Aug. 31: PM convenes security cabinet as he is said to face heavy Trump pressure to defeat Hamas

Israeli-owned tanker reports nearby explosion in Red Sea, says maritime security firm

British maritime security firm Ambrey says that a Liberia-flagged Israeli-owned tanker reported an explosion nearby, southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Yanbu.

A vessel reported “a splash in close proximity from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says, adding that the vessel’s crew are all safe and it is continuing to its next voyage.

In a later update, Ambrey says it assessed the vessel to be “aligned with” the targets of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis’ profile given that it was publicly Israeli-owned.

Since 2023, the Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea that they deem to be affiliated with Israel in what they describe as support of Palestinians in Gaza.

It was not immediately clear if the Houthis were involved, and the group did not provide immediate comment on the reported incident. UKMTO did not identify the party responsible, but said authorities were investigating.

Report: Past and current Shin Bet chiefs and IDF hostage point man to be questioned in Qatargate

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s point man on hostage negotiations, and the current interim Shin Bet chief — whose name is not public — are all reportedly set to be summoned for questioning in the ongoing Qatargate probe.

According to a report on Channel 13 news, the three figures are set to be summoned by police following the interrogation of Maj. Gen. (res) Yoav “Poli” Mordechai last week.

Mordechai, Alon’s deputy, was suspended from Israel’s hostage negotiating team following his police questioning. The report claims that Mordechai told police that the three named figures knew about his ongoing business dealings with Qatar while he was serving as part of the hostage team.

Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller takes over as commander of IDF Judea and Samaria Division

Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller enters his new role as the commander of the IDF Judea and Samaria Division, replacing Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf.

Dolf was appointed as the next chief of the Northern Corps.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Heller says the IDF “failed in our supreme mission” on the morning of October 7, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.

The “harsh sights” he saw that day along with “the bravery of the citizens will accompany me in my role and for the rest of my life.”

IDF destroys building in south Lebanon it says was used by Hezbollah

IDF forces destroyed a building last night being used by the Hezbollah terror group in the town of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon, the military says in a statement.

According to the IDF, the building was also the home of a Hezbollah operative, Muhammad Husayn Qasim, who was killed about a week ago after troops identified him working to rebuild Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.

כוחות צה"ל השמידו מבנה בעייתא א-שאב ששימש את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה לפעילות צבאית בדרום לבנון

במסגרת פעילות לילית אמש של כוחות חטיבה 300, הושמד מבנה ששימש את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה לפעילות צבאית, במרחב עייתא א-שאב שבדרום לבנון.

פעילות מחבלי ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במבנה מהווה הפרה… pic.twitter.com/SS8aqGXrz7

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— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 31, 2025

The IDF says all Hezbollah activity in the area is a violation of the agreement reached in November between Israel and Lebanon.

The Lebanese government agreed earlier this month to move ahead with a US-backed plan for the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah, although the terror group has vowed to resist.

Houthis detain at least 11 UN workers in Yemen raids, says envoy

The United Nations envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, says that the country’s Houthi rebels have raided UN premises and detained at least 11 workers.

“I strongly condemn the new wave of arbitrary detentions of UN personnel today in Sanaa and Hodeida… as well as the forced entry into UN premises and seizure of UN property. At least 11 UN personnel were detained,” Grundberg says in a statement, demanding that they be “immediately and unconditionally” released.

The UN’s World Food Programme earlier said one of its staff members had been detained at the agency’s Sanaa offices.

IDF hostage point man reportedly not invited to security cabinet meeting

Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s point man on hostage negotiations and head of the intelligence effort on captives and missing persons, was not invited to tonight’s security cabinet meeting, Hebrew media outlets report.

The unusual decision not to include Alon was reportedly made in light of the cabinet’s choice not to discuss negotiations for a hostage deal, making his presence unnecessary.

Instead, the cabinet’s focus remains on expanding military operations in Gaza and pursuing only a comprehensive agreement that would both end the war on Israel’s terms and secure the release of all hostages.

Meanwhile, the Kan public broadcaster reports that, amid concerns for the hostages’ safety during the planned capture of Gaza City in October, teams from the Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate will be included in the operation.

Emily Damari rejoices over report that ‘monster’ captor was killed by IDF

Freed hostage Emily Damari expresses joy at the reported news that one of the Hamas captors who held her hostage in Gaza was killed in an IDF airstrike.

“He was responsible for me and [fellow freed captive] Romi [Gonen] for around eight months,” Damari tells the Channel 12 news network. “He was the commander of our captors, a very, very evil person.”

Damari thanks the IDF for their tireless efforts and says she shouted “screams of joy” when she heard the news.

“People will never understand what that monster was to me and to Romi,” says Damari, noting that at the same time she is “scared to death” for her friends who are still held hostage, including twins Ziv and Gali Berman.

The news of Damari’s captor’s killing has not been publicly confirmed by the IDF.

Slain captive Ilan Weiss to be buried in Kibbutz Be’eri tomorrow

Ilan Weiss, whose body was recovered from Gaza last week, will be laid to rest tomorrow in Kibbutz Be’eri.

Weiss, a member of the kibbutz’s local security team, was killed on October 7, and his body was taken captive to Gaza. Separately, his wife, Shiri, and one of his daughters, Noga, were also taken hostage and freed in November 2023.

Weiss is slated to be buried at 5 p.m. in the kibbutz, and the public is invited to pay their respects.

Classified IDF document purports ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ offensive against Hamas failed — report

A classified IDF document being circulated in the military concludes that “Gideon’s Chariots,” the major offensive launched against Hamas in May, failed to meet its core objectives, Channel 12 reports.

Publishing part of the document, the Hebrew network says that it was distributed last week by the Operational Information Center of the army’s ground forces and has already been seen by several brigades. It states that the operation did not succeed in either of its goals to topple Hamas militarily or to free the hostages.

While IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and other senior officers have publicly praised the operation, the internal assessment bluntly states that “Israel made every possible mistake” in waging the campaign.

It accuses the army of acting “contrary to its own military doctrine” by supplying the enemy with resources through humanitarian aid, failing to impose time pressure, mismanaging resources and ultimately exhausting its own forces while eroding international support.

According to the document, Hamas meanwhile enjoyed all the conditions necessary to survive and claim success, including resources, secure territory and a suitable method of fighting.

It cites Israel’s reliance on “deterrence logic rather than decisive victory” by seeking a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas — and “incompetence” in planning and distributing aid, which it says enabled the terror group to successfully mount a false starvation campaign.

The report criticizes the IDF for maneuvering repeatedly in the same areas at a slow pace, prioritizing to avoid casualties over mission success. It also cites attrition, manpower strain, equipment fatigue, and poor preparation for guerrilla warfare as key reasons for failure.

Channel 12 adds that officers who reviewed the document questioned whether the army had drawn the necessary lessons ahead of its planned push into Gaza City in October.

At the same time, the report notes that many within the military credit the operation with lowering Hamas’s demands in hostage negotiations, with the added pressure reportedly increasing the number of captives the group was willing to release in a deal.

AG tells High Court that government’s move to fire her was ‘totally invalid’

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, in her response to the High Court over the petitions against her dismissal, says the entire process of firing her was “totally invalid.”

“The government changed the rules for ending the term of an attorney general, after it had already begun termination proceedings, in order to ensure its outcome,” writes Baharav-Miara of the government’s decision to pass a resolution allowing it to establish its own ministerial committee to recommend she be fired, rather than pursue the existing legal path.

“The termination process is totally invalid,” she adds.

A High Court hearing on the petitions is expected later this week. The court froze Baharav-Miara’s firing earlier this month, immediately following the government vote.

Slain captive Idan Shtivi to be laid to rest in Israel tomorrow

Slain hostage Idan Shtivi, whose body was returned to Israel last week by IDF troops, will be laid to rest tomorrow.

The family of Shtivi — who was murdered by terrorists at the Nova music festival on October 7, and his body taken captive — requests that Israelis turn out with flags along the route of his funeral procession.

The procession is slated to begin at 2:45 p.m. in Rishon Lezion before passing through the Beit Dagan Junction near Holon, the Mesubim Junction and the Ono Junction before his body enters Kfar Ma’as at 4 p.m. for his funeral.

20-boat Gaza flotilla departs Barcelona to attempt to break Israeli blockade

A flotilla of ships departs from Barcelona to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid and activists on board in the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying food, water and medicine. Activists on board demand safe passage to deliver the much-needed aid and the opening of a humanitarian sea corridor, according to a statement.

The maritime convoy of about 20 boats and delegations from 44 countries is claimed to be the largest attempt to date to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip by sea. They will be joined by more ships from ports in Italy and Tunisia in the coming days, on the route from the western end of the Mediterranean to the Gaza Strip, organizers say.

Around 70 boats are expected to take part in the final leg of the journey, flotilla spokesperson Saif Abukeshek tells Spanish public television after the departure. The fleet could reach Gaza around Sept. 14 or 15, he adds.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg — who was aboard a previous failed flotilla and was deported by Israel in June — is again joining the efforts, along with former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.

Sirens sound near Gaza border after interceptor fired at false target, says IDF

The IDF says that air raid sirens were set off in open areas near the Gaza border due to a false alarm.

An interceptor missile was fired at a false target, and the sirens sounded as per policy, the military adds. There were no sirens in populated areas.

IDF chief threatens Hamas leaders abroad: ‘We will reach them too’

Following Israel’s assassination of top Houthi officials and Hamas’s military spokesman yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir says the military will continue to target threats “across all arenas,” speaking at a situational assessment in the Northern Command.

“The IDF is acting offensively, with initiative and operational superiority across all arenas and at all times,” Zamir says during the assessment, which reviewed intelligence and discussed operational plans for the continuation of the Gaza campaign, according to an IDF statement.

The strike on Hamas spokesman Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, more commonly known as Abu Obeida, “joins a series of significant IDF strikes in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and other arenas,” Zamir continues, saying this “is not the end.”

“The bulk of Hamas’s ruling leadership that remains is abroad, and we will reach them too,” he warns.

Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024.

Turning to address the IDF’s recent recovery of slain hostages Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, Zamir says: “We continue our efforts and operations to return all the hostages, both living and the fallen.”

Zamir thanks reservists who will report for duty ahead of the security cabinet-approved plan “to deepen the fighting against Hamas” by conquering Gaza City in October, saying, “The mission is not yet complete.”

He also promises security for citizens in the north, noting that some of the younger residents will return to school “for the first time since the start of the war” tomorrow, and that the Northern Command “continues to strike and destroy threats in their early stages.”

Houthis raid UN offices in Sanaa, detain at least one employee, officials say

The Iran-backed Houthis raid offices of the United Nations’ food and children’s agencies in Yemen’s capital, detaining at least one UN employee, officials say.

Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, tells The Associated Press that security forces raided the agencies’ offices in Houthi-controlled Sanaa this morning.

Also raided were the offices of the United Nations’ children agency, UNICEF, according to a UN official and a Houthi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.

Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for UNICEF, says there is “an ongoing situation” related to their offices in Sanaa, without providing further details.

The UN official says contact with several other WFP and UNICEF staffers was lost and that they were likely also detained.

Man shot dead in market in northern city of Acre

A man in his 30s was shot dead in the market in the northern city of Acre, police and paramedics announce.

Paramedics who came to the site of the shooting pronounced him dead on the spot.

Officers from the Acre police station dispatched to the scene have set up ad hoc checkpoints in order to locate suspects, law enforcement adds.

Lebanese parliament speaker calls for ‘calm dialogue’ over Hezbollah disarmament, criticizes US

Lebanon’s parliament speaker criticizes Washington’s push to quickly to disarm the Hezbollah terror group, calling instead for a calm national dialogue to determine “the fate of those weapons.”

Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah who was instrumental in negotiating with Washington to reach a ceasefire that ended a monthslong war between Israel and Hezbollah in November, makes the remarks in an address to the country commemorating the disappearance of prominent Shite cleric Moussa al-Sadr.

The Lebanese military will soon present a plan to the government on disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year, after President Joseph Aoun and most of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government endorsed a proposal by US envoy Tom Barrack. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has refused to discuss the matter of the Iran-backed group’s weapons until the IDF withdraws from five hilltops in southern Lebanon it controls and stops its near-daily strikes on Lebanon.

“We are open to discussing the fate of these weapons, which we Lebanese see as honorable, within the framework of a calm and consensual dialogue,” says Berri. He says that would be in line with Aoun and Salam’s policies.

US officials have told Lebanese authorities not to expect the Israelis to take any steps to withdraw before seeing some sort of disarmament plan go into effect. Hezbollah insists that it has disarmed in the south and has carried out its part of the deal. Israel believes it is trying to rebuild its military capacities there.

What the US is proposing now “goes beyond the principle of restricting weapons,” says Berri, who criticizes Israel for its ongoing near-daily airstrikes.

Trump reportedly pressuring Netanyahu to decisively defeat Hamas in a matter of weeks

Ahead of today’s security cabinet meeting to discuss plans for the Gaza war, unnamed sources tell Channel 12 that US President Donald Trump is increasing pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to defeat Hamas, after losing faith in the efficacy of ceasefire and hostage release talks.

Sources involved in the matter tell the Hebrew network that, following the January hostage-ceasefire deal and the May release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, Trump has pushed Netanyahu to move more rapidly toward the defeat of Hamas.

Trump’s stance is reportedly a main reason that Netanyahu is pushing for either the full military conquest of Gaza or a comprehensive deal strictly on Israel’s terms, despite security officials speaking out against such plans.

Channel 12 adds that Trump appears convinced that Hamas can be decisively beaten, “perhaps even within two weeks,” and that the US president feels he has already fulfilled the mission of bringing home most of the hostages, especially after Alexander’s release. Despite public rhetoric in support of returning the hostages, Trump is privately making clear that, in his view, Hamas will never return all the hostages, but rather keep a certain number as a means of survival.

The network says that in July, after Hamas returned to hostage talks and Qatari mediators reported optimism, Trump publicly echoed that optimism, in support of the efforts of his envoy Steve Witkoff and Netanyahu to pursue a renewed deal. But when Hamas toughened its position later on in those talks, amid international outcry over dire reports of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Trump “lost patience” with the terror group, partly because he had publicly given weight to Qatari optimism that proved mistaken.

Around the same time, Netanyahu also “fell into line,” declaring that the opportunity for a deal had passed, and ordered the Israeli delegation home from Doha, the report continues. According to one source, even when Hamas returned two weeks ago with an approved proposal, Witkoff refused to engage, no longer trusting the Qataris and not wanting to risk embarrassing Trump.

Israel said to begin removing concrete walls between Nahal Oz and Gaza

In a sign that the threat from Gaza to Israeli border settlements has been drastically reduced, Israel begins removing concrete walls at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, according to Hebrew-language reports.

The walls, erected after the May 2023 Operation Shield and Arrow against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, were meant to protect the kibbutz and motorists on the access road from mortar and anti-tank fire from the Gaza Strip.

In addition, the section of Route 25 that leads to the kibbutz, which has been closed for five years, is also set to reopen.

“The opening of Route 25 to Nahal Oz symbolizes not only renewed infrastructure but a return to life,” says MK Ze’ev Elkin, the Finance Ministry’s point man for rehabilitating the southern and northern border areas damaged by war.

“This is a move that restores residents’ confidence on their way home and their faith in the future here. The road has become a symbol of steadfastness and the ability to grow through difficulty. The first vehicles to pass through it will also open a path of hope.”

IDF confirms Abu Obeida, ‘face of Hamas,’ killed in Israeli airstrike

The IDF puts out a statement confirming the killing of Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida over the weekend, saying he was the “face of the terrorist organization.”

“The operation was conducted jointly from the Shin Bet’s operations war room, in cooperation with the Southern Command, and was made possible thanks to prior intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence, which pointed to the hideout where the terrorist was located,” says the IDF statement.

The military says that for the past decade, Abu Obeida “was responsible for the propaganda apparatus of Hamas’s military wing. In this role, he oversaw spokesperson operations across brigades and battalions, coordinated between political media elements and the military wing, and was the senior figure setting propaganda policy.”

Hamas’s propaganda wing, says the IDF, “was responsible for distributing the atrocities of the October 7 massacre using footage captured by Hamas terrorists.”

Abu Obeida’s operations also spread videos throughout the Arab world seeking to incite acts of terror and distributed videos of hostages being held in Gaza, says the statement.

Netanyahu to convene meeting of security cabinet this evening in Tel Aviv

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening his security cabinet tonight at 6:30 p.m., the office of one of the ministers in the forum tells The Times of Israel.

Although today’s full cabinet meeting took place at a secure, undisclosed location, the security cabinet will meet at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, according to the minister’s office.

Houthi leader vows to escalate attacks on Israel after group’s PM killed

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels says his group will keep launching attacks against Israel, a day after confirming that an Israeli strike had killed their government’s prime minister in Sanaa.

In a televised speech on the Huthis’s Al-Masirah TV, Abdul Malik al-Houthi vows to continue “targeting Israel with missiles and drones” and to escalate these attacks, adding that recent Israeli strikes on rebel-held areas of Yemen will not weaken the group or discourage its fighters.

US ‘trusteeship’ for 10 years: White House reportedly weighing proposals for postwar reconstruction of Gaza

The Trump administration is discussing proposals for the postwar reconstruction of Gaza, including one that would establish temporary US control and pay about a quarter of the population to relocate, the Washington Post reports.

The newpaper cites a 38-page prospectus for the GREAT Trust proposal — short for Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation — as well as two people familiar with the planning and the administration’s consideration of it. The anonymous sources say that key aspects were designed “to make real” President Donald Trump’s February proposal for the US to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Under the reported plan, Gaza would be administered by a US-run “trusteeship” for roughly 10 years, “until a reformed and deradicalized Palestinian Polity is ready to step in its shoes.” During that period, the Strip would be transformed into a tourism and high-tech manufacturing hub.

The prospectus envisions at least a temporary relocation of Gaza’s more than two million residents – either within or outside the territory – to allow for reconstruction. It assumes 75% of Gazans would remain during rebuilding, and that “of the estimated 25% who choose to relocate during reconstruction, 75% will decide not to return to Gaza.” Those who choose to leave would receive “a $5,000 cash payment and subsidies to cover four years of rent elsewhere, as well as a year of food.”

In the months following Trump’s February comments on Gazan emigration and reconstruction, a Washington-based team from the Boston Consulting Group— which also worked with the main American contractor on the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — carried out “detailed planning and financial modeling for the GREAT Trust,” the Post adds.

A person familiar with the planning told the newspaper that the prospectus was completed in April “with only minimal change since then,” stressing that “it’s not prescriptive, but is exploring what is possible.” Some aspects of the proposal were first reported by the Financial Times in July.

According to the plan, once Gaza “is demilitarized and deradicalized, the Trust will transfer authorities to an independent Palestinian Polity,” which would eventually “join the Abraham Accords” — the normalization agreements brokered by Trump in his first term between Israel and several Arab states.

The White House and State Department declined to comment to the Post, while BCG said the work on the trust plan had not been not expressly approved and that two senior partners behind the modeling were subsequently fired.

The report comes after Trump’s White House huddle on Wednesday with officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to discuss how to end the Gaza war and future steps.

The Times reports that Blair — who has been arranging a postwar Gaza plan for several months — told Trump during the meeting that Gazans “were desperate for new leadership and dreamt of becoming the next Dubai,” without citing sources.

Cabinet approves budget cuts in order to fund security at schools

Responding to demands by Education Minister Yoav Kisch and National Security  Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the cabinet approves an across-the-board cut of 0.6 percent to government ministries in order to fund security for schools for the upcoming academic year.

According to national broadcaster Kan, while multiple members of the cabinet argued against the measure, it was ultimately supported by the entire body with the exceptions of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock and Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer, all members of the the far-right Religious Zionism party. Smotrich was not present for the vote.

Earlier this month, the government voted to approve an NIS 31 billion ($9 billion) increase to the 2025 state budget — NIS 1.6 billion ($473 million) of which will go toward humanitarian aid for Gaza. Ahead of the vote, Kisch and Ben Gvir said in a joint statement that they would oppose the budget proposal unless it included funding for security at educational institutions for the coming school year. Without that money, Kisch warned that he could not guarantee that schools would open on schedule. Most schools nationwide are slated to open tomorrow, September 1.

“I am glad that I was able to convince my colleagues to approve a budget for the security of educational institutions,” Ben Gvir says in a statement following the vote. “Tomorrow, God willing, Israeli students will study in safety.”

Kisch also welcomes the vote, stating that it “ensures that the school year will begin as usual in a protected and safe environment.”

“The security of Israeli students is a red line. I made it clear that we will not allow the school year to commence without the security budget being fully regulated, and I am glad that the government accepted my position and approved the budget,” he says.

Protesting the decision, Tourism Minister Haim Katz releases a statement complaining that cutting his ministry’s already “extremely meager” budget will harm tourism and the economy.

High Court rules police can’t conduct warrantless searches of cellphones – even with consent

A three-judge panel of the High Court of Justice rules unanimously that police may not search the cellphones or computers of those under investigation — even if they agree to it — without first obtaining a warrant.

Judges Noam Sohlberg, Isaac Amit and David Mintz rule that police “lack the authority” to conduct such a search without a judicial order. Writing the ruling, Sohlberg suggests that the new policy go into effect following a “transitional period” of 18 months during which new legislation should be passed.

The ruling was issued in response to a petition filed by the Public Defender’s Office — a body within the Justice Ministry — against the attorney general, the Israel Police and the State Prosecutor’s Office over the current policy.

Israel confirms Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida was killed in Gaza airstrike

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida was killed in Saturday’s strike, Defense Minister Israel Katz announces.

Anonymous Israeli officials had expressed optimism that the strike was successful, but Katz is the first official to confirm that Abu Obeida was killed.

Writing on X, Katz says that the longtime spokesman “was sent to meet all the eliminated members of the axis of evil from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen at the bottom of hell.”

“Soon, as the campaign over Gaza intensifies,” Katz continues, “he will meet many more of his partners in crime there — Hamas murderers and rapists.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had confirmed that Abu Obeidah was targeted by Israel but said that the outcome of the strike was not yet clear.

Report: Captor of freed hostage Emily Damari killed by IDF in Gaza airstrike

Israel has killed one of the terrorists who held British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari captive in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.

The outlet names Damari’s captor as Hazem Naim.

The IDF announced in July that it had killed a different Hamas terrorist a month earlier who held Damari in his home.

Damari was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023. She was abducted alongside Ziv Berman, her neighbor, who rushed over to her home to make sure she was safe. Invading terrorists shot Damari in her left hand, and another bullet was lodged in her right leg after fatally hitting her dog Choocha in the head.

Damari, who was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage-truce deal with the terror group, responded to her captor’s killing in July, writing on social media: “This is what the face of evil looks like. A face I will never forget. I’m so glad he is no longer [in] our world.”

Ziv Berman and his twin brother, Gali Berman, are still held hostage in Gaza.

Suspect arrested for 3rd time for ‘Gaza Holocaust’ graffiti after spraying Western Wall, Church of Holy Sepulchre

Police for the third time arrest a man suspected of vandalizing widely frequented sites in Jerusalem with graffiti decrying a “holocaust” in Gaza.

He was arrested twice earlier this month — the first time for spraying the slogan on the Western Wall and Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue, the second time for spraying the same words on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The suspect has not been named and reportedly suffers from mental health issues.

The suspected vandal, a 27-year-old resident of Jerusalem, was seen today holding a sign that read “There is a Holocaust in Gaza” and attempted to spray the same message on the sidewalk near the light rail stop across from Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station, police say.

A photo shows the words “There is a holocaust” sprayed on the ground in red paint.

The suspect tried to flee law enforcement by boarding an intercity bus that was departing from the station, but was stopped by security guards before the bus left, police add. He was handed over to Jerusalem District officers who arrested him and took him for interrogation.

After US school shooting, pope urges end to ‘pandemic of arms’

Pope Leo XIV calls for an end to the “pandemic of arms” as he prays for “countless” children killed by firearms and in conflicts globally.

The US pontiff repeats his calls at the end of the Angelus prayer for a ceasefire in Ukraine following a Russian attack on Kyiv on Thursday in which at least 25 people died, including four children.

He also notes the recent shooting during a school mass in Minnesota in the United States, in which two children were killed.

“We include in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world,” he says in English.

On Ukraine, the pope says he urges the world “not to give in to indifference” and renews his “insistent call for an immediate ceasefire and for a serious commitment to dialogue.”

“It is time for those responsible to renounce the logic of arms and embark on the path of negotiation and peace, with the support of the international community,” he says.

Thunberg ahead of Gaza flotilla launch: ‘The story here is how the world can be silent’

At a press conference before she leaves on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists from Barcelona, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg says the aim is to draw attention to the crisis in Gaza.

“The question here today is not why we are sailing. This story is not at all about the mission that we are about to embark upon,” says Thunberg, having previously told AFP the goal was to bring in aid and open up a humanitarian corridor to break an “illegal” and “inhuman” blockade of Gaza.

“The story here is about Palestine. The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive. The story here is how the world can be silent,” she tells reporters.

Thunberg was detained and then deported by Israel after the IDF intercepted a previous Gaza-bound boat she joined in June.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest to date, is expected to include dozens of boats carrying aid and hundreds of people from 44 countries. Sumud means “perseverance” in Arabic.

The new flotilla comes after a UN hunger monitor said last week that parts of Gaza were suffering from famine. Israel, which stopped the flow of aid into Gaza for nearly three months until mid-May, has rejected the report as a “modern blood libel” and accused Hamas of looting aid deliveries.

Israel will soon slow or halt humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza, an Israeli official said yesterday, ahead of the coming expansion of its offensive in Gaza City in an attempt to cripple Hamas.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, told The Associated Press that Israel will stop airdrops over Gaza City in the coming days and reduce the arrival of aid trucks into the northern part of the Strip as it prepares to encourage the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents southward.

PM: Israel targeted Hamas spokesman in strike, but unclear if he was killed: ‘Apparently, there’s no one from Hamas to speak about this’

At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms that Israel targeted Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida yesterday, but that Israel still does not know if he was killed.

“The Shin Bet and the IDF struck the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman of the murderous evil organization, Abu Obeida,” he says.

“We still don’t know the final outcome — I hope he is no longer with us — but I notice there’s no one to speak about this from Hamas’s side,” Netanyahu jokes. “So, the coming hours and days will tell.”

Unnamed Israeli security sources cited by Hebrew media expressed cautious optimism about the outcome of the strike on the notorious spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu says that the IDF “has already begun implementing” a recent cabinet decision “to defeat Hamas and bring back all of our hostages.” Those goals have long been the stated aims of the war in Gaza, but Netanyahu seems to be referencing the decision to move ahead with the conquest of Gaza City by the IDF.

Turning to last week’s strike on the Houthi political leadership, Netanyahu says that “in every one of his speeches, [Houthi leader Abdul-Malik] al-Houthi promises he will strike Israel, that he will destroy Israel. That’s written on their flag.”

“That promise will not be fulfilled,” he promises. “But our promise — to strike the terror regime with increased force — is being fulfilled. And how is it being fulfilled. In a deadly blow, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and additional military officials.”

He says that Israel will continue working to assassinate senior Houthi officials: “This is only the beginning of the campaign targeting senior officials in Sana’a. We will reach all of them.”

Netanyahu boasts that the Western and Arab coalitions that have attacked the Houthis in the past have not achieved what Israel has.

Since the June strikes on Iran, says Netanyahu, “we are striking the remaining parts of the axis systematically — day after day, front after front.”

Deputy foreign minister: French government ‘isn’t doing a thing’ to fight antisemitism

The French government “isn’t doing a thing” to fight antisemitism, says Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel. “There is no deterrence. There is no enforcement.”

“France is no longer safe for Jews,” she says in an interview with Army Radio, after the Holocaust memorial in Lyon was defaced with the words “Free Gaza” scratched into it.

She accuses the French government of “consent by silence.”

Un acte abject.

Un tag "Free Gaza" a été gravé sur le Mémorial de la Shoah de Lyon.

Souiller ainsi la mémoire des victimes de la Shoah, c'est tenter de nazifier les Juifs mais c'est aussi s'en prendre aux valeurs fondamentales de la République, car la Mémoire de la Shoah est… pic.twitter.com/XF85vrpVlS

— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) August 30, 2025

In a letter sent in mid-August, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained that French President Emmanuel Macron’s promise that France would recognize a Palestinian state was fueling antisemitism.

US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner also wrote in a letter to Macron expressing “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.”

Asked whether Netanyahu had coordinated his declared recognition of the Armenian Genocide last week with the Foreign Ministry, Haskel says that “the prime minister and Foreign Minister [Gideon Sa’ar] are coordinated, they work together.”

“The prime minister did well” in recognizing the genocide, she says, but does not say whether there will be additional steps by the Foreign Ministry.

High schoolers burn desks on key highway in demand for hostage deal; police detain around 20

Police detain around 20 high school protesters who set fire to desks on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway during a demonstration for a hostage-ceasefire deal.

A 17-year-old was taken to the police station for questioning and a 35-year-old was arrested, police say. Gonen Ben-Yitzhak, a lawyer, disputes the police version, and says both were arrested.

The other teenagers were detained at the scene and went free after giving their details to police, says Ben-Yitzhak.

The protest comes one day before the start of the academic year. Dozens of teenaged activists blocked the key thoroughfare and set fire to several desks while demanding a general strike.

Demonstrators held a banner reading: “We will not learn to live with this. Strike now.”

“We are not willing to learn to live in a world in which the hostages are murdered in Hamas tunnels and the Israeli government does not even bother to discuss the deal on the table, and therefore we will not allow the school year to begin as usual,” the students say in a statement.

“Today we are high school students, but in a year or two we will all be in [military] uniform,” the teens say. “We want, and need, to know that when we go to the front, our country will stand behind us and uphold the moral and ethical contract on which we were educated.”

Students at dozens of high schools across the country are expected to strike tomorrow in a demand for a hostage deal and an end to the war.

Father of slain hostage whose body was returned from Gaza: ‘It’s hard to process, but now there is certainty’

The father of slain hostage Idan Shtivi, whose body was brought from Gaza on Friday, says that he had stayed hopeful that his son had not been killed and had somehow survived.

“It’s hard to process, but now there is certainty,” Eli Shtivi tells Army Radio.

“Until yesterday, I hoped something else would happen. I didn’t accept that he was murdered – I chose the sanest thing one can choose in such uncertainty, to choose and believe in the good.”

“The longing is strong and painful,” he says. “He had no fears at all. He was full of immense love. He was always the good kid, would call twice a day, and if I didn’t answer, he would call me again.”

On Friday, the IDF announced it had recovered the bodies of slain hostage Ilan Weiss and of a second hostage, whom it later named as Shtivi.

Shtivi was murdered at the Nova music festival during the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.

Hamas-run health authorities say IDF kills 18 as Gaza City offensive continues

Hamas-run health authorities say IDF gunfire and strikes killed at least 18 people on Sunday, including 13 who tried to get food from near an aid site in the central Gaza Strip, and at least two in a house in Gaza City.

The IDF pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving residents out of the area. It is also reported to have killed Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing.

The IDF spokesperson’s office said they were reviewing the reports. The figures were not verified.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.

The IDF has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks and is planning to conquer the city. On Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”

“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.

Report: Hamas kept residents away from targeted area after Abu Obeida’s killing

A Palestinian source tells Sky News Arabia, broadcasting from the UAE, that after the reported Israeli assassination of Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, fighters from the terror group sealed off the bombed area, keeping residents away, so that they could recover the bodies of those killed in the strike.

The source adds that the apartment targeted in the attack yesterday had been rented by Abu Obeida and his family only a few days earlier, and that his wife and children were inside the apartment with him at the time of the strike.

The report does not mention whether Abu Obeida’s entire family was killed, but footage of the destruction and the number of casualties reported yesterday indicate that it is likely.

Jewish quarterback Jake Retzlaff wins first game as starter at Tulane University

Jake Retzlaff passed for a touchdown at the beginning of his Tulane debut and scored on a 69-yard run during his team’s 23-3 victory over Northwestern yesterday, as the US college football season opens.

Retzlaff won 11 games at Brigham Young University last season and gained attention as one of the few Jews on the Mormon flagship campus, where he was known by the nickname “BYJew.” But he transferred after learning he faced a suspension for violating his former school’s honor code.

In yesterday’s game, he accounted for 265 yards of offense. He passed for 152 yards and rushed for 113.

“It’s been a long offseason,” Retzlaff says. “So, I’m just so excited to be able to get on this field and play with these guys. I’ve got a great group of guys around me. I’m so fortunate.”

IDF orders demolition of home of terrorist who killed 12-year-old boy in December

The IDF Central Command has ordered the demolition of the home of a gunman who committed a terror attack in December 2024.

The shooting attack in the West Bank, on a bus headed to Jerusalem, killed Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha, 12, and injured three others.

“Yesterday, a confiscation and demolition order was issued for the apartment where the terrorist Thabet Mohammed Masalmeh lived,” the IDF announces.

President to award nine Medals of Honor, including to Miriam Adelson, Druze Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif

President Isaac Herzog’s office announces that he will be awarding the Presidential Medal of Honor to nine recipients.

The award was created by former Israeli president Shimon Peres and was first awarded in 2012.

This year’s recipients, who will receive their medals later this year, are:

• Miriam Adelson, philanthropist and wife of the late casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, a prominent backer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump
• Mathias Döpfner, CEO of German media giant Axel Springer, publisher of the German tabloid Bild and the American publication Politico
• George Costa Karra, a retired High Court Justice who served as one of the few Arab Israelis on the bench.
• Moti Malka, founder of the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra
• Avi Ohry, a leading expert in rehabilitation medicine
• Dina Porat, a leading scholar of the Holocaust
• Galila Ron-Feder Amit, a prominent children’s author
• Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel
• Yossi Vardi, prominent tech entrepreneur

“The State of Israel owes you profound gratitude for your work, for your uncompromising commitment to the values of excellence, solidarity, and innovation, and for your exceptional contribution to strengthening Israeli society and defending the State of Israel in the world,” Herzog says in a statement.

Cabinet meeting in secure location following strikes against Houthi, Hamas officials

After Israel assassinated top Houthi officials and targeted Hamas’s military spokesman — his fate is still unclear — the weekly cabinet meeting will be held in a secure alternative site, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

On Saturday, the IDF confirmed that Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahwi of Yemen’s Houthi-led government was killed alongside several of the terror group’s military officials and other senior members of its political leadership in last Thursday’s strike. The Houthis have vowed to retaliate.

The IDF and Shin Bet said in a statement on Saturday evening that they had carried out an airstrike on a senior Hamas operative in the Gaza City area, in the northern Gaza Strip.

While the statement did not provide the identity of the targeted terror operative, multiple Hebrew media outlets reported that it was the longtime Hamas spokesman, Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, more widely known by his nom de guerre Abu Obeida. A Palestinian source told Saudi media today that he was killed.

Leaders of Iran, Turkey, Russia and India in China for summit hosted by Xi

President Xi Jinping gathered the leaders of Iran, Turkey, Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries on Sunday for a summit aimed at putting China at the front and center of regional relations.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit is being held in the northern port city of Tianjin until Monday, days before a massive military parade in the capital Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus — with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners.”

More than 20 leaders including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are attending the bloc’s largest meeting since its founding in 2001.

Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in Tianjin on Sunday with an entourage of senior politicians and business representatives.

China and Russia have sometimes touted the SCO as an alternative to the NATO military alliance. This year’s summit is the first since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Putin is expected to hold talks on Monday with Erdogan and Pezeshkian about the Ukraine conflict and Tehran’s nuclear program, respectively.

Many of the assembled leaders will be in Beijing on Wednesday to witness the military parade, which will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Jewish Agency says its chair cancels trip to South Africa, fearing arrest

Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Doron Almog has canceled a visit to South Africa because he fears possible arrest, the organization says.

The Jewish Agency believes anti-Israel activists in the country, which is fiercely critical of Israel, may seek his arrest. South Africa is leading an effort at the International Court of Justice to charge Israel with genocide.

Anti-Israel activists in several countries have sought the arrest of IDF soldiers, accusing them of committing war crimes in Gaza.

Almog, a retired Israeli general, is related to multiple people who were taken hostage in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre that launched the war in Gaza.

Australian government condemns anti-immigration rallies as linked to neo-Nazis

Australia’s center-left government condemns anti-immigration rallies that drew thousands of protesters across the country, accusing them of seeking to spread hate and being linked to neo-Nazis.

“We absolutely condemn the March for Australia rally that’s going on today. It is not about increasing social harmony,” Murray Watt, a senior minister in the Labor government, tells Sky News television, when asked about the rally in Sydney, the country’s most-populous city.

“We don’t support rallies like this that are about spreading hate and that are about dividing our community,” Watt says, asserting they were “organized and promoted” by neo-Nazi groups.

March for Australia rallies against immigration were being held in Sydney and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s website, which calls for an end to “mass immigration,” saying it has “torn at the bonds that held our communities together.”

March for Australia organizers do not immediately respond to a request for comment about the neo-Nazi claims.

Some 5,000 to 8,000 people, many draped in Australian flags, had assembled for the Sydney rally, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reports.

A large March for Australia rally was also held in central Melbourne, according to aerial footage from the ABC, which reports that riot officers used pepper spray on demonstrators.

March for Australia Brisbane. Huge! pic.twitter.com/VlJNV78gf7

— The Hon Gary Hardgrave (@Gary_Hardgrave) August 31, 2025

Australia – where one in two people is either born overseas or has a parent born overseas – has been grappling with a rise in right-wing extremism, including protests by neo-Nazis.

Laws banning the Nazi salute and the display or sale of symbols associated with terror groups came into effect in Australia this year in response to a string of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza following the terror group’s attack on October 7, 2023.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

The IDF reports that earlier today, the air force carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The IDF says it struck the terror group’s “military infrastructure, including underground infrastructure” where the military had identified Hezbollah activity.

Residents of northern Israel reportedly heard the impacts of the strikes.

The strike comes as the Lebanese government has vowed to take steps to disarm Hezbollah, which has effectively controlled southern Lebanon for decades. Hezbollah has vowed not to surrender its weapons.

Israeli troops have remained stationed in several points in southern Lebanon following a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November 2024. The IDF says it carries out strikes in response to violations of the ceasefire.

שורה של פטריות עשן – והדף שהורגש עד ישראל: תיעוד מתקיפות חיל האוויר בדרום לבנון@ItayBlumental https://t.co/9FSoo4bHC4 pic.twitter.com/EQCfwjpIXN

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 31, 2025

Culture minister: ‘No possibility’ of temporary ceasefire deal, Israel aiming for ‘full deal only’

Culture Minister Miki Zohar tells Channel 12 that a temporary ceasefire deal to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza is “not on the agenda” ahead of today’s cabinet meeting.

“There’s a clear decision of the State of Israel, and in my opinion it may be expressed in a clearer way in the coming days: Full deal only,” Zohar told Channel 12 last night. “There’s no possibility anymore of a partial deal. Israel has made a decision that a partial deal is not on the agenda. The only thing on the agenda is ending the war, together, of course, with bringing back all of the hostages and demilitarizing the Strip.”

Zohar’s comments come two weeks after Hamas said it had accepted the outline of a 60-day ceasefire deal that would see the release of 10 living Israeli captives, of the 48 hostages still held by terror groups in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are thought by Israel to be alive.

The government has not provided a response to that ceasefire offer and has pushed ahead with its plans to conquer Gaza City. It was not expected to consider the agreement at today’s meeting.

Jerusalem light rail returns to nearly full service after more than three months

Jerusalem’s light rail is returning to nearly full service today after more than three months in which its central segment was closed for an expansion of the transit system.

Several of the Jerusalem Red Line’s busiest stations, including its stops at the the Central Bus Station, Mahane Yehuda market and in the city center, were closed for 14 weeks so that the line could be connected to the Green Line, which is expected to open early next year.

The Red Line’s Haturim station will remain closed for the time being for additional work, the system announces.

Palestinian source said to confirm that IDF strike killed Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida

A Palestinian source tells the Saudi channel Al-Arabiya that the notorious spokesman of Hamas’s military wing, Abu Obeida, was killed in an airstrike last night in an apartment in Gaza City.

The IDF and Shin Bet said in a statement that they had carried out an airstrike on a senior Hamas operative in the Gaza City area, in the northern Gaza Strip.

While the statement did not provide the identity of the targeted terror operative, multiple Hebrew media outlets reported that it was the longtime Hamas spokesman, Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, who is more widely known by his nom de guerre Abu Obeida.

The Palestinian source told Al-Arabiya that everyone in the apartment was killed, including Abu Obeida.

The source says that senior Hamas officials and his family members confirmed his death after examining the body.

There has been no official confirmation from the terror group, which sometimes waits months before confirming the deaths of senior figures.

President said mulling commuting sentence of extremist who killed 7 Palestinians if hostage deal reached

President Isaac Herzog is considering the option of commuting the prison sentence of right-wing extremist Ami Popper, who massacred seven Palestinian workers in Rishon Lezion in 1990, in the event a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas is reached, the Ynet news site reports.

Popper, originally sentenced to seven life terms plus 20 years, had his sentence communted to 40 years in 1999 and is slated for release in 2030.

The unsourced report says teams in the Justice Ministry and the President’s Residence have been reviewing requests by Jewish security prisoners to shorten their sentences as a form of “balancing out” the potential mass release of Palestinian terrorists, including those convicted of murder, as part of a deal.

Herzog’s office tells the outlet that no decision has been made, and one will only be made if a deal materializes.

Trump says he will order voter ID requirement for every vote

US President Donald Trump says he will issue an executive order to require voter identification from every voter.

“Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!” Trump says on Truth Social.

“Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military,” he adds.

Trump has long questioned the US electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. The president and his Republican allies also have made baseless claims about widespread voting by non-citizens, which is illegal and rarely occurs.

For years, he has also called for the end of electronic voting machines, pushing instead for the use of paper ballots and hand counts — a process that election officials say is time-consuming, costly and far less accurate than machine counting.

Earlier in August, Trump pledged to issue an executive order to end the use of mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. However, federal elections are administered at the state level and it is unclear whether the president has the constitutional power to enact such a measure.

The November 3, 2026, elections will be the first nationwide referendum on Trump’s domestic and foreign policies since he returned to power in January. Democrats will be seeking to break the Republicans’ grip on both the House of Representatives and the Senate to block Trump’s domestic agenda.

Man shot dead in Taibe, becoming 164th homicide victim in Arab community this year

A man has been shot dead in the central Israel Arab city of Taibe, police and the Magen David Adom ambulance service say.

Moatasem Nuseirat, 41, a resident of the city, is critically injured and taken to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, where medics pronounce him dead.

Police say they have launched an investigation and are searching for suspects.

The incident raises to 164 the number of Arab Israelis killed in violent circumstances this year, according to Haaretz. This is compared to 154 at this time last year, amid a yearslong crime wave that authorities have failed to curb.

IDF declares sirens in Gaza border a false alarm

The IDF says the incoming rocket alerts that blared in the Gaza border towns of Nirim and Ein Hashlosha have been “determined to be a false identification.”

Rocket alarms sound in two Gaza border towns

Incoming rocket sirens sound in the Gaza border towns of Nirim and Ein Hashlosha.

The IDF says it is reviewing the circumstances.

Reports: Ukraine won’t allow annual Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman to go ahead next month

Ukraine will not allow the annual pilgrimage of tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews to Uman to go ahead next month due to security concerns caused by the ongoing war with Russia, Hebrew news outlets have reported.

The decision to prevent pilgrims from visiting the grave of Hasidic leader Rabbi Nachman of Breslov over Rosh Hashanah is due in part to a ban on mass gatherings that has been in place across Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the Maariv news outlet reports.

In previous years, Ukraine has strongly advised pilgrims against visiting the area due to safety concerns, but tens of thousands have nevertheless made the journey, entering Ukraine via its shared border with Moldova.

An unnamed Ukrainian official tells i24 that Kyiv is frustrated by Israel’s lack of support in the face of Russia’s threats, and has demanded that Jerusalem provide both financial support and a physical police presence on the ground in Uman in the event that the pilgrimage is allowed to go ahead as planned.

Separately, the news outlet reports that the Moldovan government is also demanding various assurances from Israel before it agrees to allow Hasidic pilgrims from Israel to fly into Moldova and head to Uman from there.

Among its demands are that Israel fund a temporary terminal for the additional flights ferrying pilgrims to and fro, to the tune of eight million shekels; police presence along the route and on the flights; and that it fund any necessary security and logistical equipment.

The report says that Israel has until September 3 to transfer the full funds for the operation to the Moldovan government, or it will not be allowed to proceed.

Hamas confirms death of Mohammed Sinwar, months after Israel said he was killed in a strike

The Hamas terror group confirms the death of its Gaza military chief Mohammed Sinwar, a few months after Israel said it killed him in a strike in May.

Hamas does not provide details on Sinwar’s death but publishes pictures of him along with other group leaders, describing them as “martyrs.”

Mohammad Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the terror group, who co-masterminded the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and whom Israel had killed in combat a year later.

He became the de facto leader of the terror group following Israel’s killing of Yahya last October.

Israel targeted him in a strike in May of this year, and assessed that he had been killed some weeks later.

Hamas airs previously unseen footage of its slain leaders in new propaganda video

The Hamas terror group has published previously unseen footage of its former leaders, the architects of the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, all of whom have been killed in Israeli operations over the past 22 months.

The video, which is over three minutes in length, opens with a clip of the former head of Hamas’s military wing, Muhammad Deif, talking about Hamas’s fight against the “tyrants” of Israel, with mournful music playing in the background.

The music, a song titled “Master of Martyrs,” continues throughout, as clips of rocket fire on Israel, the October 7 invasion, military parades and various other snippets of Hamas propaganda footage play out on screen.

Among the clips is a brief snippet of what appears to be a meeting between several former Hamas leaders, including Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh; Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yayha Sinwar, and the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, Marwan Issa.

The three men were all killed in IDF operations in 2024, as was Deif.

The video also features what appears to be at least one AI generated image.

French Holocaust memorial defaced with ‘Free Gaza’

A Holocaust memorial in Lyon was defaced with a “Free Gaza” inscription, city officials told AFP yesterday, fueling concerns over an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes in France.

In a photo city officials shared with AFP, the inscription appeared to have been scratched into the black marble of a plaque on the monument with a sharp object.

“The vandalism of the Holocaust Memorial in Lyon is an intolerable act. I condemn it and express my full solidarity with memory associations, survivors and their descendants,” the city’s mayor, Gregory Doucet, writes in a statement sent to AFP.

“The perpetrators will be sought and prosecuted. Lyon stands firm against hatred, antisemitism and racism,” Doucet adds.

The monument in central Lyon was inaugurated in January 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

“The fact that this inscription was made on a Holocaust memorial clearly constitutes an antisemitic act,” a city hall official tells AFP, adding that the municipality had quickly removed the inscription to restore it.

The president of the Holocaust Memorial association, Jean-Olivier Viout, has filed a complaint, according to the city hall.

Antisemitism in France — home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world — has soared following the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught and the outbreak of war in Gaza.