Bohbot and his wife, Rivka, an Israeli immigrant from Colombia, are also the parents of Re’em, who was three when his father was taken captive, and five when he was released.
Hijacked Iran-linked oil tanker not registered in Eritrea, government says
A US-sanctioned oil tanker that was hijacked last week by suspected pirates off the coast of Yemen and diverted toward Somalia is not registered in Eritrea despite flying the country’s flag, Eritrea’s government says.
The Sibu 1, which the US Treasury sanctioned last December for allegedly being part of a shadow fleet that helps Iranian petroleum products evade US sanctions, has no affiliation with Eritrea, Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel tells Reuters.
The ship is widely listed by ship-tracking websites as sailing under an Eritrean flag, but a database run by the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization states its current flag status as “Eritrea False,” suggesting its registration is not recognized as valid.
It was last seen on Monday about 6 km (3.7 miles) off the coast of northeastern Somalia, according to ship-tracking data.
Syrian president appoints Kurdish leader Abdi as adviser, days after SDF dissolved
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attends a meeting with his foreign minister (not pictured) and Mazloum Abdi (2nd-L), the leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), at the People’s Palace in Damascus on August 25, 2026. (Bakr Alkasem/AFP)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appoints Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a presidential adviser, state media says.
“Mustafa Khalil Abdi is appointed as adviser to the presidency of the republic,” announces the decree, signed by Sharaa and published by state news agency SANA.
The declaration comes days after Abdi announced the dissolution of his Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces under an integration deal with Damascus.
The Syrian education ministry also publishes a decision authorizing Kurdish-language instruction in public and private schools.
Herzog eulogizes Norwegian king, ‘loved his people and was loved by them in return’
President Isaac Herzog attends an event for outstanding soldiers as part of Israel’s 78th Independence Day celebrations in Jerusalem on April 20, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
President Isaac Herzog says he is “deeply saddened to learn of the death of King Harald V of Norway.”
The monarch “loved his people and was loved by them in return, serving his nation as King with loyalty and devotion for more than 35 years,” Herzog writes on X.
“On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend condolences to the people of Norway, the Royal Family, and the Government of Norway. May his memory be a blessing,” he concludes.
Iran’s FM: Diplomacy can be put on track if US understands ‘pressure doesn’t work’
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani (L) meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) in Tehran on August 27, 2026. (QATARI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS/AFP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says putting diplomacy back on track is not impossible but “hinges on US understanding of one simple fact: Pressure doesn’t work.”
In a post on X, Araghchi says he held “creative discussions” with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The Iranian foreign minister says Washington should “build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments.”
Had creative discussions with H.E. the PM/FM of Qatar.
Putting diplomacy back on track isn't impossible. It hinges on U.S. understanding of one simple fact: pressure doesn't work. The U.S. should build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments. pic.twitter.com/9yQ2pOXe5R
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) August 28, 2026
Key Update
Elections chief asks NSC for clarity on party heads’ requests for security details
Central Elections Committee acting director general Dean Livne (left) and chairman Noam Sohlberg meet with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in the Knesset, August 2, 2026. (Central Elections Committee)
Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg has asked the National Security Council to clarify who is responsible for assessing party leaders’ right to a security detail.
Sohlberg requested that authorities clarify “which body is authorized to determine whether a particular individual is under threat” and “which body is responsible for the security assignment and what the criteria are for their protection during the election period.”
In recent weeks, both Yashar chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose party is leading in polls, and Democrats chief Yair Golan — neither of whom currently holds public office — have sought Shin Bet protection, citing threats, but have not received it.
Channel 12 reported this week that in a compromise, Eisenkot’s private security guards have been permitted to carry weapons.
Two teenagers from northern Israel indicted for ISIS ties, plans to attack security forces
View of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem Old City, April 2, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Two Israeli males, one of whom is a minor, will be indicted this morning over alleged plans to attack security forces on behalf of the Islamic State group, the police and Shin Bet announce in a joint statement.
The first suspect to be arrested, on August 4, was a 16-year-old resident of the Galilee.
An investigation revealed that he was searching online for instructions on how to prepare explosive belts, and that he “intended to carry out an attack against police officers and Jewish soldiers on the Temple Mount,” the statement alleges.
Several days later, as the investigation progressed, another suspect was arrested. He was identified as Ibrahim Kaabia, 19, a resident of Haifa.
Kaabia also swore allegiance to ISIS and was planning to attack an army base in northern Israel, the police allege.
Haifa district prosecutors will file the indictments against both suspects and will request that their detentions be extended through the end of the legal proceedings, the statement says. It does not specify what the charges will be.
Key Update
Norway’s King Harald V dies at 89, son becomes king
King Harald V of Norway (second from left) arrives at Oslo City Hall to attend the awarding of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 2024. (Odd ANDERSEN/AFP)
King Harald V of Norway has died at 89, the country’s royal palace announces.
His son now automatically becomes King Haakon VIII.
Harald was Europe’s oldest monarch. The popular king modernized the royal house but refused to follow in the footsteps of other aging monarchs who have abdicated in recent times.
UK: Expelling us from Gaza coordination center would ‘undermine’ peace efforts
Personnel work at the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), in the southern town of Kiryat Gat, on November 19, 2025. (Ahikam Seri / AFP)
The United Kingdom says expelling its representatives from the US-led coordination center for postwar Gaza would “undermine” efforts to improve the situation in the Strip.
