Aug. 7: PM stresses Israel won’t annex Gaza, says it will be ruled by ‘transitional’ body

Ayalon Highway reopens after protesters demanding hostage deal stopped traffic

The southbound route of the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv has been reopened after it was blocked by protesters demanding a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, Hebrew media outlets report.

Report: Yeshiva head and son of prominent Haredi rabbi cooperating with the army to draft his students

Rabbi Hanoch Kaufman, son of Rabbi Chaim Aharon Kaufman, a member of the powerful Yeshiva Committee, is working with the army to create a track for his students, according to a Channel 13 report.

While it previously served as the Haredi community’s primary vehicle for coordination between ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and the Defense Ministry in matters of service deferments, the Yeshiva Committee recently began transitioning from coordinating legal deferments to endorsing draft dodging via its telephone hotline, a Times of Israel investigation found earlier this year.

The younger Kaufman is the head of the Bakshu Yeshiva, which focuses on welcoming Haredi youth who dropped out of other Haredi institutions.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, although a year ago, the High Court ruled that the decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to the Haredi community were illegal.

For the past year, the Haredi leadership has refused any attempt to find a compromise to draft at least part of the ultra-Orthodox youth, including those who do not study full-time in yeshiva.

זה מידע שאסור לכם לפספס: בזמן שאביו, יו"ר ועד הישיבות הרב חיים קאופמן, קבע נחרצות שגם צעירים חרדים בטלנים אסור להם להתגייס לצה"ל – הבן שלו, הרב חנוך קאופמן, כראש ישיבת "בקשו" לצעירים חרדים נושרים, נמצא בימים אלו במשא ומתן מתקדם עם משרד הביטחון על הסדרת מסלול צבאי לתלמידיו https://t.co/KarsEGQbzn pic.twitter.com/1JR4vyJqtR

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) August 7, 2025

Israel mulling halt to security ties with UK if it recognizes Palestine — report

Supporters of anti-Israel activist group Palestine Action protest outside the High Court in London, July 4, 2025. (Benjamin Cremel / AFP)

Israel is weighing ceasing security cooperation with the United Kingdom if it recognizes a Palestinian state in September, unnamed diplomatic sources tell The Times. 

The UK said it will recognize Palestine if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire ending the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“London needs to be careful because Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and his ministers have cards they could play too. Israel values its partnership with the UK but recent decisions mean it is coming under pressure and the UK has a lot to lose if Israel’s government decides to take steps in response,” a diplomatic source says.

Experts tell The Times that such a move would have serious consequences for both countries. According to the report, the Mossad spy agency passed intelligence to its British counterparts to stop an Iranian-linked terrorist plot at the Israeli embassy in London earlier this year.

Additionally, the report notes Britain’s use of Israeli military equipment in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This counterproductive move will certainly not contribute to deepening the mutually beneficial relations between Israel and those who advance this ill-faith agenda,” an Israeli embassy official told The Times, referring to the potential recognition of Palestine by London.

Protesters demanding hostage deal block southbound lanes of Ayalon Highway

Anti-government protesters block the southbound lanes of the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, demanding the government reach a deal to end the war and release hostages held in Gaza.

מפגינים התפרצו כעת
לנתיבי איילון לכיוון דרום
ומעכבים את התנועה במחאה כנגד הקרבת החטופים ולוחמי צה״ל להרחבת הלחימה שתהרוג חטופים ולוחמים לשווא אך ורק עבור שרידות נתניהו מפקיר ישראל בשלטון

נתיבי איילון דרום
טל א.מ pic.twitter.com/fbdeerrDHm

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 7, 2025

Police use water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv; 5 arrested

Police are using a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters on Begin Road in Tel Aviv.

Hebrew media reports police arrested five protesters.

מכת״זית בכינון ישיר על מפגינים שעומדים על מדרכה, בין עצים, ספסלים ומדרגות

תל אביב 07/08/2025 pic.twitter.com/bkQhpPFypu

— אלימות ישראל (@Alimut_Israel) August 7, 2025

Vandal splatters red paint on Israeli-owned kitchen store in Maryland

An Israeli-owned store after being vandalized, in Maryland, August 6, 2025. (Courtesy/Idan Tzameret)

A vandal splatters red paint reminiscent of blood on an Israeli-owned kitchen design store in Maryland.

Idan Tzameret, the owner of Kitchen Design by Idan, says his store has been targeted with repeated vandalism since the start of the Gaza war, apparently because of the Israeli flags hanging from the front of the building.

A friend called him at 6:30 a.m. this morning to say he had some “bad news — somebody spray-painted your door in red.”

“I was like, ‘okay, it happened again,” Tzameret tells The Times of Israel, adding that today is his birthday.

“I got a nice gift for my birthday,” he says. He has spent most of the day dealing with the police and arranging a clean-up.

Photos show red paint streaking down his store’s white door, one of his Israeli flags soaked in red, and more paint splattered on the sidewalk in front of the entrance.

The store has three Israeli and three American flags on its facade.

Tzameret provides customers with custom interior designs and build services for kitchens.

Tzameret has been in the US for 23 years, started his business seven years ago, and has been in his current location for four years. The store is in Towson, in Baltimore County.

He has filed four police reports in the past two years due to vandalism, but estimates the store has been targeted in about 20 different incidents.

In some of the incidents, a swastika was spray-painted onto one of his Israeli flags, stickers accusing Israel of genocide were plastered on his fence, and a man entered the store and shouted at one of his employees.

He says he has security camera footage of the individual who vandalized his store last night and will press charges in federal court.

“I get pretty good support from the community and pretty good support from people who matter,” Tzameret says.

The FBI yesterday released an annual report indicating antisemitic crimes hit a record 1,938 incidents in the US in 2024.

Bulgaria probing death of national killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian prosecutors confirm that they are investigating the death of one of their country’s citizens, a UN worker, in the Gaza Strip after he was struck by Israeli tank fire.

Marin Marinov was killed on March 19 when two UN buildings in the central city of Deir el-Balah were hit by explosives.

Israel’s military had initially denied responsibility for the blast, before acknowledging in late April that Israeli tank fire had killed Marinov.

Israel then issued an official apology.

A lawyer for Marinov’s daughter says prosecutors opened the inquiry in May as part of pre-trial proceedings into the suspected “murder of a person under international protection.”

“The immediate objective is to identify the commander of the tank that fired the fatal shell,” the lawyer, Mincho Spasov, tells AFP.

He says a UN forensic report indicated that Marinov was killed by a precision-guided shell, not by random shooting.

“These munitions can be programmed not only for direction but also for distance,” he says, alleging that this suggested intent.

He adds that Bulgaria was preparing requests for legal assistance to both Israel and France, as a French citizen was wounded in the same strike.

Anti-government protesters calling for hostages’ release block junction in Tel Aviv

A large crowd of anti-government protesters blocks the junction of Shaul HaMelech and Weizman streets in Tel Aviv, as nationwide rallies continue alongside an ongoing security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Protesters are demanding the government reach a comprehensive deal to end the war and release all the hostages in Gaza, as the cabinet in Jerusalem discusses plans to fully occupy the Strip.

אלפים חסומים על שאול המלך פינת ויצמן. pic.twitter.com/fGeMtlFIoH

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 7, 2025

Route 4 near Bnei Brak opens after Haredi protesters blocked it for some four hours

Route 4 near Bnei Brak has been opened to traffic by police after it was blocked for around four hours by ultra-Orthodox protesters rallying against the arrest of yeshiva students who evaded military recruitment orders, Hebrew media outlets report.

Sephardi chief rabbi: Haredi youth who do not learn Torah need to start, not be drafted

Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef states at an event celebrating the traditional three-week summer break in yeshivas that Haredi youth who do not study Torah yet need to start doing so rather than be drafted, according to a video posted on X by Kan journalist Michael Shemesh.

“People come and ask me: If someone does not study, does he need to draft?” Yosef says. “Do you know what the answer to this question must be, without a doubt? He who does not study needs to stop and start learning. Nobody is exempt from Torah studies.”

The Chief Rabbinate is an official authority in Israel that operates on the basis of Israeli law and through public funding.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, although a year ago, the High Court ruled that the decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to the Haredi community were illegal.

הראשל״צ והרב הראשי דוד יוסף בכנס בין הזמנים בקרית גת: שואלים אותי מי שלא לומד האם הוא צריך להתגייס?
התשובה: הוא צריך להתחיל ללמוד pic.twitter.com/erhc0KQ3b1

— מיכאל שמש Michael Shemesh (@shemeshmicha) August 7, 2025

Hostage families demonstrate with chains around them outside cabinet meeting

Anat Angrest, whose son Matan Angrest is held hostage in Gaza, speaks at a protest demanding a comprehensive deal to release captives, in Jerusalem, August 7, 2025. (Courtesy)

Relatives of hostages held in Gaza appear outside the security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem with chains around them to protest their loved ones’ ongoing captivity.

Einav and Natalie Zangauker, whose son and brother Matan Zangauker is held hostage; Matan’s girlfriend and released hostage Ilana Gritzewsky, Enat Angrest, whose son Matan Angrest is held, are among the demonstrators.

TV reports: Zamir warns cabinet of risk to hostages’ lives if it advances occupation of Gaza; Deri backs IDF chief

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a multi-front situational assessment at the Glilot base near Herzliya, July 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

As Israel’s security cabinet discusses the potential full-scale military occupation of the Gaza Strip, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warns ministers in attendance that “the lives of the hostages will be in danger” if Israel moves forward with such a plan, Channel 12 reports.

“We have no way to guarantee that we won’t harm them [the hostages],” he cautions.

Zamir also voices broader concerns about expanding military operations, warning that it would come at the cost of soldiers’ lives, stretch military resources thin, and lead to severe humanitarian and sanitary challenges.

According to Channel 12, cabinet ministers sharply criticize Zamir’s remarks, claiming that Operation Gideon’s Chariots had failed to meet its stated objectives.

Zamir pushes back, insisting the operation had succeeded in creating the necessary conditions for rescuing the remaining hostages.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Shas party chair Aryeh Deri backs Zamir, warning Netanyahu, “the war is causing ongoing diplomatic damage. The hostages will be in danger. We should listen to the army.”

US envoy Barrack fetes Lebanon’s ‘historic’ decision to begin Hezbollah disarmament

BEIRUT, Lebanon — US envoy Tom Barrack says Lebanon’s government had taken a “historic” decision this week by moving to disarm Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which Washington has pushed for.

In a post on X, Barrack congratulates Lebanese leaders “for making the historic, bold, and correct decision this week to begin fully implementing” a November ceasefire which ended more than a year of hostilities with Israel after Hezbollah launched cross-border attacks, and stipulated that weapons in Lebanon be restricted to government agencies only.

“This week’s Cabinet resolutions finally put into motion the ‘One Nation, One Army’ solution for Lebanon. We stand behind the Lebanese people,” Barrack says.

Congratulations to Lebanese President Aoun @lbpresidency, Prime Minister @nawafsalam, and the Council of Ministers for making the historic, bold, and correct decision this week to begin fully implementing the November 2024 Cessation of Hostilities agreement, UN Security Council…

— Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) August 7, 2025

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Police arrest two Haredi protesters for throwing stones at anti-draft rally in Jerusalem

Paramedics tend to an Haredi anti-enlistment demonstrator who was beaten by police, in Jerusalem, August 7, 2025. (Charlie Summers/The Times of Israel)

Police say they have arrested two Haredi protesters for throwing stones at officers over the course of a stormy anti-draft demonstration, which has been blocking traffic for over an hour in Jerusalem.

Police spray Haredi protesters with the putrid Skunk liquid in an effort to disperse the protest.

Most protesters have since fled the intersection, but a determined few remain seated on the asphalt as Border Police batter them with batons.

One young man who was beaten by cops appears to have lost consciousness as paramedics tend to him on the side of the road.

Protesters overturn dumpsters and spill their contents on the road while shouting at police, calling them “criminals” and “murderers.”

A Border Police officer was lightly injured when protesters threw stones at him, according to law enforcement.

Both demonstrators and police are coughing and covering their mouths to block the fumes from the noxious liquid.

Police bring out a water cannon and blast protesters with Skunk liquid, demonstrators have split up into smaller groups, traffic is moving again pic.twitter.com/yhgZz2enn8

— charlie summers (@cbsu03) August 7, 2025

Hamas says Netanyahu aims to sacrifice hostages for personal interests amid plans to fully occupy Gaza

CAIRO, Egypt — Hamas says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remark that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza constituted “a coup” amid the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal negotiations.

Netanyahu’s plans to expand Israel’s Gaza offensive show he aims to sacrifice Israel’s own hostages to serve his personal interests, Hamas adds in its statement.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Netherlands rules out Palestinian state recognition for now

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp arrives for the EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on July 14, 2025. (NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — The Dutch government rules out recognizing a Palestinian state for now despite growing public concern over Gaza, but says Israel’s actions in the war-ravaged territory were eroding its own security.

The Netherlands’ stance is in contrast to that of some NATO allies, most notably France, which has said it will recognize Palestinian statehood in September. Britain has said it will also do so unless Israel takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza, where starvation is spreading, and agrees to a ceasefire.

“The Netherlands is not planning to recognize a Palestinian state at this time,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp tells an emergency parliamentary debate on Gaza after lawmakers were recalled from their summer vacation.

Veldkamp also rejects calls to halt arms imports from Israel, saying the Netherlands prioritized domestic and EU procurement before sourcing from third countries.

However, he says the Netherlands had already taken “significant steps,” including travel bans on two far-right Israeli ministers, adding: “This war has ceased to be a just war and is now leading to the erosion of Israel’s own security and identity.”

Outside the parliament building in The Hague, around 250 pro-Palestinian protesters demand stronger Dutch action. Local media reports chants and banners calling for an immediate ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid.

Einav Zangauker: Israel must propose comprehensive hostage deal ‘without slogans, without torpedoing, without failures’

Einav Zangauker (3rd left) holds images of her son, Matan, at a protest calling for the end of the war in Gaza and the release of all hostages, in Jerusalem, August 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, tells protesters outside a security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that Israel must propose a deal to end the war and bring all the hostages home.

“Without slogans, without torpedoing, without failures,” she says, according to quotes published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“I turn to you, IDF chief of staff — you are my son’s top commander. Matan was put at the front of the country to defend it, and your job now is to save him. Demand from the political echelon, first and foremost, to exhaust all the possibilities to return them in a comprehensive deal,” she says.

US Department of Justice examining death penalty for alleged killer of Israeli embassy staffers

Left: Yaron Lischinsky and his partner Sarah Milgrim, employees of the Israeli Embassy in the US, killed in a shooting in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025, in an undated photo. (Israeli Embassy, Washington); Right: The suspect in the shooting, Elias Rodriguez, shouts 'Free Palestine' as he is arrested. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, says US federal prosecutors are examining a possible death penalty sentence for Elias Rodriguez, the alleged killer of two Israeli embassy staffers.

Yesterday, US prosecutors brought federal hate crime charges against Rodriguez for the shooting outside a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, in May that killed Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26.

The nine-count indictment returned against Elias Rodriguez makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted, and says that he targeted the victims for being Israeli.

Pirro says at a press conference that Rodriguez had a manifesto that stated he carried out the shooting “to demonstrate his hatred for the people of Israel.”

She says Rodriguez, after the shooting, “pulled out a red keffiyeh and yelled, ‘I did it for Palestine.'”

Pirro says a process is underway to determine whether Rodriguez will be sentenced to death.

“This is a weighty decision. It takes time. There will be a rigorous process,” Pirro says, adding that the final decision will be up to the attorney general.

“We are starting the process. We’ve made no decision yet,” she says.

Reid Davis, FBI special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office Criminal Division, says investigators have determined that Rodriguez likely acted alone and was motivated by “anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine ideology.”

Pirro ties the shooting to FBI data released yesterday that reported a record number of antisemitic incidents in the US.

“We’re going to look for these cases, we’re going to prosecute these cases to the full force of the law. It’s a problem and we’re not going to tolerate it. Antisemitism has historically been one of the biggest scabs in the world that keeps getting picked on,” she says. “I will go forward with every case with vengeance.”

Pirro adds that she has been in touch with the parents of Lischinsky and Milgrim, a couple who were set to be engaged shortly before the shooting.

“These are people who are broken because of one man’s actions,” she says. “These are people who should have been in-laws, but because of one man’s action, they will never be able to celebrate a marriage or the grandchildren that would have resulted.”

Lebanon: Government agreement on Hezbollah disarmament also depends on Israeli commitments

Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos states that the Lebanese government has accepted the principles of the US proposal — including “the gradual end of the presence of non-state armed groups in the country, including Hezbollah, both north and south of the Litani River.”

However, he notes that the principles to which Lebanon agreed also include “ensuring Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the cessation of all hostilities, including ground, aerial, and maritime violations,” as well as the establishment of a permanent border between Israel and Lebanon and between Syria and Lebanon. He adds that the implementation of these principles depends on the commitment of all countries mentioned in the agreement (including Israel) to the obligations outlined in the document.

In a press conference following the cabinet meeting, Morcos is asked how Hezbollah’s disarmament would be carried out in light of the group’s refusal to cooperate, and whether it would be done by force. He responds that the decisions would be implemented in accordance with a plan to be submitted by the Lebanese army by the end of August, which will include a timeline for disarmament by the end of 2025.

Protesters demanding hostage deal light bonfire in front of Likud party HQ

Protesters demanding a deal to end the war in Gaza and release hostages held by Hamas light a bonfire in front of the Likud party headquarters, in Tel Aviv, August 7, 2025. (Ido Lempert/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Protesters demanding a deal to end the war and the release of hostages light a bonfire outside the Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Protesters chant, “everyone, now,” referring to the demand for a deal to free all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Anti-war protesters are also marching on the nearby Dizengoff Street.

Interceptor missile fired near Gaza after ‘false identification,’ IDF says

An interceptor missile was launched a short while ago near the border with the Gaza Strip, following the identification of a target, the IDF says.

The target was then confirmed to have been a “false identification,” meaning not a threat, the army adds.

Prominent Haredi leader to yeshiva students arrested for draft evasion: ‘We all stand behind you’

Prominent Haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando tells yeshiva students arrested for draft evasion that the entire Haredi community stands behind them, as he visits them at the Beit Lid military prison, according to a statement from his office.

“Be strong and hold firm,” Lando says as he meets brothers Rafael and Baruch Yitzhakov. “The entire Haredi community stands behind you. With God’s help, you will be released soon and return to being Torah students, yeshiva students, just as you were until now. God will help you.”

For the past year, the Haredi leadership, including Lando, has rejected any attempt to find a compromise to draft at least part of the ultra-Orthodox youth, after last year the High Court ruled that the decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to the Haredi community were illegal.

Lando, who serves as the spiritual leader for the United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction and is one of the most prominent figures in the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community, has repeatedly told yeshiva students to ignore draft orders.

Funeral held for West Bank Palestinian activist killed in settler attack

Palestinians attend the funeral of, Awdah Hathaleen, who was killed during an attack by Israeli settlers on July 27, in the village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, in the West Bank on August 7, 2025. (by mosab shawer / AFP)

Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in the West Bank, whose body was handed over by Israel more than a week after a settler killed him.

“He was killed by a hateful settler, his body was held for 11 days, and more than 20 people from the village were arrested,” following the late July incident in the southern West Bank, the slain activist’s brother, Aziz Hathaleen, says.

The settler accused of the fatal shooting “was released at that very moment,” Aziz tells AFP in the family’s hometown of Umm al-Khair, where Palestinians gathered to bury his brother’s body despite Israeli restrictions.

Awdah Hathaleen, 31, was linked to Oscar-winning documentary film “No Other Land,” which focuses on the efforts of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta — a string of hamlets including Umm al-Khair — to prevent Israeli forces from destroying their homes.

He was killed on July 28, with residents identifying the man holding the gun in a video of the incident as Yinon Levi, a settler sanctioned by Britain, who was briefly detained but released the next day.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Netanyahu said to tell cabinet he wants to defeat Hamas, current methods failed to free hostages

As Israel’s security cabinet meets to weigh the possibility of a full-scale military occupation of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells those in attendance that he has no intention of “perpetuating Hamas,” but, rather, of “defeating it,” Channel 12 reports.

“The current method has not resulted in the release of the hostages, and we will not continue like this,” he adds.

Meanwhile, senior members of Israel’s negotiating team tell Channel 12 that Hamas is under increasing pressure from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey to return to the ceasefire negotiation table — possibly within the coming week. That development, they say, could influence the security cabinet’s decision-making process.

Lebanon says Israeli strike in east of country killed five people

People inspect the damage at the site of an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Seryan, in the Nabatieh district, on August 7, 2025. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon says an Israeli strike on the country’s east killed at least five people today.

“The Israeli strike on Masnaa Road resulted in a preliminary toll of five deaths and ten injuries,” the Lebanese health ministry says in a statement. The state-run National News Agency reports that the strike hit a vehicle in the area, near a border crossing with Syria.

The reported strike came as Lebanon’s government was discussing Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Police beat Haredi anti-draft protesters blocking major intersection in Jerusalem

Hundreds of Haredi anti-draft protesters are blocking a major intersection in Jerusalem.

Border Police officers with batons beat demonstrators blocking the road. Around four mounted officers are also on the scene as police try to disperse the protest.

One officer is seen punching a demonstrator and knocking his black hat to the ground.

Demonstrators — chiefly young men and boys — hold signs decrying efforts to draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students and chant “we will die and not enlist.”

Police, as of now, have not made any known arrests.

Demonstration moves to Bar Lev boulevard and Border Police officers with batons beat protesters blocking road to traffic pic.twitter.com/81TBgtu1Bv

— charlie summers (@cbsu03) August 7, 2025

IDF orders evacuation of two Gaza City neighborhoods after rocket fired from area

The IDF issues a fresh evacuation warning for Palestinians still residing in Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, after a rocket was launched from the area at southern Israel this afternoon.

“The IDF continues to operate with extreme force wherever terror activity is taking place and rockets are fired at Israel,” says the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, in a post on X, attaching a map of the area that is to be evacuated.

“Anyone who has not yet evacuated the area should evacuate immediately, and head south toward al-Mawasi, for your own safety,” he adds.

#عاجل ‼️إلى جميع المتواجدين في حييْ الدرج والتفاح في البلوكات 699، 713، 715، 716

⭕️يواصل جيش الدفاع العمل بقوة شديدة في كل مكان ترتكب فيه أنشطة إرهابية ويتم استخدامه لإطلاق قذائف صاروخية باتجاه إسرائيل

⭕️على كل من لم يُخلِ المنطقة بعد، إخلائها فورًا باتجاه الجنوب نحو المواصي… pic.twitter.com/HVv3ZvEDjR

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) August 7, 2025

IDF says 80 pallets of aid airdropped to Gaza today by several countries

Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, August 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Aircraft from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Germany, Belgium, and Canada airdropped 80 pallets of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip today, the IDF says.

Each pallet contains around one ton of food.

Since July 26, nearly 1,000 humanitarian aid packages have been airdropped in the Gaza Strip by nine countries, including Israel, according to the military. The packages the IDF airdropped were supplied by international aid groups.

Hundreds protest against war, demand release of hostages outside Likud party HQ

Hundreds rally outside the Likud party’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, calling for a deal to end the war and release the hostages.

The rally, as well as several others across the country, occurs as ministers meet in Jerusalem to decide to advance plans on a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

מצודת@זאב עכשיו pic.twitter.com/jZ6bnNeXH3

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 7, 2025

After Hezbollah walkout, Lebanese minister says cabinet approved first part of US proposal for terror group’s disarmament

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun heading a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace of Baabda, August 7, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanese media reports that the cabinet session discussing the disarmament of Hezbollah was suspended after five ministers —representing Hezbollah, its ally the Amal Movement, and an independent Shiite minister — walked out in protest.

However, Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos announces afterward that the government approved the list of objectives presented on the first page of the American mediator’s proposal to Lebanon, which includes keeping all weapons under state control and disarming groups operating outside state structures, including Hezbollah.

UK outsourcing its Gaza spy flights to US contractors — report

LONDON — The UK military has used US contractors to conduct spy flights over Gaza for Israel due to a shortage of British aircraft, The Times reports.

The UK government acknowledged this year that it conducts such flights over the war-ravaged Palestinian territory but insisted they were “solely in support of hostage rescue.”

The UK government has said that the flights are part of its response to the October 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas terrorists in Israel that set off the war.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) had been using its Shadow R1 reconnaissance aircraft to film over Gaza, aiding the search for the hostages, but turned to a US firm after the planes were reassigned or needed maintenance, according to The Times.

The Nevada-based company being used is a subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, one of the world’s largest military contractors, the newspaper says.

It is likely to be seen as further evidence that Britain’s military has been pared back too drastically over recent decades, primarily due to budget pressures.

Relying on private sector contractors, which use an RAF base in Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, can have pitfalls.

The flight path of a US-operated sortie last month over the largely destroyed Gazan city of Khan Younis became public following what The Times called a “schoolboy” error.

It says the plane’s transponder had not been fully turned off, which meant it could be identified on flight-tracking websites and platforms as flying over southern Gaza.

The UK Defense Ministry declines to comment, citing the need to protect operational security around intelligence matters.

It reiterates that Britain conducts surveillance flights over Gaza to help Israel locate hostages and only passes on intelligence related to that.

Groundbreaking ceremony for new Nir Oz neighborhood nixed due to fateful cabinet meeting

A view of Kibbutz Nir Oz, February 8, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

A groundbreaking ceremony for a new neighborhood in ravaged Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, is abruptly curtailed as the cabinet prepares to meet to discuss whether to move forward with a full-scale military occupation of Gaza.

The kibbutz was largely destroyed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists entered all but six of over 200 homes in the small community and either murdered or kidnapped one of every four residents — 117 people out of some 400. Of those abducted, 9 are still being held in Gaza, just five of them believed alive.

The ceremony for the new Pioneers neighborhood was planned in the presence of hostages released and the families of those still in captivity.

But a statement from the kibbutz spokesman says, “The cabinet is meeting to discuss a fateful decision, the occupation of the Gaza Strip, and we cannot continue with the normal order of the ceremony at such a time, and we cannot allow the country to continue as usual.”

The statement says that occupying Gaza will pose an “immediate risk” to those hostages still living. Without their return, the community will not be able to undergo rehabilitation, it adds.

Prominent Haredi leader visits yeshiva students arrested for evading draft order

Prominent Haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando arrives at the military prison in Beit Lid to visit brothers Rafael and Baruch Yitzhakov — yeshiva students from Tel Aviv who were arrested after failing to report to the draft office, according to a statement from his office.

The Haredi leadership, including Lando, who serves as the spiritual leader for the United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction and is one of the most prominent figures in the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community, has consistently told yeshiva students who receive draft orders to ignore them.

A video disseminated by his office shows Lando, who is 94, entering the section of the building devoted to family visits, escorted by some of his assistants.

The brothers were arrested on Wednesday, prompting a spokesman for Rabbi Dov Lando to state that Israel had “declared war on yeshiva students.”

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, although a year ago, the High Court ruled that the decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to the Haredi community were illegal.

For the past year, the Haredi leadership has refused any attempt to find a compromise to draft at least part of the ultra-Orthodox youth.

הגר״ד לנדו בכלא הצבאי בית ליד https://t.co/qkR96R0YSn pic.twitter.com/LvYnb2VKsZ

— אבי מוסקוב Avi moskoff (@AviMoskov) August 7, 2025

UN: 8.7% of Gazan children screened in July suffered from acute malnutrition

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that, out of 136,000 children aged six months to five years who were screened in July by aid organizations in the Gaza Strip, 11,877 were identified as suffering from acute malnutrition (8.7%), the highest monthly figure recorded to date.

In the first two weeks of July, 56,000 children were screened, with 5,000 found to be suffering from acute malnutrition — nearly 9%, compared to 6% in a survey conducted in June and 2.4% in a survey carried out in February during the second ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

It should be noted that the UN does not specify which organizations conduct the screenings, and the number of children assessed varies from month to month. The diagnosis is made by measuring mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC).

US proposal sees Hezbollah disarmed by year-end, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon

IDF troops with the 769th 'Hiram' Regional Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on December 31, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States has presented Lebanon with a proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year, along with ending Israel’s military operations in the country and the withdrawal of its troops from five positions in south Lebanon, according to a copy of a Lebanese cabinet agenda reviewed by Reuters.

The plan, submitted by US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the region, Tom Barrack, and being discussed at a Lebanese cabinet meeting today, sets out the most detailed steps yet for disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has rejected mounting calls to disarm since last year’s devastating war with Israel.

The US State Department does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lebanese government ministers can not immediately be reached for comment.

Hezbollah has no immediate comment on the proposal.

The US proposal aims to “extend and stabilize” a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel brokered in November.

“The urgency of this proposal is underscored by the increasing number of complaints regarding Israeli violations of the current ceasefire, including airstrikes and cross-border operations, which risk triggering a collapse of the fragile status quo,” it says.

Phase 1 of the plan requires the Beirut government to issue a decree within 15 days committing to Hezbollah’s full disarmament by December 31, 2025. In this phase, Israel would also cease ground, air, and sea military operations.

Phase 2 requires Lebanon to begin implementing the disarmament plan within 60 days, with the government approving “a detailed (Lebanese army) deployment plan to support the plan to bring all arms under the authority of the state.” This plan will specify disarmament targets.

During Phase 2, Israel would begin withdrawing from positions it holds in south Lebanon, and Lebanese prisoners held by Israel would be released in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

During Phase 3, within 90 days, Israel will withdraw from the final two of the five points it holds, and funding will be secured to initiate rubble removal in Lebanon and infrastructure rehabilitation in preparation for reconstruction.

In Phase 4, within 120 days, Hezbollah’s remaining heavy weapons must be dismantled, including missiles and drones.

Also in Phase 4, the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, Qatar, and other friendly states will organize an economic conference to support the Lebanese economy and reconstruction and to “implement President Trump’s vision for the return of Lebanon as a prosperous and viable country.”

Lapid: Netanyahu proposing ‘more dead hostages,’ funds for far-right ministers’ ‘delusions’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he clarifies his strategic vision for the war in Gaza in statements published by CNN-News18, an Indian English-language news outlet.

“What Netanyahu is proposing is another war, more dead hostages, more [fallen soldiers] and tens of billions of shekels of taxpayer money that will be poured into the delusions of [National Security Minister] Itamar Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich,” Lapid says in a statement.

Addressing international concerns, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel “will not annex Gaza” and plans to transfer control of the territory to an unspecified “transitional governing body.”

Israel’s security cabinet is scheduled to meet later today for a key discussion on whether to move forward with a full-scale military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

US said to give ‘pushback’ on possible Gaza annexation, after previous report said Trump didn’t oppose move

Following a previous report by Channel 12 that US President Donald Trump does not oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reported plan to launch a full military operation to seize the Gaza Strip, the outlet now reports that a senior American official has clarified that the Trump administration does not support any Israeli annexation of parts of the territory.

A senior Israeli official confirms to Channel 12 that Washington has recently expressed “pushback” on the annexation idea in conversations with Israeli counterparts.

The report comes as Israel’s security cabinet is set to convene later this evening for a key discussion on whether to move forward with a full-scale military occupation of Gaza.

Netanyahu: Israel aims to take full control of Gaza, then hand it over to Arab forces

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza and will eventually hand it over to armed forces that will govern it properly.

“We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it civilian governance,” Netanyahu says in an interview with Fox News when asked if Israel would take control of the entire 26-mile strip. “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body.”

“We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly, without threatening us, and [to give] Gazans a good life,” he says.

FOX: Will Israel take control of all of Gaza?

NETANYAHU: We intend to pic.twitter.com/7fXkcbPeoy

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 7, 2025

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Police work to remove Haredi protesters blocking Route 4, who call officers ‘Nazis’

Police work to physically remove Haredi protesters blocking Route 4 near Bnei Brak, as the demonstrators call the law enforcers “Nazis.”

The demonstrations come in response to the arrest of yeshiva students who disobeyed military recruitment orders.

מחאות החרדים: עימותים בין כוחות השיטור לבין המפגינים החרדים שמסרבים לפנות את כביש 4 (12) pic.twitter.com/vupo75ap7r

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 7, 2025

חרדים חוסמים את כביש 4 סמוך לבני ברק במחאה על חוק הגיוס@OferHalfonKan pic.twitter.com/zTBo6Sah75

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 7, 2025

Haredi protesters block Route 4 near Bnei Brak, burn military draft orders in Jerusalem

Ultra-Orthodox protesters against the arrest of yeshiva students who evaded military enlistment block Route 4 in both directions at Coca-Cola Junction near Bnei Brak.

Police announced earlier the highway would be closed ahead of the protests.

Footage also shows a rally against military enlistment in Jerusalem, where Haredi protesters are burning their draft orders.

מפגינים מהפלגים הקיצוניים החרדיים שורפים וקורעים צווי גיוס בהפגנה כעת בירושלים pic.twitter.com/ILn007ugEQ

— אהרן רבינוביץ (@AronRabino1) August 7, 2025

Netanyahu stresses Israel ‘will not annex Gaza’; it will be ruled by ‘transitional’ body

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Christian Conference in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarifies his strategic vision for the war in Gaza in statements published by CNN-News18, an Indian English-language news outlet.

Addressing international concerns, Netanyahu emphasizes that Israel “will not annex Gaza” and plans to transfer control of the territory to an unspecified “transitional governing body.”

He reiterates Israel’s key objectives: the complete dismantling of Hamas and the unconditional return of all remaining hostages. Netanyahu says that the conflict could end swiftly if Hamas were to lay down its arms and release the hostages.

The interview comes shortly after Netanyahu met with India’s ambassador to Israel, J.P. Singh, to discuss strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations, particularly in the defense and economic sectors.

Israel’s security cabinet is scheduled to meet later today for a key discussion on whether to move forward with a full-scale military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

Rocket fired from Gaza shot down, IDF says

A rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip at southern Israel was intercepted by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded near the border community of Nir Am.

Aid to Gaza increasing, but below what was agreed to with Israel, EU document says

A driver prays as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid await permission on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, to enter the territory on August 6, 2025. (AFP)

BRUSSELS, Belgium — There is an upward trend in the number of trucks entering Gaza, but it is still below what was agreed between the European Union and Israel under a deal last month on improving humanitarian access, the bloc’s foreign policy and humanitarian arms says in a document seen by Reuters.

The UN and other partners report that 463 trucks were offloaded at crossing points to Gaza between July 29 and August 4, the document says.

Rocket sirens sound near Gaza border

Incoming rocket sirens sound at the Nir Am shooting range near the Gaza Strip border.

WHO says July saw highest monthly figure of acute malnutrition in children in Gaza

A boy sits next to a tent at a camp housing displaced Palestinians in the Mawasi area in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 7, 2025. (AFP)

GENEVA, Switzerland — Gaza has seen its highest monthly figure of acute malnutrition in children, with hunger-related deaths rising in the enclave, the head of the World Health Organization says.

“In July, nearly 12,000 children under five years were identified as having acute malnutrition in Gaza, the highest monthly figure ever recorded,” says WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at its headquarters in Geneva.

Some 2,500 of those children are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to the WHO.

At least 99 people have died, including 64 adults and 35 children, including 29 below 5 years old, from the start of this year to July 29, Tedros says.

“The overall volume of nutrition supplies remains completely insufficient to prevent further deterioration. The market needs to be flooded. There needs to be dietary diversity,” says Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative for the Palestinian territory via video link.

Protesters rally for better mental health care for troops amid rising suicides

Protesters rally outside the Defense Ministry’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, urging the government to improve mental health care amid the growing number of suicides among IDF soldiers.

The protesters — soldiers suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome — chant “shame,” and vow to “stop the country.”

הלומי קרב ופעילים נוספים חוסמים את דרך בגין מחוץ לקריה: "פוסט-טראומה הורגת בשקט, לא נשתוק"@YoavBorowitz https://t.co/vHrvraX92Q pic.twitter.com/o0p3HGIOyt

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 7, 2025

GOP congressman says US will push for Israeli withdrawal if Lebanese army secures Lebanon

US Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, participates in a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 1, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A US congress member says that Washington will push Israel to withdraw from all of southern Lebanon if the Lebanese army asserts full control over the country.

“We will push hard to make sure that there is — and this is something that I will work with the Israelis on — a complete withdrawal in return for the Lebanese Armed Forces showing its ability to secure all Lebanon,” California Republican US Rep. Darrell Issa says.

He was speaking in Beirut, where he met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, ahead of a meeting where the Lebanese cabinet was set to discuss the disarmament of the Hezbollah terror group

Issa does not specify whether the US would ask Israel to begin withdrawing its forces from the territory it is occupying in southern Lebanon before or after Hezbollah gives up its arsenal, a point that has been in dispute.

The Lebanese government asked the national army on Tuesday to prepare a plan in which only state institutions in the small nation will have weapons by the end of the year, a move that aims to disarm Hezbollah.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

More than 200 British, Irish writers call for boycott of Israel until sufficient aid reaches Gaza

Over 200 British and Irish writers pen a letter calling for an “immediate and complete” boycott of Israel, “until the people of Gaza are adequately provided with drinking water, food and medical supplies, and until all other forms of relief and necessity are restored to the people of Gaza under the aegis of the United Nations.”

The writers also say: “We demand the return of all hostages and those imprisoned without charge or trial on all sides. We demand an end to settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank. We demand the immediate and permanent ceasefire and cessation of violence by Hamas and Israel.”

“In calling for and observing this boycott, we assert without reservation our absolute opposition to and loathing of antisemitism, of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice. We reject and abhor attacks, hate and violence — in writing, speech and action — against Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish people in all and any form,” the letter continues.

“We stand in solidarity with the resistance of Palestinian, Jewish, and Israeli people to the genocidal policies of the current Israeli government. We note that prominent and respected Israeli and Jewish groups in Israel and other countries, including many of our fellow writers, have recently called for serious and impactful sanctions on Israeli institutions, to which we add, on, and only on, objectively culpable individuals. A boycott is the only sanction an individual can apply,” it says.

Among the signatories are Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson.

The food situation has become a central concern among the international community amid the ongoing war triggered by the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Humanitarian groups continue to sound the alarm over widespread hunger in Gaza and increasing reports of deaths due to malnutrition.

Israel denies carrying out genocide in the Strip, saying it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities during the war and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Arab Israeli influencer Yoseph Haddad charged for firing gun during quarrel with motorcyclist

Yoseph Haddad (Courtesy)

State prosecutors file an indictment of right-wing Arab Israeli influencer Yoseph Haddad for firing his handgun during an altercation with a motorcyclist in Jaffa.

Haddad was charged with “committing a reckless and negligent act with a weapon” over the incident last week.

After being arrested and questioned about the incident last week, Haddad was released to house arrest.

Haddad’s lawyer says in a statement that more serious cases have been waiting to be prosecuted, and claims that the charge is “not criminal but political.”

US consulting firm modeled moving Gazans to Somalia, Somaliland — report

Illustrative: A woman displays the Somaliland flag as people queue to cast their votes during the 2024 Somaliland presidential election at a polling station in Hargeisa, Somaliland, November 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdirahman Aleeli)

Boston Consulting Group, a US-based consulting firm, modeled transferring Palestinians from Gaza to Somalia and Somaliland, people familiar with the work tell the Financial Times.

According to the report, BCG consultants developed the model for a group of Israeli businessmen who were developing plans for rebuilding Gaza after the war with Hamas.

The model included a slide deck that predicted 25 percent of Gazans would want to leave the Strip, and a majority would not want to return.

“By accepting the Gazans who relocate temporarily and voluntarily, a country will get an injection of population that will have an economic benefit that clearly could be significant,” a person familiar with the work tells the Times. “But the countries in the model were not picked based on a knowledge of specific discussions. The idea was to understand the economic issues related to options that President [Donald] Trump had put on the table.”

BCG helped create the controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that runs aid distribution sites in the enclave.

Trump earlier this year floated plans to move Gazans to third countries while the Strip was developed into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Although no apparent progress has been made on the plans, it has garnered support from some Israeli ministers and was roundly condemned by the Arab world and Western countries.

Netanyahu meets with India’s envoy to discuss boosting ties

India's Ambassador to Israel J.P. Singh (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meeting in Jerusalem to discuss strengthening bilateral ties, August 8, 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with India’s Ambassador to Israel, J.P. Singh, to discuss strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

The two leaders focused on expanding cooperation, particularly in security and the economy. Following the meeting, Netanyahu spoke with senior Indian journalists, answering their questions.

The talks underscore the longstanding partnership between Israel and India, with the South Asian country Israel’s top military buyer.

Police announce closure of Route 4 near Bnei Brak ahead of protest against arrest of Haredi draft evaders

An ultra-Orthodox man holds a sign reading, "We won't be recruited to an enemy army," during a protest against the recruitment of Haredim to the military, on Route 4 near Bnei Brak, June 5, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Plans for a large Haredi protest near Bnei Brak have led police to announce the closure of Route 4 where it skirts the Haredi city east of Tel Aviv, starting at 4 p.m.

The ultra-Orthodox community is set to protest the arrest of yeshiva students who evaded military draft orders.

Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

UTJ lawmaker protests draft dodger arrests, Bnei Brak gears up for large demonstration

United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush arrives at the Justice Ministry to protest the arrest of yeshiva students who evaded military draft orders, declaring in a statement that he intends to move his office’s activities to a spot outside the ministry and to forgo food for nine hours a day.

“I cannot sit comfortably in my office when the military is roaming around at night and arresting yeshiva students. It is my duty as a public representative to express our protest against the measures demanded by the attorney general. If the persecution of Torah students does not stop, it will lead to disaster for the people of Israel,” Porush declares, a day after two yeshiva students were imprisoned, sparking widespread anger in the community.

A Times of Israel investigation earlier this year found that a telephone hotline linked to Porush, then the Jerusalem affairs minister, had been advising yeshiva students to ignore draft orders and lie to the Israel Defense Forces.

This morning, several Haredi newspapers declared war against the IDF’s efforts to enforce the law against Haredi draft dodgers. Porush was quoted in the Hamevaser daily, which he is seen as having wide influence over, as saying that a message must be sent that “harming the Torah of Israel is a declaration of war against 1.39 million Haredi citizens.”

Asked what declaring war means on a practical level, a senior Haredi political source told The Times of Israel that, in his opinion, the entire Haredi community “has now become the Jerusalem Faction,” referring to an extremist ultra-Orthodox group that regularly holds raucous demonstrations against the enlistment of yeshiva students.

A source close to Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah faction that is part of the UTJ party, says that no final decisions as to strategy have been made and that “everything is open.”

According to media reports, plans for a large Haredi demonstration near Bnei Brak this afternoon have led police to announce the closure of Route 4 where it skirts the Haredi city east of Tel Aviv starting at 4 p.m.

Troops blow up Gaza City tunnel, find rocket launchers in graveyard

A rocket launcher found by IDF troops at the Commonwealth Cemetery in eastern Gaza City, in a handout photo issued by the military on August 7, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A kilometer-long Hamas tunnel was demolished by combat engineers during recent operations in the area of Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, the military says.

The tunnel was uncovered by troops of the 401st Armored Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

The IDF says the troops also found rocket launchers in a cemetery in the area.

A Hamas tunnel in the area of Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods is demolished, in a video published on August 7, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Trump urges all Mideast coutries to join Abraham Accords now that Iran nukes ‘obliterated’

US President Donald Trump shouts to reporters as he surveys the grounds from the roof above the Colonnade that goes to the West Wing of the White House, August 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump says that following the June attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, he is urging “all Middle Eastern countries” to join the Abraham Accords — the normalization agreements between Israel and four Muslim-majority nations brokered by his first administration in 2020 and 2021.

“Now that the nuclear arsenal being ‘created’ by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,” writes Trump on his TruthSocial account.

Now that the nuclear arsenal being “created” by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords. This will insure PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

(TS: 07 Aug 07:31 ET)…

— Commentary: Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 7, 2025

“This will insure PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” he adds.

It is unclear what prompted the comment.

UK charges three for backing banned Palestine Action group

British police say they charged three people in England and Wales with supporting activist group Palestine Action after it was banned under anti-terrorism laws.

Two women and a man were charged under Britain’s Terrorism Act of 2000 following their arrest at a protest in central London on July 5, the capital’s Metropolitan Police force says. They are the first to be charged in England and Wales since the ban took effect.

A spokesperson for the force said there had already been seven charges in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.

The announcement comes ahead of a planned protest in support of the group outside the UK parliament on Saturday, with organizers saying more than 500 people are expected to attend.

“I would strongly advise anyone planning to come to London this weekend to show support for Palestine Action to think about the potential criminal consequences of their actions,” Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s counter terror department, says.

Jeremy Shippam and Judit Murray, both 71, and Fiona Maclean, 53, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on September 16, the Met says.

Murphy says more people arrested at the July 5 demonstration face charges.

Being a member or supporting the group is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Israeli ambassador in Paris visits vandalized El Al office

Ambassador Joshua Zarka speaks in front of El Al's Paris office on August 7, 2025. (Courtesy Israeli Embassy in France)

The Foreign Ministry says it “strongly condemns” vandalism at the Paris offices of national carrier El Al, which the airline said was smeared with red paint and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti overnight.

Israeli Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka visited the scene “after speaking with the French interior minister,” the Foreign Ministry says, sharing photos of him there.

Both the envoy and the Israeli embassy in Paris “have been in continuous contact since this morning with the management of El Al’s Paris station,” it says.

Zarka described the vandalism as an “act of terrorism” that aims to “terrorize El Al employees, terrorize Israeli citizens, scare them and try to make them feel that they are not welcome,” according to AFP.

There is no comment from French authorities on the attack.

In a separate post on X, the ministry calls on the French government “to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure the safety of the company’s staff and offices.”

“The antisemitic attacks in France must be dealt with the utmost severity,” the ministry adds.

Hostages’ families to hold protest outside cabinet meeting

The Hostage Families Forum says it will hold a protest outside as senior ministers meet in Jerusalem to approve a plan that would vastly expand IDF operations in Gaza, amid worries that the move could endanger their loved ones being held in the Strip.

A statement says such a decision would be “catastrophic,” announcing plans to appeal to security brass by megaphone to do what they can to prevent putting the hostages at risk.

“Our loved ones face immediate danger — some for their lives and others to disappear forever in Gaza’s soil,” a statement from the Forum reads. “The State of Israel faces immediate danger — the risk of losing our moral values and mutual responsibility.”

The meeting, and protest, are planned for 6 p.m.

UK envoy rejects idea that statehood recognition rewards Hamas

Simon Walters, British ambassador to Israel, speaks at an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (Paulina Patimer / Hostages Families Forum)

The United Kingdom’s announcement that it will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel commits to ending the war in Gaza and to a long-term peace plan does not constitute a reward for Hamas, British ambassador to Israel Simon Walters tells Israeli reporters, pushing back against claims by Israeli and American leaders.

“It is absolutely categorically not [a reward],” says Walters, reiterating British Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s condemnation of the terror group and adding that Hamas’s vision does not align with the UK’s announcement — “they want the destruction of Israel, not the two-state solution.”

“I recognize that for many Israelis the idea of a Palestinian state is concerning, but the UK is deeply committed to Israeli security,” he says. He claims that Hamas statements welcoming the decision are merely “an attempt to claim some credit where they have achieved nothing.”

Walters emphasizes that the UK’s decision “is part of a larger package which is intended to isolate Hamas and point the way for a vision for peace in the Middle East.”

An important component of that plan is the statement signed by the Arab League and other Muslim and Arab states at a United Nations conference last month promoting the two-state solution — a statement he calls “really strategically important” that “hasn’t received enough attention.”

“If there was a peace process, if the Palestinian Authority and Israeli government were in regular dialogue about a permanent settlement to the conflict, we would consider our timing… to be part of that process; but there isn’t a process and that’s the problem,” he adds.

Walters also condemns settler violence in the West Bank, “for which [Israel] seems to [impose] no consequences.”

He highlights the urgency to address the “horrifying” humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling on Israel to allow “full unrestricted access” to aid.

Addressing Israel’s claims that Hamas systematically loots assistance and disrupts its distribution, Walters says, “Hamas stealing aid may be true… the evidence on that is mixed,” but urges a surge of aid into the Strip — as Israel attempted to do in March of last year — arguing that flooding Gaza with aid would disincentivize Hamas or others from stealing them.

He adds that failure to address the crisis is “also catastrophic for Israel,” pointing to “the damage it’s doing to Israel’s reputation” overseas.

IDF chief talks up culture of dissent, indicates he won’t be cowed amid Gaza row

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks during a security assessment on August 7, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says disagreements are a “vital component” of the military, after recent reports have indicated tension between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the premier’s plans to “occupy” the Gaza Strip, which the army is reported to oppose.

“A culture of disagreement is an inseparable part of the history of the people of Israel; it is a vital component of the IDF’s organizational culture, both internally and externally,” Zamir said during an assessment this morning with the military’s top brass, according to remarks released by the IDF.

“We will continue to express our positions without fear, in a substantive, independent, and professional manner,” he added.

Zamir has repeatedly clashed with the cabinet in recent days, notably over the government’s move to expand the war in Gaza, according to multiple reports, and sources in the Prime Minister’s Office have suggested that if he objects to the plan to occupy Gaza, he can resign.

His comments are published hours before a cabinet meeting this evening to discuss the Gaza occupation plans, indicating he will continue to push against the proposal.

“We are not dealing with theory; we are dealing with matters of life and death, with the defense of the state, and we do so while looking directly into the eyes of our soldiers and the citizens of the country,” Zamir added during the morning assessment, the army says. “We will continue to act with responsibility, integrity, and determination, with only the good of the state and its security before our eyes.”

According to Zamir, the IDF is “now approaching the final stages” of the military offensive against Hamas that was launched in May, which was more limited than the proposal now on the table.

“We have met and even exceeded the operation’s objectives, and we continue to act to ensure long-term security for the communities in the south,” he said.

“We intend to defeat and collapse Hamas. We will continue to act with our hostages in mind, and we will do everything to bring them home,” Zamir added.

Sampling turns up polio in Jerusalem, other cities — ministry

The Health Ministry reports that the polio virus has been detected in sewage samples in the Jerusalem district, as well as in Bnei Brak, Ramle, Lod and in samples from a treatment facility that treats wastewater from the Tel Aviv metro area.

The findings indicate the transmission of the polio virus within the population, the ministry says, though no cases have been reported.

In December, the virus caused paralysis in a 17-year-old boy.

The ministry urges those who are not vaccinated against polio to complete their vaccination as soon as possible.

The vaccines can be obtained at clinics located throughout the country and at student health services.

The ministry also urges health officials to conduct vigorous monitoring and look for early identification of suspected cases.

Iran says it executed nuclear scientist for passing secrets to Mossad

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB says a man executed yesterday for allegedly giving information on Iran’s nuclear program to the Mossad spy agency, was himself a nuclear scientist.

“Key facilities were Fordo and Natanz, for which I sent information. I told them I knew this and that about Fordo, they told me to send everything,” Rouzbeh Vadi says in what IRIB describes as a confession video it airs.

“The entry and exit of nuclear material into the Uranium Conversion Facility and Fuel Manufacturing Plant were very important to them,” says Vadi, who held a PhD in nuclear engineering from Amir Kabir University of Technology.

A voiceover in the video says that Vadi met five times with Mossad agents while in Vienna and was asked to open a cryptocurrency account to receive payment for his services. The defendant says in the video that Mossad had promised him a foreign passport should he complete a long-term collaboration.

IRIB also shares a screenshot of an academic paper presented at an Iranian nuclear conference in 2012 that was written by Vadi as well as Ahmad Zolfaqar and Abdolhamid Minouchehr – two nuclear scientists killed in June by Israel.

In the document, Vadi is introduced as a nuclear researcher at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the country’s top nuclear body.

UK ambassador says would be ‘huge mistake’ for Israel to occupy all of Gaza

UK Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters speaks during a rally calling for the release of Hamas-held hostages, at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, May 18, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Israel deciding to occupy all of Gaza “would be a huge mistake,” says British ambassador to Israel Simon Walters.

Responding to reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet is expected to approve a plan for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip this evening, Walters tells Israeli reporters, “That would be a huge mistake.”

“The IDF has done all that it can do in Gaza — it’s not going to achieve any more by fighting any longer,” he continues.

“Extending the war any further will simply lead to more deaths — deaths of soldiers, deaths of Palestinians, and, likely, deaths of hostages,” Walters says.

He adds that if Israel wants to defeat Hamas, “it can’t do that only militarily, it requires politics and diplomacy, and giving Gazans an alternative [authority] to Hamas” in postwar Gaza.

Poll finds drooping support for breaking Rabbinate monopoly on marriage

Illustrative photo of a couple having a wedding picture taken at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 2011. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Support for freedom of marriage in Israel has declined, with 60 percent of Jewish Israelis now backing the recognition of all types of marriage — down from 67% in 2024 — according to a new survey by the Smith Research Institute commissioned by Hiddush, an organization advocating for religious freedom and equality.

Hiddush has conducted annual polling on the issue in the lead-up to Tu B’Av, the Jewish holiday of love, which this year falls on Saturday. While the surveys have consistently shown a clear majority in favor of breaking the Chief Rabbinate’s exclusive control over marriage, the latest results suggest a slight but notable decrease in support.

This year’s poll surveyed 900 Jewish Israelis and has a margin of error of ±3.3%. A review of past results shows similar variations: support stood at 63% in 2021, 68% in 2019, and 67% in 2017.

The share of Jewish Israelis who say they would personally prefer not to marry in an Orthodox ceremony also dropped slightly — from 50% in 2024 to 47% in 2025. Among those, 14% would choose a Conservative or Reform ceremony, 11% would opt for a civil wedding abroad, another 11% would marry online via Utah’s remote wedding service, and 11% would choose to live together without formal marriage.

Currently, the only way for Jewish couples to legally marry in an official ceremony inside Israel is through a wedding officiated by an Orthodox rabbi recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. However, weddings or civil unions conducted abroad are recognized by the state and offer couples the same legal status.

In March 2023, a landmark High Court ruling also required the Interior Ministry to recognize marriages conducted via online ceremonies offered by Utah.

Hostages’ families set sail to call for loved ones’ release

Relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas sail off Ashkelon on Thursday, August 7, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)

Relatives of Israeli hostages have set sail in a flotilla presented as allowing them to approach the Gaza Strip and get close to their loved ones.

“A boat carrying families of hostages has just departed to sea, heading south to get as close as possible to their loved ones,” a statement from the Hostage Families Forum reads.

More than 20 people boarded several sailboats that departed from the coastal city of Ashkelon carrying yellow flags and posters bearing the images of the hostages, as they shouted their names.

Speaking in English through a megaphone, Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held captive in Gaza, shouts: “Mayday, mayday, mayday. We need all international assistance to rescue the 50 hostages who are nearly two years held by the hand of Hamas.”

“Please, we need international help,” Cohen adds.

According to marine tracker date for one of the boats in the flotilla, the vessel sailed some 2 nautical miles away from Ashkelon before turning back, and never reached closer than 5 nautical miles from Gaza’s waters.

Army razes home of Palestinian accused of aiding deadly Jaffa attack

Palestinians walk in the rubble of the Hebron home of a Palestinian assailant razed by the army overnight, on August 7, 2025. (Wisam Hashlamoun/FLASH90)

IDF troops operating overnight demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of aiding two Hamas terrorists in carrying out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv on October 1 that left seven people dead and 16 wounded, the army says.

Abd al-Rahim Himouni was part of a Hamas cell that planned the deadly attack at a light rail station in the Jaffa area, although he — and another suspect — did not join the two terrorists on the night of the attack because they did not have guns, according to an indictment filed last year.

The military says troops operated in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight to raze Himouni’s home.

The homes of the two terrorists who perpetrated the attack, Ahmed Himouni and Mohammad Mesek, were demolished by the army in March.

As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.

Overnight, IDF troops demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of aiding two Hamas terrorists in carrying out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv on October 1 that left seven people dead and 16 wounded.

Abd al-Rahim Himouni was part of a Hamas cell that planned the deadly attack… pic.twitter.com/09SUcQmRie

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 7, 2025

New head of Knesset defense panel Bismuth backed Haredi UTJ in local elections — report

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth (left) and United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf (right) attend a meeting of the Knesset House Committee, August 4, 2025. (Dani Shem-Tov/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s new chairman, Boaz Bismuth, voted for the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party in municipal elections in Tel Aviv, the Haredi magazine Mishpacha reports.

“Why did I vote for UTJ? As someone who’s raising his kids here, I felt that we need to strengthen our Jewish identity, and UTJ was the most pro-Torah list on the ballot,” the magazine quotes the Likud lawmaker as saying several months ago.

Bismuth was selected to head the key parliamentary committee this week after the previous head of the panel, Yuli Edelstein, refused to advance legislation on ultra-Orthodox army service exemptions acceptable to Haredi politicians, sparking their exit from the government.

Bismuth is thought to have won the job in order to quell a brewing Haredi mutiny, which could threaten the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

Edelstein had proposed a bill that would have imposed harsh sanctions on draft evaders, including the revocation of drivers’ licenses, a ban on flying abroad, a prohibition on applying for civil service jobs, no government subsidies for purchasing an apartment, and cancellations of discounts on public transportation, National Insurance payments, and electricity bills.

According to the Ynet news site, Bismuth intends to submit a new draft of the bill within weeks and hold discussions on it during the current Knesset recess so it can be advanced when the parliament reconvenes in October. The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is slated to hold its first discussion on the topic of enlistment under Bismuth’s leadership on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Bismuth does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“All these attempts to show that Boaz Bismuth is close to the Haredi world, in my opinion, are damaging Bismuth and are damaging the Haredi world, and are certainly disturbing the entire Israeli public, which feels that the Haredi public has abandoned it,” committee member Moshe Tur-Paz of the opposition Yesh Atid party tells The Times of Israel.

In first, senior EU official accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza

European Commission Executive Vice President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera speaks during a press conference in Beijing, on July 14, 2025. (AP/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A senior member of the European Union’s executive says the displacement and killing in Gaza looks very much like genocide, the first commissioner to level that accusation and publicly break with the body’s position on the conflict.

“If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning,” Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s second-highest ranking official, tells Politico in an interview published today.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of carrying out genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel’s mission to the EU does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ribera is the European Commission’s executive vice president, second only in seniority to President Ursula von der Leyen. The Spanish socialist, whose portfolio includes climate and anti-trust issues, is not responsible for EU foreign policy.

“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” Ribera tells Politico.

The European Commission has accused Israel of violating human rights in Gaza, but stopped short of accusing it of genocide.

Leviathan partnership inks $35 billion gas deal with Egypt

Israel's offshore Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Partners in Israel’s Leviathan offshore gas field say they have signed a $35 billion deal to supply energy to Egypt until 2040, in the largest export deal in the country’s history.

Israel’s NewMed Energy, formerly Delek Drilling (part of Yitzhak Tshuva’s Delek Group), which owns a 45.3 percent stake in Leviathan, off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, says the partners will sell a total of about 130 bcm (billion cubic meters) of natural gas to Egypt until 2040, or until all of the contract quantities are fulfilled.

Natural gas from Leviathan, one of the world’s largest deep-water gas discoveries, started to flow to the Israeli domestic market in December 2019. The Leviathan reservoir began exporting natural gas to Egypt in January 2020.

“The deal should pave the way for the expansion of Leviathan and ensure the supply of natural gas to the Israeli market until 2064,” NewMed says.

Smotrich appears in picture next to ‘Death to Arabs’ graffiti, disavows message

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich disavows calls to kill Arabs after the Samaria Regional Council distributes a photograph of him visiting the former West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur in which he can be seen standing and smiling next to graffiti reading “death to Arabs.”

Smotrich’s office says in a statement that the slur was only noticed “after the photo was distributed and of course we completely disavow” its message.

על רקע הכיתוב "מוות לערבים": שר האוצר סמוטריץ' הגיע לש-נור בצפון השומרון, 20 שנה אחרי ההתנתקות ותועד עם הכיתוב ברקע. לצידו, ראש מועצת שומרון יוסי דגן@ItayBlumental
(צילום: רועי חדי מועצה אזורית שומרון) pic.twitter.com/5QTHjGGjUN

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 7, 2025

The picture was taken this morning, as Smotrich visited the site to mark 20 years since its evacuation. The Samaria Regional Council, whose leader Yossi Dagan is also in the picture, later sent out a second press release with the graffiti cropped out.

Smotrich’s office says the media shouldn’t be concerned by “stupid graffiti that no one noticed” but by the minister’s drive to “reverse the expulsion from northern Samaria and resettle Sa-Nur.”

Condemning Smotrich, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid asks, “What in God’s name does the government expect us to say to the world when a photo is published of a senior minister smiling next to the inscription ‘Death to Arabs’?”

In May, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that the government had approved the construction of 22 new West Bank settlements, including Sa-Nur and Homesh, which were forcibly cleared in 2005 alongside Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

El Al offices in Paris vandalized with pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti

The Paris offices of El Al vandalized with red paint and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti, August 7, 2025. (X, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

The Paris offices of Israeli national carrier El Al were vandalized overnight with red paint and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel graffiti, Israeli officials and the airline say.

Pictures posted online show the doors of the offices covered in paint and the words “Free Palestine” daubed in several places in a number of languages, along with graffiti reading “El Al genocide airline.”

Les bureaux parisiens de la compagnie israélienne El Al ont été vandalisés par des militants pro-palestiniens.

En conséquence, El Al a décidé de suspendre la présence de ses équipes à Paris jusqu’à nouvel ordre.

Ce climat de haine est insupportable !

Soutien total à El Al. pic.twitter.com/4QAJYv6n64

— Jérémy Benhaïm (@JeremBenhaim) August 7, 2025

In a statement, the airline says the incident took place while the office was empty and none of its workers were endangered. It says it is working with local authorities to deal with the “severe” act.

“El Al proudly flies the Israeli flag on the tails of its planes, and condemns any type of violence, particularly like these with an antisemitic background,” it says.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev writes on X that the “barbaric and violent act” is the result of French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will recognize a Palestinian state next month, and calls for those responsible to be prosecuted.

“French citizens wake up,” she writes. “Today it’s El Al tomorrow it’s Air France.”

The Israeli embassy in France also shares pictures of the vandalism online and blames “a climate of violent and unrestrained incitement by certain French elected officials” without specifying individuals.

The vandalism comes after a number of other incidents involving the travel industry and Israelis being harassed or discriminated against, in acts thought largely tied to the war in Gaza, but also seen by some as antisemitic in nature.

Lawmakers blast Haredi papers for declaring war over IDF conscription

Secular and national-religious lawmakers slam ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yated Neeman over this morning’s banner headline declaring war on government efforts to enforce the military draft.

“Update for the readers of Yated Neeman: Indeed, there is a war in Israel, but it is in a different place, and people are actually being killed in it,” tweets Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

The banner headline on the front page of the Degel HaTorah party paper simply reads “war” in large white letters against a black background. Degel Torah makes up half of the United Torah Judaism political alliance.

Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer also points at a bombastic headline in Shas mouthpiece HaDerech reading “A war for God: The Torah world is preparing for a determined and unprecedented struggle.”

Yated Neeman and HaDerech’s choice of language is a “desecration of God’s name,” Forer declares, citing the Biblical verse “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?”

“No one pours gasoline on the bonfire of hatred and polarization against the Haredi community more than the editor of Yated Ne’eman, Yisrael Friedman,” Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot writes in a post on X.

“He knows very well that there are currently countless people in the State of Israel paying the price of the terrible, real war happening outside” and “chooses to deliberately poke a finger in the eye” of those who “have lost what is most precious to them,” Sukkot declares, calling on members of the Haredi community to cancel their subscriptions.

High Court sets September 3 hearing for petitions against attorney general’s firing

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, right, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attend a farewell ceremony for then-acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)

The High Court of Justice will hear the petitions against the government’s dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara with an expanded panel of nine judges on September 3.

The panel will be headed by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and includes six conservatives of varying degrees and three liberals, including Amit.

Government watchdog groups and the Yesh Atid party have petitioned the court against the process by which the government fired Baharav-Miara, stating that the changes it made to the dismissal procedure — after initially embarking on a process established in 2000 which it could not complete — are unlawful.

Judge Noam Sohlberg, a conservative who presided over the initial proceedings of the case, has already indicated that the court does not view the new dismissal procedure favorably, and had recommended that the government revert to the old procedure.

The court said following the firing on Monday that it could not take effect until there is a ruling on the procedure, though some in the government have threatened to ignore the bench or place a de facto boycott on Baharav-Miara in the meantime.

Newspapers affiliated with Haredi parties declare ‘war’ over IDF draft after arrests

The front page of Yated Neeman on August 7, 2025, with a headline reading "War." (Screen capture)

Mouthpieces for the ultra-Orthodox Shas and Degel Hatorah parties declare war on efforts to enforce the military draft this morning, following the arrests of two yeshiva students in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

A stark banner headline on the front page of Yated Neeman, an organ of the Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party, simply reads “war” in large white letters against a black background.

The paper accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of “leading a draconian campaign” in an effort “to push the state authorities into an irreversible clash with Torah-observant Haredi Judaism,” adding that efforts to enforce the law against draft evaders had crossed a “red line.”

Shas and UTJ are the forefront of a fight to pass legislation legalizing de facto military draft exemptions enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox community for decades, after the arrangement was struck down by the High Court, prompting the army to begin sending out and enforcing draft orders.

“A war for God: the Torah world is preparing for a determined and unprecedented struggle,” declares the banner headline in Shas’ HaDerech newspaper, in bold white text against a blood-red background.

The paper describes the Haredi community’s “fury and disgust” at the “contemptible” actions of the military leadership, which it says is being pressured by the attorney general and High Court.

Members of Shas’s ruling Council of Torah Sages are engaged in discussions “to decide on the methods of struggle ahead of the determined campaign that will shock the entire world,” it says.

“We will fight with dedication for every yeshiva student, we will not give up on anyone, all members of Haredi Judaism must prepare for the great campaign,” the paper quotes senior rabbis as saying.

Hamevaser, widely considered a mouthpiece for MK Meir Porush of the Agudat Yisrael political faction that makes up the other half of UTJ, rails against the “conscription decree” in a front-page article quoting a verse from the Passover Hagaddah stating that God saves the Jewish people when, in every generation, an enemy arises to destroy them.

“Two brothers were arrested in the dead of night from their home and sent to prison for simply studying Torah,” the newspaper states, adding that “this is no longer theoretical, this is a war.”

“We need to be prepared for the most far-reaching steps to protect the world of Torah,” the paper quotes Porush as saying. He insists that a message must be sent that “harming the Torah of Israel is a declaration of war against 1.39 million Haredi citizens.”

Hostages’ families ask army to resist Gaza takeover plan, urge protest outside decisive meet

The mother of hostage Matan Zangauker calls for Israelis to protest outside a cabinet meeting scheduled for tonight where the country’s political leaders are expected to approve a plan expanding military operations in the Strip, saying Israel is reaching “the point of no return” for a hostage release deal.

Einav Zangauker says on X that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised her he would pursue a deal to free the hostages, “but took advantage of my pain, of the families, of the whole hurt nation [and] killed the deal.”

“Someone who talks about a comprehensive deal doesn’t go and conquer the Strip and put hostages and soldiers in danger,” she writes.

“Netanyahu and his partners are about to condemn [Matan] to death,” she adds in a video statement, calling for protesters to “flood the streets of the nation starting tonight.”

In a separate statement, the Hostage Families Forum urges IDF chief Eyal Zamir to stand up against the plan, but stops short of joining Zangauker’s call for protests.

“Chief of staff, we are asking you to stand strong. You are the supreme commander. Don’t consent to endanger our loved ones,” it says in a statement.

The group says public sentiment supports a deal that will free all 50 hostages, including at least 28 thought to have been killed. “Any other decision will be clearly inhumane and spell disaster for the hostages and the whole of Israel,” the group says.

“The families of the hostages call on IDF commanders at all levels not to act in a way that will endanger hostages’ lives and block the possibility of the return of the bodies,” the statement reads.

The security cabinet is expected to convene at 6 p.m. tonight to decide on the plan, which would aim to bring most of the Strip under IDF control, dismantling Hamas and pressuring it to return the hostages, after talks for a deal broke down last month.

The military has warned such a move would endanger hostages’ lives.

Body of Palestinian activist allegedly shot by settler said returned to family for burial

Awdah Hathaleen (Eldad Rafaeli)

The Israeli military has returned the body of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen from the village of Umm al-Kheir in the southern West Bank to his family for burial, according to an activist group and locals.

A funeral is set to take place at 10 a.m. at the village school, according to Israeli NGO Human Rights Defenders Fund, which says the burial is going ahead after “the parties… reached an agreement.”

Hathaleen, who was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was killed on July 28 as Palestinians confronted armed Israeli settlers allegedly carrying out earthworks on land claimed by the village.

One settler was arrested on suspicion of reckless manslaughter, but was released earlier this week.

A video shows a convoy of cars entering the village, apparently bringing the body for burial.

لحظة وصول الجثمان للقرية.. نساء قرية أم الخير بمسافر يطا جنوب الخليل يتمكن بإضرابهن عن الطعام تحرير جثمان الشهيد عودة الهذالين الذي قتله مستوطن بالرصاص قبل أيام. pic.twitter.com/oEdHg0hGeT

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 7, 2025

Women from the village had staged a hunger strike over the last several days demanding the return of Hathaleen’s body.

According to Hathaleen’s family, the army conditioned the return of the body on holding a limited funeral away from the village.

In a statement, Human Rights Defenders Fund says the army may try to limit attendance and asks foreign diplomats to attend in order to keep Israel to its unspecified commitments.

An area resident tells The Times of Israel he tried to enter Umm al-Kheir this morning in order to attend the funeral, but was blocked by the Israeli army because he is not a resident of the village.

The army had earlier declared the area a closed military zone and cleared out a mourning tent for Hathaleen, video last month showed.

The IDF has not yet commented on the return of Hathaleen’s body.

US envoy says GHF aid sites may begin operating 24 hours a day as mission expands

Palestinians pick up food parcels from a distribution point set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), on June 25, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says Gaza aid sites run by the American-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation plan to begin operating all day and night, as the operation looks to “scale up.”

“The immediate plan is to scale up the number of sites up to 16 and begin to operate them as much as 24 hours a day to get more food to more people more efficiently,” Huckabee tells Fox News.

GHF sites currently only operate a few hours each day. The issue of Palestinians attempting to reach sites before opening hours was apparently a factor in a number of deadly incidents in the first several weeks of GHF’s rollout in which Israeli troops fired “warning shots” at groups of aid seekers showing up at the wrong time.

Despite criticism of the GHF’s operations, Huckabee calls the mission “phenomenal,” saying it has delivered 106 million meals thus far.

The ambassador earlier told Bloomberg News that there was a push to quickly add 12 aid sites to the four currently operated by the GHF, but noted that the plan depended on funding and IDF operations in northern Gaza. The GHF only operates in areas where troops have taken control, outside of Palestinian population centers.

The GHF has long spoken of expanding operations, but has seemingly struggled thus far to keep all four of its sites open simultaneously.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, the expansion will be funded by approximately $1 billion in donations from the US and other countries.

Huckabee’s comments come as Israeli leaders are set to approve a controversial plan to bring vast new areas of northern and central Gaza under IDF control over several months, pushing hundreds of thousands more Palestinian civilians into displacement camps in the southern part of the Strip.

EU official says more being done to get aid to Gazans, but some hurdles persist

Palestinians rush to the site where parachuted aid packages are landing in the central Gaza Strip during an airdrop on August 6, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be very severe, but the situation is trending in the right direction, an EU official tells Reuters.

The official says there were some positive developments regarding fuel delivery, the reopening of some routes, and an upward trend in the number of daily trucks entering the enclave and the repair of some vital infrastructure.

However, the official adds that “significant obstructive factors continue to undermine humanitarian operations and aid delivery to Gaza, notably the lack of a safe operating environment to allow the distribution of aid at scale.”

The comments come after the EU’s foreign policy and humanitarian arms updated member countries late on Wednesday on the status of an agreement reached with Israel last month on boosting humanitarian access to Gaza.

Trump tariffs kick in worldwide, including 15% levied on Israeli goods

Higher US tariffs have come into effect for dozens of economies, including Israel, which is slapped with a 15 percent duty on most goods entering the US.

Talks between Israel and the US had taken place in recent months in a bid to reduce the rate to a baseline of 10%, but failed to bear fruit. Nonetheless, the 15% rate is below the 17% initially announced before Trump put a 90-day freeze on the levies in a bid to negotiate trade deals.

The impact of the imposed US tariffs on Israel’s tech exports, which account for 53% of the country’s total exports to the US, is expected to be limited, as US tariffs will not apply to the export of services, which make up about 70% of Israel’s tech exports. But the remaining 30% — physical goods, mainly machinery, industrial equipment, and similar goods — will be affected by the tariffs.

The US imported $22.2 billion of goods and services from Israel in 2024, $7.4 billion more than it exported to the country.

It is estimated that Israeli exports will take an annual hit of $2 billion to $4 billion due to the new 15% tariffs, and, should they include pharmaceutical and semiconductor components, 20,000 to 33,000 Israelis could lose their jobs, according to Ron Tomer, president of the Israel Manufacturers Association.

Trump says he is planning a 100% tariff on semiconductors produced by companies located outside the US.

UCLA says nearly $600 million in federal funds suspended over anti-Israel protests

Illustrative: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather on the UCLA campus, June 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The University of California, Los Angeles, confirms that US President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding after the government reprimanded the university over anti-Israel protests.

“Currently, a total of approximately $584 million in extra-mural award funding is suspended and at risk,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk says in an update on the university website.

University of California President James Milliken separately says the institution agreed to have talks with the federal government to restore its funding. Milliken says funding “cuts do nothing to address antisemitism.”

The White House has no immediate comment.

The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests.

Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year, some of which descended into violence. Jewish students said they were excluded from parts of campus by demonstrators, while pro-Palestinian protesters alleged they were attacked by violent mobs.

Last week, UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit by some students and a professor who alleged antisemitism. It was also sued this year over the attack on demonstrators at the height of the campus protest movement.

BBC report says Hamas using secret cash stockpile, looted aid to pay off employees and loyalists

Hamas operatives seen as aid trucks arrive in Rafah, Gaza Strip, January 21, 2025. (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)

The BBC reports that Hamas is using a secret method to pay salaries to its tens of thousands of members without the distribution being thwarted by Israel, in a story that also supports Israel’s contention that the terror group has systematically been commandeering humanitarian aid entering the Strip and handing it out to its loyalists while other Gazans starve.

The British broadcaster says it spoke to three Hamas employees who each say they received some NIS 1,000 ($300) within the last week, and that they get around a fifth of their pre-war salaries every 10 weeks.

A senior Hamas official is quoted as saying the terror group stockpiled some $700 million in cash in underground tunnels before launching the October 7, 2023, onslaught, which started the war.

With Israel having previously targeted Hamas salary distributors, the operatives are said to receive encrypted messages on their or their spouses’ phones, inviting them for “tea” at a certain time and place. At the meeting, they are discretely handed over an envelope with cash.

The BBC also reports that Hamas has been taxing traders and selling cigarette packs for up to 100 times their pre-war price to generate revenue.

It cites unnamed Gazan sources as confirming Israel’s longtime claim that significant portions of the humanitarian aid entering Gaza is diverted by the terror group and sold on the black market for inffated prices or handed to loyalists.

Both the terror group and the UN deny systematic looting is taking place.

The report says this has fueled anger at Hamas among residents.

“When the hunger worsened, my children were crying not only from pain but also from watching our Hamas-affiliated neighbors receive food parcels and sacks of flour,” Nisreen Khaled, a single mother in Gaza, is quoted saying. “Are they not the reason for our suffering? Why didn’t they secure food, water and medicine before launching their 7 October adventure?”

Rubio: Gaza humanitarian crisis shouldn’t distract from plight of hostages, need to disband Hamas

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a ceremony at the US State Department in Washington, July 16, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the need to release the remaining hostages and dismantle Hamas should not be overshadowed by the broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“There’s a lot of attention being paid to the humanitarian, and we want to do everything we can to be helpful on the humanitarian problem,” Rubio says in a Fox interview. “But not enough attention [is] being paid to the fact that 20 people [who] had nothing to do with this are being held hostage in tunnels on the verge of death, and no real talk about how Hamas needs to be disarmed and disbanded.”

He says the three issues are interrelated and the Trump administration is committed to addressing each of them.

“Ultimately, Hamas cannot continue to exist. Even the Arab League says it,” Rubio adds, referring to components of last month’s New York Declaration, which was part of France’s initiative tied to Paris’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — something that Rubio came out vehemently against.

“As long as Hamas exists as an armed group in Gaza, there will not be peace, there will not be a peaceful future — because it’s going to happen again. And this can never happen again,” Rubio says.

US to ease human rights criticism of Israel and other nations, Washington Post reports

The US State Department’s annual human rights reports show that President Donald Trump’s administration aims to scale back Washington’s criticism of certain foreign nations with records of rights abuse, the Washington Post reports.

The newspaper cites leaked drafts of the reports for Israel, Russia and El Salvador and says those are significantly shorter than the ones prepared by the administration of Democratic former president Joe Biden.

The State Department has not yet officially released this year’s reports, which cover last year’s incidents. Usually, these annual reports are released around March or April each year.

US charges suspect in killing of Israeli Embassy staffers with hate crimes, paving way to seeking death penalty

Left: Yaron Lischinsky and his partner Sarah Milgrim, employees of the Israeli Embassy in the US, killed in a shooting in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025, in an undated photo. (Israeli Embassy, Washington); Right: The suspect in the shooting, Elias Rodriguez, shouts 'Free Palestine' as he is arrested. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The US brings federal hate crime charges against the suspect accused of fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a museum in Washington, DC, in May, alleging he targeted them because they were Israelis, court papers show.

The nine-count indictment returned against Elias Rodriguez accuses him of carrying out a hate crime resulting in death motivated by the “actual and perceived national origin of any person.”

The indictment also includes notice of special findings, which would allow the Justice Department to potentially pursue the death penalty.

Rodriguez has previously been charged with first-degree murder and murder of a foreign official. The hate crimes charges have been added after prosecutors brought the case to a grand jury. It means prosecutors will be tasked with proving Rodriguez was motivated by antisemitism

Rodriguez is accused of fatally shooting Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, a young couple who were about to be engaged to be married. Lischinsky and Milgrim were leaving a May 21 event for young professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum and hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.

He was heard shouting “Free Palestine” as he was led away after his arrest. He told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” federal authorities have said.

The indictment by a federal grand jury comes ahead of a scheduled court appearance in Rodriguez’s case on Friday.

It alleges Rodriguez has a history of violent rhetoric online against Israelis, including a plea to “vaporize every Israeli 18 and above.”

Report: Trump mulling whether to intervene against Mamdani in NYC mayoral race

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Lehigh Valley International Airport, August 3, 2025, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US President Donald Trump is privately weighing whether to involve himself in the New York City mayoral race to try and unite the opposition to Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani behind a single opponent, The New York Times reports, citing eight unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.

Mamdani, a staunchly anti-Israel candidate who surprisingly beat Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, has vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits, in accordance with an International Criminal Court warrant. Trump has publicly said he would intervene if that happens, and experts say the move would likely overstep what US mayors can do.

The report says Trump has spoken with top pollsters and with Cuomo himself in a bid to decide whether to throw his weight behind one of the anti-Mamdani candidates, who also include independent incumbent Eric Adams, but that the president is yet to make a decision.