“The UK is committed to the implementation of the 20-Point Plan in Gaza and playing our part in improving the situation on the ground,” a UK government spokesperson says in a statement.
“At the request of the United States and the Board of Peace, and because of that commitment to Gaza’s future, we continue to work at IGSC with the US, Israel, international partners and UN agencies in support of UNSCR 2803,” the spokesperson says, referring to a 2025 Security Council resolution endorsing the American plan.
“Removing the UK or other partners would undermine these shared efforts,” the spokesperson concludes.
Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that Israel is considering expelling British officials from the coordination center amid a growing spat over the expansion of Israel’s controversial E1 settlements plan.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report to The Times of Israel, adding that “other measures” against London are also under consideration.
Thirty-year-old shot dead in Jaffa overnight in suspected murder
A man was shot dead overnight in Jaffa, police say.
The police are investigating the incident, which took place on the city’s Jerusalem Boulevard.
Magen David Adom paramedics tell media: “We saw the injured person lying on the ground, unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing, with severe penetrating wounds on his body.”
Additionally, police report that a hand grenade was thrown, and a car set alight, in the city.
Police do not indicate any suspicion of terrorism in the incidents, which come amid a years-long violent crime wave.
Shipping traffic via Strait of Hormuz slips below 10-day average, data shows
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)
Seven commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, down from 17 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of 15, according to preliminary shipping data.
Among the seven vessels that transited were two medium-range tankers, one very large gas carrier (VLGC), one Ultramax vessel, one intermediate tanker and two chemical tankers, initial data from shiptracker Kpler shows at 0315 GMT.
Four of the vessels were exiting the strait, including the two chemical tankers, the medium range and intermediate tanker. The VLGC, Ultramax and the other medium range tanker were entering the strait.
The figures could change as some ships typically switch off transponders during the voyage.
Meanwhile, 17 commodity vessels transited through the Bab el-Mandeb, another major maritime chokepoint in the Middle East, with six vessels entering and 11 exiting.
For second night in a row, IDF said to shell Syrian hill some 10 kms from the border
Israeli forces fired two artillery shells at a hill near the IDF’s southern Syria buffer zone this evening, according to local media.
The Sham TV outlet reports that the hill near the town of Beit Jinn, located around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Israeli border, was targeted with two shells, a day after the same location was hit by three shells.
There are no reports of injuries or damage by the shelling.
Israeli artillery shelling in southern Syria is not uncommon, with the IDF remaining deployed to nine posts in the country since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Contrary to reports in Hebrew media, tonight’s shelling — not airstrikes — did not take place near the capital Damascus. Beit Jinn is, however, located in the Damascus Countryside Governate, which may have led to the misreporting.
New US aircraft carrier reportedly set to deploy to the Middle East
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is seen in the South China Sea, July 4, 2024. (Seaman Ryan Holloway/US Navy, via AP)
A new US aircraft carrier will deploy to the Middle East to relieve another carrier that recently sailed to the region as the war with Iran drags on, the US Naval Institute (USNI) reports.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group is expected to sail from San Diego, on the US West Coast, in the coming weeks for a more than seven-month deployment, says USNI.
It will relieve the USS George Washington, which deployed from Japan and arrived in the Middle East last week, replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln, amid reports of grim conditions and even suicide attempts on that carrier that has been at sea since November 2025.
The Lincoln is currently heading for a port call in Thailand next week for its 5,000 sailors.
The US has maintained an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea for strike missions over Iran since the US and Israel launched the war at the end of February, and subsequently to enforce a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
1 arrested for arson as Haredi extremists riot against Jerusalem Light Rail construction
Haredi extremists are rioting and vandalizing part of the under-construction Jerusalem Light Rail line in the capital.
According to police, at least one person has been arrested for arson after setting part of the construction site on fire along Bar-Ilan Street, adjacent to the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood.
הפגנת חרדים המונית ואלימה ברחוב בר אילן בירושלים נגד עבודות הרכבת הקלה; המשטרה: "מפרי הסדר משליכים חפצים, מבעירים פחים ופוגעים בשגרת החיים במקום"@VeredPelman @daniel_grovais pic.twitter.com/mcBKgjJDuO
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 27, 2026
Police say officers are working to disperse the rioters and restore order in the area.
Earlier, police said that members of the crowd were throwing objects, lighting trash cans on fire and trying to shut down traffic in the area in protest of the Jerusalem Light Rail construction.
The construction of the public transit line has drawn protests for years from Haredi extremists, who don’t want the train to cut through their insular neighborhood. They have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and set the project back by years.
Report: US green lights its ambassador to Lebanon to meet with Hezbollah
US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa arrives at the Lebanese ministry of foreign affairs' headquarters to meet Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, in Beirut on November 17, 2025. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
The Lebanese network MTV reports that US President Donald Trump’s administration has given its ambassador in Lebanon, Michel Issa, a green light to hold talks with senior Hezbollah figures in order to advance Washington’s efforts to disarm the terror group.
The US has brokered an agreement between Israel and Lebanon with that aim in mind, but Hezbollah’s opposition to the agreement has made it difficult to implement.
Key Update
read more: