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The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they unfolded.
Starmer expected to press Trump on ending Gaza war in Scotland talks Monday
US President Donald Trump, right, speaks to Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a North Atlantic Council plenary meeting during the the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo Kin Cheung, Pool)
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will press Donald Trump on ending “the unspeakable suffering” in Gaza when they meet at the US president’s golf resort in Scotland today, a Downing Street spokesperson says.
The meeting at Turnberry, southwestern Scotland, comes as European countries express growing alarm at the situation in Gaza, and as Starmer faces domestic pressure to follow France’s lead and recognize a Palestinian state.
Starmer is expected to “welcome the president’s administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza,” a Downing Street spokesperson says.
“He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long,” they add.
Man killed, three others injured in shooting in Muqeible, northern Israel
A man in his 30s was shot dead in the Arab town of Muqeible in northern Israel earlier tonight, and three others were moderately and lightly injured.
The shooting victim is identified in Hebrew media reports as Ibrahim Ziadat, and the injured men are said to be his relatives.
Police have opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
In total, 147 members of the Arab community have died in violent circumstances since the beginning of the year amid an unrelenting crime wave plaguing Arab locales throughout Israel.
Houthis threaten to target any ships that do business with Israeli ports
Yemen’s Houthis say they will target any ships belonging to companies that do business with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationalities, as part of what the rebel group calls the fourth phase of its military operations against Israel.
In a televised statement, the Houthis’ military spokesperson warns that ships will be attacked if companies ignore their warnings, regardless of their destination.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces call on all countries, if they want to avoid this escalation, to pressure the enemy to halt its aggression and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip,” he adds.
UN aid chief reports some ‘progress’ in easing Gaza aid movement restrictions
People carry food parcels and bags in the al-Mawasi camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, that were picked up from the Rafah corridor on July 27, 2025. (AFP)
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher says that some movement restrictions appear to have been eased by Israel in Gaza today, after Israel decided to “support a one-week scale-up of aid.”
Fletcher says in a statement that initial reports indicate that more than 100 truckloads of aid were collected from crossings to be transported into Gaza.
“This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis,” he adds.
He says that the UN will try to reach “as many starving people” as possible within the one-week window.
Meanwhile, the UN’s World Food Programme says it has enough food in, or on its way to, the region to feed the over 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip for almost three months.
Netanyahu: Israel allowed in aid throughout war, ‘otherwise, there would be no Gazans’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a Christian conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, July 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Speaking at a Christian conference in Jerusalem hosted by adviser to US President Donald Trump and prominent evangelical pastor Paula White, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses claims that Israel is starving civilians in Gaza and praises the Christian-Israeli bond.
“There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,” the premier tells participants at the event, saying Israel has “enabled the amount required by international law to come in,” and has delivered “1.9 million tons of aid since the beginning of the war” in October 2023.
Israel “enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war… Otherwise, there would be no Gazans,” he continues.
In response to growing international pressure last week, Netanyahu significantly expanded the amount of and the access points for humanitarian aid into Gaza — marking a dramatic shift from Israel’s previous policy since March.
Netanyahu blames Hamas for intercepting supplies and then “accusing Israel of not supplying it.”
He says that Israel’s decision to implement humanitarian pauses came after some “well-intended” agencies, as well as the United Nations, made “excuses” not to deliver aid behind combat zones, despite there having been “safe corridors.”
“So we’ve just announced that formally. Here are safe corridors, and the UN has no excuses left. No excuses left. Stop lying… Stop accusing Israel deliberately of this egregious falsehood.”
Netanyahu thanks evangelical supporters for standing with Israel against false allegations, saying, “We have an eighth front — the battle for truth. And I can think of no one who can carry this battle alongside with us… better than [our] many Christian friends.”
He warns that the Israeli-Christian alliance is “being challenged today by… Islamist fundamentalism that seeks to subjugate all Muslims that they view as infidels, eradicate the American, and obviously the Israeli, presence in the Middle East.”
Referencing joint US-Israel military efforts against Iran last month, Netanyahu declares, “We fight them together… We shall win it together. We have great faith in your faith and in our faith… We can win this war exactly as we win the seven-front war.”
Freed hostage Ofer Calderon joins Israeli team for last leg of Tour de France
Former hostage Ofer Calderon, right, riding on the Champs-Elysees in Paris at the end of the Tour de France, on July 27, 2025 (Noa Arnon)
Former hostage Ofer Calderon, a longtime cyclist, joined as a special guest of Israel-Premier Tech, the country’s professional cycling team, at the final stage of the 2025 Tour de France along the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Calderon was taken hostage on October 7 from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with two of his four children. His children were released during the November 2023 ceasefire, and he was released home more than a year later, in February 2025.
“I’m still in shock that I’m here on a bike at the Tour de France,” says Calderon. “I’ve never been to Paris, certainly not on a bicycle… I’m so emotional to be here with the team. But I’m also torn: this joy can’t be complete because, alongside all these emotions, it’s very hard to deal with what’s happening to me and to all the people of Israel — that we still have hostages in Gaza, our soldiers are there, and some are being killed. So nothing will be complete until they’re all back home. It’s time to end this story and bring everyone back.”
Calderon rode alongside philanthropist Sylvan Adams, the owner of Israel–Premier Tech, who held a global cycling event for Calderon on the 100th day of his captivity, riding with Erez Calderon, 12, at Tel Aviv’s velodrome. At the time, Adams said that when Ofer would be released, he would ride alongside him at the Tour de France.
Israel Premier-Tech is marking its sixth consecutive appearance at the Tour de France, and dedicated this year’s race to the hostages still held in Gaza, featuring their faces and name on the team vehicles.
“I’m an optimistic person by nature,” says Calderon. “That didn’t change in the 484 days I spent in Gaza. In that sense, I remained the same Ofer. Hope is what kept me going there. I believed I’d get out. I believed I’d ride again. And here I am, with that unique feeling every cyclist knows. I held onto that there. I didn’t give up. And now I’m here.”
Man arrested after shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ aboard easyJet flight to Scotland
Counterterrorism agents are investigating after a man was arrested off an easyJet flight as it arrived in the Scottish city of Glasgow, police say.
“We received a report of a man causing a disturbance on a flight arriving in Glasgow around 8:20 a.m. on Sunday, 27 July, 2025,” Police Scotland say in a statement. “Officers boarded the plane on its arrival and a 41-year-old man was arrested and remains in custody. Enquiries are continuing.”
Unverified videos spreading online appear to show a man standing up at the back of the plane shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) before being tackled to the ground by a passenger.
EasyJet flight U2609 declared an emergency on approach to Glasgow this morning due to an unruly passenger making threats
The aircraft, operating a scheduled flight from Luton to Glasgow, landed safely at 08:25 BST. The passenger was removed from the aircraft by police. ????@nyssa7 pic.twitter.com/iF7uSNPsHO
— jappers (@Jappers69) July 27, 2025
Police say they are “aware of videos circulating online and these are being assessed by counterterrorism officers.”
EasyJet confirms in a statement sent to AFP that a passenger had been removed today from flight EZY609 from Luton to Glasgow “due to their behavior onboard.”
Hamas leader says group was ‘surprised’ that Israel pulled out of ceasefire talks
Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya during an interview in Istanbul, April 24, 2024. (AP/ Khalil Hamra, File)
A senior Hamas leader says in a speech that there was progress made in talks with Israel and that the terror group was surprised by the Israeli withdrawal.
Khalil al-Hayya, currently based in Qatar and a member of the group’s negotiating team, says that “in the last round of negotiations, there was clear progress. We agreed to a large portion of what the mediators proposed, and they conveyed to us positive responses from the Zionist occupation. We were surprised that the occupation withdrew from the negotiations,” and that US special envoy Steve Witkoff “was coordinated with them.”
Al-Hayya adds that there is no point in “continuing talks under a siege of destruction and starvation… We reject the disgraceful spectacle of so-called aid airdrops. The real step is to open the crossings and allow aid in a dignified manner for our people.”
The Hamas leader also issues a sharp critique directed at Egypt for not aiding Gaza, saying: “Egypt’s leadership, its army and its tribes — will your brothers in Gaza die of hunger while at your border?” He asks Cairo to “declare resolutely that Gaza will not die of hunger, and it will not accept that the Rafah crossing remains closed to the people of Gaza.”
Earlier today, Egyptian sources reported that aid trucks began entering Gaza from Egypt for the first time since the January ceasefire.
3 activists aboard Gaza flotilla agree to immediate deportation, says legal group
A screenshot taken from live footage of the Handala activist boat trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza as it is boarded by Israeli Navy forces, on July 26, 2025. (Screenshot: Salaamedia on Youtube)
Lawyers for most of the activists aboard a flotilla heading to Gaza and intercepted by Israel last night say that three of the detainees have agreed to be deported immediately.
Legal rights center Adalah says in a statement that “the authorities presented them with two options: either agree to so-called ‘voluntary deportation,’ or remain in detention and appear before a tribunal, to have their continued detention pending deportation reviewed.”
According to Adalah, three detainees — an Italian, an American, and a French member of parliament, Gabrielle Cathala — agreed to be deported and are expected to leave Israel in the coming hours.
The two US-Israeli nationals aboard the boat, Bob Suberi and Huwaida Arraf, were interrogated by Israeli police and released, while 12 international activists — including another left-wing French MP, Emma Fourreau — refused to sign voluntary deportation orders and are still in Israeli custody, pending legal hearings, the organization says.
The remaining four detainees, including a pair of Al Jazeera journalists, have retained private counsel.
IDF halts training activity during heatwave after troops hurt by heatstroke
IDF troops are seen on the outskirts of Gaza City's Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, July 23, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/ Times of Israel)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered a halt to all training activity in the military until July 29, due to a heat wave, the military says.
Earlier today, 16 soldiers operating in southern Gaza were hospitalized with suspected heatstroke.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: ‘There’s no way to negotiate’ end to war with Hamas
US Senator Lindsey Graham makes remarks to journalists in Jerusalem, October 8, 2024. (AP/ Maya Alleruzzo)
A leading Republican senator suggests that Israel will not be able to negotiate a satisfactory end to the war in Gaza and will have to take over the Strip.
“I think President Trump has come to believe, and I certainly have come to believe, there’s no way you’re going to negotiate an end of this war with Hamas,” Sen. Lindsey Graham says in an interview on NBC News.
“They’re going to do in Gaza what we did in Tokyo and Berlin, take the place by force and start over again, presenting a better future for the Palestinians, hopefully having the Arabs take over the West Bank and Gaza,” says Graham, a longtime supporter of Israel, frequent visitor to the Jewish state, and friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also asserts that there may be some Hamas members who “would accept safe passage if they release the hostages,” suggesting that Israel should make such an offer.
Earlier this year, Trump made a surprising proclamation that the US would take over the Gaza Strip, displace its population, and turn the area into a resort, but he appears to have since backed down from the idea.
Responding to reprimand, French embassy expresses support for ‘democratic, demilitarized Palestinian state’
After France’s deputy ambassador was summoned for a reprimand, France’s embassy says that Paris’s intention to recognize a state of Palestine is “consistent with France’s long-standing position based on a two-state solution, living side by side in peace and security.”
“It expresses France’s desire to advance the process without further delay, in light of the unjustifiable humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the unacceptable escalation of violence, settlement expansion and annexation threats in the West Bank,” says the embassy.
The French statement adds that the aim is to “leverage the decision regarding sovereignty to initiate a process that will lead to a clear and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism, with no ambiguity regarding the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, paving the way for the complete disarmament of Hamas, and the establishment of a democratic, demilitarized Palestinian state that implements the commitments it has undertaken regarding internal reforms and the fight against radicalization.”
France adds that Israel will always be a “top-tier partner,” and that dialogue on key international issues, especially Iran, will continue.
Starmer reportedly recalling his cabinet from summer break to discuss Gaza
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing street, in central London, on July 21, 2025, to attend a Parliamentary Liaison Committee hearing. (Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Financial Times reports, in light of growing pressure on the Labour government to recognize a Palestinian state.
Starmer’s office does not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the report.
The paper says the move to recall his cabinet of ministers next week was set out today by Downing Street. The UK parliament and cabinet are currently in a summer recess until September 1.
The recall comes after Starmer said Friday the British government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action.
More than 220 members of parliament in the UK, representing about a third of the House of Commons and mostly Labour members, wrote to Starmer on Friday urging him to recognize a Palestinian state.
Palestinian families in West Bank hamlet said to flee due to settler attacks
Several families from the Palestinian West Bank hamlet of Deir Alla have abandoned the dwelling in the face of several settler attacks over the last few days, and the establishment of a settler outpost in the hamlet, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.
The head of Kisan Village Council, which is close to Deir Alla, is quoted by Wafa as saying that settlers vandalized homes in the dwelling yesterday, destroyed solar panels and the local water network and looted some belongings.
Head of the council Mousa Abiyyat states that following the attack, settlers came back later in the day and threatened the residents with severe consequences if they did not leave the hamlet, leading several families to flee.
According to Haaretz, 17 families have now abandoned Deir Alla, following the violence of the last few days and the establishment of the outpost on Wednesday.
Saturday’s incidents followed an arson attack against several homes in the hamlet overnight Friday.
IDF forces who arrived at the scene detained several suspects on suspicion of involvement in the incident and handed them over to the police, the IDF spokesperson’s unit says.
Officials say that the police then released them after questioning them in the field, although the police have denied that any suspects were detained or arrested at all.
WHO says malnutrition reaching ‘alarming levels’ in Gaza
Palestinian walk carrying sacks of flour near Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on July 27, 2025, after trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered into northern Gaza from Israel. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Malnutrition rates are reaching “alarming levels” in the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization warns, saying the “deliberate blocking” of aid was entirely preventable and had cost many lives.
“Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July,” the WHO says in a statement, adding: “Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting.”
Israel today began humanitarian pauses, boosting aid shipments and airdrops of food across Gaza after weeks of heavy international pressure.
16 IDF soldiers operating in Gaza hospitalized with heatstroke
IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, in a handout cleared for publication on July 4, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Sixteen IDF soldiers were hospitalized earlier today due to suspected heatstroke during operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the military says.
One of the soldiers is listed in moderate condition, while the others are lightly hurt.
Temperatures hit 36°C (96.8°F) in the Gaza area today.
Israel summons French diplomat for reprimand over recognition of Palestinian state
Foreign Ministry director general Eden Bar-Tal summons France’s deputy ambassador Mikaël Griffon for a reprimand at ministry headquarters in Jerusalem, over French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement last week that Paris would recognize a Palestinian state.
The summons was ordered by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Bar-Tal says that “France chose to harm Israel at its most difficult hour.”
He also accuses France of undermining talks for a hostage release deal with Hamas, as well as future negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
“France’s declarations, which presume to determine what is right for Israel’s security instead of the democratically elected government of Israel, reflect an unfounded arrogance that harms Israel’s sovereignty,” Bar-Tal adds.
He says that Macron ignored his own conditions for such a move and that relying on a letter from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is “hypocrisy.”
France’s ambassador Frédéric Journès is away on vacation.
Trump: Israel will ‘have to make a decision’ on future of Gaza war
US President Donald Trump in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
Asked about the images of starving children coming out of Gaza, US President Donald Trump tells reporters: “It’s terrible.”
But then he pivots to say, “They’re stealing the food,” money, and weapons, without specifying who he is talking about, likely alluding to the Hamas terror group.
Trump laments that the US donated $60 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and did not get a thank you, while no other country has given anything.
The actual figure is $30 million. The US is also far from the only country to donate humanitarian aid and is not even the largest donor, as the United Arab Emirates give a larger percentage of assistance.
Commenting on the state of the war after the US and Israel pulled their negotiators out of Doha amid anger at Hamas’s latest response, Trump says “Israel will have to make a decision.”
“I know what I would do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to say it,” he says.
He reiterates his claim that he predicted the breakdown in talks, saying Hamas would not want to release the final hostages because it would lose its last bargaining chip.
REPORTER: Should Israel be doing more to allow food in Gaza?
TRUMP: Say it?
REPORTER: Should Israel be doing more to allow food in Gaza?
TRUMP: What is she saying?
SOMEONE ELSE: Should Israel be doing more to allow food in Gaza?
TRUMP: You really at least want to have… pic.twitter.com/BJhUIXdxzM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2025
UAE and Jordan airdropped 28 packages of aid in Gaza, says IDF
Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Gaza City, as seen from southern Israel, July 27, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Aircraft from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan airdropped 28 packages of humanitarian aid in the northern and southern Gaza Strip today, the Israeli military says.
The IDF says the airdrops were carried out “in accordance with the directives from the political echelon and as part of the cooperation between Israel, the UAE, and Jordan.”
The airdrops are part of a “series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip,” the military says.
“The IDF will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza,” it adds.
IDF spokesman: Israel ‘cares about the nutrition of Gazans more than Hamas does’
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, July 27, 2025. (AP/ Mohamed Arafat)
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie reiterates that the military is not subjugating the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to starvation, saying that Israel cares more about Gazan civilians than Hamas does.
“We are continuing to lead a process of bringing humanitarian aid, while continuing the fighting. Israel is the one that initiated the [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation] aid distribution sites… This is to prevent famine in Gaza,” Defrin says in a press conference.
“We are securing four [GHF] sites, allowing convoys and carrying out airdrops. Additionally, we designated humanitarian corridors that will allow safe travel for convoys of the UN and internal organizations. This is in addition to pauses in the fighting, to allow the civilians to collect the aid,” he says.
Defrin asserts that Hamas is stealing aid from the Gazan civilians, hiding it in tunnels, and at the same time carrying out a “false campaign on starvation in the Gaza Strip.”
“The photos emerging from Gaza are difficult, and they are part of this false campaign,” he claims.
“I want to be clear, there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip. We are operating according to international law, monitoring the situation every day, and acting accordingly,” Defrin says.
“We care about the nutrition of the residents of Gaza more than Hamas does. Hamas works intentionally to worsen the condition of the population. Hamas tries with all its might to sabotage the [GHF] aid distribution sites and the arrival of the aid to the Strip,” he adds.
Arab communal leaders launch 3-day hunger strike against Gaza starvation, reject new aid policy as PR stunt
Sakhnin Mayor Mazen Ghanayim (4th from left) speaks during an Arab community press conference in Jaffa, July 27, 2025. (Noam Lehmann/Times of Israel)
Arab lawmakers and community leaders hold a press conference in Jaffa marking the end of the first day of a three-day hunger strike over the starvation in Gaza.
The strike is part of a burgeoning anti-war campaign in the Arab community that included a 10,000-strong demonstration in Sakhnin on Friday. The community leaders are also planning a demonstration outside the US Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Responding to a question from The Times of Israel, Mohammad Barakeh, head of the High Follow-up Committee, an umbrella organization representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, says the strike was decided upon weeks ago, and indicates that the organizers were unimpressed by Israel’s announcement last night that it would increase the flow of aid into Gaza.
According to Barakeh, the aid entering Gaza under the new Israeli measures is not nearly enough to feed the Strip’s population.
“This is not an operation to save lives,” he says. “This is is a public relations operation that follows international pressure and the horrifying pictures that are circulating in the world.” He also says the Follow-up Committee has for months had plans in place to send and distribute aid, and accuses Israeli authorities of refusing the scheme.
Among the participants in the press conference are lawmakers Mansour Abbas, Ahmed Tibi and Aida Touma-Saliman — respectively of the three Arab parties currently represented in the Knesset, Ra’am, Ta’al and Hadash — as well as Sami Abu Shehadeh and Sakhnin Mayor Mazen Ghanayim, leading members of the Balad party. Also in attendance is Amos Goldberg, a Hebrew University Holocaust scholar who has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. With the exception of Goldberg, who speaks only in Hebrew, and Ghanayim, who speaks only in Arabic, the speakers deliver their statements in both languages.
Speakers call for an end to the war and immediate release of the hostages. They also accuse Israeli media and Zionist political parties of whitewashing the situation in Gaza, and praise French President Emmanuel Macron for his decision to recognize Palestinian statehood in September.
“I’m waiting for Britain to do the same, because Britain’s historic and moral debt is greater than France’s,” says Tibi. He also gives special thanks to Jewish Israelis who attended the Sakhnin demonstration.
Goldberg, the only Jewish speaker at the conference, says: “We are here in the name of Jewish history, and Jewish history commands us, ‘You shall not stand by the blood of your fellow.'”
Syria expected to hold parliamentary election in September
Syria is expected to hold its first parliamentary election under the new administration in September, the head of the electoral process tells state news agency SANA.
Voting for the People’s Assembly is expected to take place September 15-20, adds the official, Mohamed Taha.
Israel boosted aid to Gaza to avoid European sanctions, says minister
Energy Minister Eli Cohen announces in a video message to social media that Israel will cut off the flow of electricity to the Gaza Strip, on March 9, 2024. (Screen capture via X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Energy Minister Eli Cohen says that the decision to boost humanitarian aid into Israel was made in part in order to avoid European sanctions.
“Hamas wants to reach a situation where there will be decisions made against the State of Israel on the international stage, to reach a goal that the war will end and it will continue to exist,” says Cohen in an interview with Kan’s Reshet Bet radio, adding that Israel “did not fall into this trap.”
Cohen, who previously served as foreign minister, says that “the Foreign Ministry held meetings with their counterparts in Europe, and in order to prevent European sanctions on Israel, it was decided to advance these steps,” including approving a new water pipeline.
A meeting of EU foreign ministers earlier this month decided against adopting punitive measures against Israel but demanded “more concrete steps” in boosting aid to the Strip to avoid any further diplomatic sanctions.
12 Palestinians reported killed near Gaza aid distribution center
Twelve Palestinians in Gaza have been reported killed near an aid distribution center south of Gaza City.
The Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat announces that it has received 12 bodies, including four children, and over 100 people who were injured following an IDF attack near an aid distribution center south of Gaza City along the Netzarim corridor.
The facility is believed to be a distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. It is unclear from the reports whether the fire involved an airstrike, shelling or small arms fire.
In response, the IDF says in a statement that “a group of suspects was identified gathering near IDF forces operating in central Gaza, in a manner that posed a threat to the troops.”
The military says that troops “fired warning shots to drive them away” and asserts that no injuries were reported. The shooting was several hundred meters away from the aid distribution area and was before it began operating, the IDF adds.
The military announced earlier today that will be implementing humanitarian pauses from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m. in areas where the IDF is currently not operating with ground troops, including al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City.
Soldier wounded in elevator collapse at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv
A soldier was seriously wounded in an elevator collapse at the military’s Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv earlier today, the IDF announces.
The circumstances of the accident are under investigation by the Military Police, the IDF says. The findings of the Military Police probe will be sent to the Military Advocate General for review.
UK’s FM: Israeli increase in aid entering Gaza is ‘essential’ but not enough
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivers a keynote speech on 'Diplomacy in the Digital Age,' during his official visit to Singapore on July 12, 2025. (Roslan RAHMAN / AFP)
Israel’s decision to pause military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors falls short of what is needed to alleviate suffering in the enclave, says Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Lammy says in a statement that Israel’s announcement is “essential but long overdue,” and that access to aid must now be urgently accelerated over the coming hours and days.
“This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza,” Lammy says. “We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered.”
2 Hezbollah members killed in Israeli drone strike, says IDF
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the village of Dimashqiah in the southern Lebanese province of Jezzine on July 24, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Two members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force were killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Debaal yesterday, the IDF announces.
The strike killed Muhammad Haidar Abboud, an operations officer, and another unnamed operative responsible for artillery in the unit, according to the military.
The IDF says the pair were involved in efforts to restore the Radwan force’s capabilities and planning attacks against Israel.
“Their activities constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military adds.
Netanyahu: The UN is lying about Israel not allowing aid into Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Defense Minister Israel Katz visit the Ramon Airbase in southern Israel on July 27, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
During a visit to the Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev Desert, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explains that Israel has to let in supplies to Gaza no matter where the war goes from here.
“We will eliminate Hamas,” he pledges.
“In order to complete this goal, and also the release of our hostages, we are making progress in fighting and negotiating,” says Netanyahu. “In any path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies. We have done this until now.”
Last week, amid accusations that Israel was starving Gazans, Netanyahu drastically increased the amount and channels of aid entering Gaza, a sharp departure from Israel’s policy since March.
The prime minister also accuses the UN of lying about Israel: “It says we are not allowing humanitarian supplies to enter. It is allowed. There are secured convoys. There have been all along, but today it is official. There will be no more excuses. We will continue to fight, we will continue to act until we achieve all of our war goals — until complete victory.”
Home of Chabad rabbi in Dnipro, Ukraine, hit by Russian missile
The building where Rabbi Moshe Weber lives that was hit by a missile in Dnipro, Ukraine, July 26, 2025. (Courtesy)
The home of a Chabad rabbi in Dnipro was hit during a deadly Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city early Saturday.
Rabbi Moshe Weber was asleep at 3:45 am in his central Dnipro apartment with his wife and four of his 11 children when a Russian missile hit the residential tower.
He and his family had returned days earlier from a Chabad camp in Poland, and had heard specific warnings that the next few days could be tumultuous, he tells The Times of Israel. However, he and his family decided to sleep in their beds after their Shabbat meal, instead of spending the night in the parking garage under the building that serves as a makeshift bomb shelter.
They were suddenly woken by a powerful blast. “I felt it was really, really close to us, and then I saw from the window that bricks were falling and broken windows,” says Weber.
His kids “woke up in a frenzy,” Weber recalls. “We opened the door, and then we heard the shock of the sirens, the fire. Total darkness and the water pipes burst.”
When they reached the street below they looked up and saw that their own building had been hit, and flames were pouring out of the 26th floor where the missile hit. Two of Weber’s neighbors were killed.
The Webers were allowed back in at 7:30 a.m., and saw that although their balcony was damaged, there was no damage inside the apartment. But only after the Jewish Sabbath when he read about the attack did he realized how lucky his family was. “I said, what a miracle.”
“We are Chabad emissaries who are here and are not afraid of anything and are here for the local Jews who need us more than ever and we try to do what is incumbent on us,” says Weber. “The [Lubavitcher] Rebbe watches over us, the Holy One, blessed be He, is watching over us.”
Weber heads Kolel Torah in Ukraine, a network of Torah learning centers operating with over 5,000 participants.
Earlier this month, the car of Kherson rabbi Yossi Wolf was hit by a drone, and he too was not hurt.
Dozens of Jews from Dnipro have been killed fighting against the Russians, says Weber.
“It was a very difficult night in Dnipro,” adds Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of the Jewish communities of Ukraine. “I don’t recall such intense and massive bombardments — and we’ve had rockets several times a week — since the war began three and a half years ago. There’s clearly a significant escalation in recent months, and we, the civilians, feel it firsthand.”
“It is time to end this war and put a stop to the terrorism that continues to claim the lives of innocent civilians and soldiers on the battlefield every week,” says Stambler.
3 IDF soldiers dismissed and jailed for refusing to return to Gaza fighting
IDF troops of the Nahal Brigade operate in the Gaza Strip, in images released on June 5, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Three IDF soldiers serving in the Nahal Infantry Brigade have been dismissed from combat duty and jailed for insubordination, the military says.
The case was first reported by the Kan public broadcaster and later confirmed by the IDF.
According to Kan, four soldiers in Nahal’s 931st Battalion were dismissed from combat for refusing to enter Gaza after several rounds of fighting in the Strip.
Three were sentenced and will serve seven to 12 days in jail, while the fourth has not yet been sentenced.
Kan reports that the four told their commanders that they cannot enter Gaza again because of “a deep internal crisis.”
The IDF responds to the report by saying that the three standing army soldiers of the Nahal Brigade “refused to enter the fighting in the Gaza Strip.”
The army notes that the soldiers met with a mental health officer, “who determined that they were fit to participate in combat.”
“After a disciplinary procedure, the fighters stood by their refusal and were therefore sentenced to imprisonment in a military prison,” the IDF says.
The IDF says that the case was handled with “sensitivity and in accordance with orders,” adding that it views “insubordination gravely, especially during combat, and will continue to uphold discipline and command values.”
‘This is not the Austria I know,’ says Israeli envoy following anti-Israel incident
Israeli Ambassador to Austria David Roet says he is “outraged and heartbroken” by Israeli cellist Amit Peled’s account this morning that a waiter at a restaurant in Vienna refused to serve him and two fellow Israeli musicians after hearing them speak Hebrew.
Peled notes in a social media post that after the incident occurred on Friday, the nearby diners reacted with discomfort but ultimately resumed their meals in silence.
“That such a vile act could take place in 2025, in the heart of Europe, and in Vienna of all places, is beyond belief. THIS IS NOT THE AUSTRIA I KNOW,” Roet continues in a post on X.
“Condemnations are not enough. Action is needed,” Roet says further, saying he expects that the Austrian federal authorities and the city of Vienna to “respond swiftly and decisively.”
Police: 57 arrested, 17 officers hurt in yesterday’s anti-Israel rally in Berlin
Berlin police say they arrested 57 people during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the fringes of the city’s yearly Pride march yesterday, adding that 17 police officers sustained injuries.
According to police, about 10,000 demonstrators participated in the rally yesterday in support of Palestinians, but authorities moved in to disperse the crowd as organizers struggled to restore order.
The arrests were related to public order disturbances, including resisting police and throwing bottles or physical altercation, but also the use of antisemitic slogans as well as “symbols of anti-constitutional and terrorist organizations,” police write on social media.
The “Internationalist Queer Pride for Liberation” movement, which on its website says there is “no queer liberation without anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and anti-Zionist struggle,” organized the rally.
The pro-Palestinian demonstration took place as Berlin’s annual Pride parade was being held in another city district, where 64 arrests were also made, for insults, assault and also the alleged use of symbols deemed linked to “terrorist organizations.”
Katz threatens Khamenei, saying Israel can reach Tehran again — ‘and you personally’
Defense Minister Israel Katz visits the Ramon Airbase on July 27, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz issues a threat to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just over a month after a ceasefire ended the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
“I want to convey a clear message to Khamenei the dictator,” says Katz in a visit to the Ramon Airbase in southern Israel, according to his office. “If you continue to threaten Israel, our long arm will again reach Tehran and with even greater force — and this time to you personally. Do not threaten, lest you be harmed.”
In phone call, Germany’s Merz urges Netanyahu to quickly provide aid to ‘starving’ Gazans
FRANKFURT, Germany — Germany’s chancellor called on Israel’s prime minister to quickly provide aid to “starving” civilians in Gaza, in a phone call today between the two leaders.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz “expressed his deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” a government statement says.
“He called on Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu to do everything in his power to achieve an immediate ceasefire. He urged him to provide the starving civilian population in Gaza with urgently needed humanitarian aid now. This aid must reach the civilian population quickly, safely, and in the required quantities.”
Jordan and UAE airdrop humanitarian aid to Gaza
Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Gaza City, as seen from southern Israel, July 27, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Jordan’s official news agency announced that three aircraft from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped 25 tons of aid into the Gaza Strip in the past hour.
Yesterday, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed announced that his country would immediately resume aerial aid deliveries, stating that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had reached “a critical and unprecedented stage.”
3 طائرات أردنية وإماراتية تسقط 25 طن مساعدات على غزة#عمون #غزة pic.twitter.com/SNXEEwOtGC
— وكالة عمون الاخبارية (@ammonnews) July 27, 2025
Bedouin reconnaissance unit commander, tracker seriously wounded by explosive device in Rafah; 2 other soldiers also hurt
Four IDF soldiers, including a senior commander, were wounded by an explosive device during operations in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier today, the military announces.
The commander of the Desert Reconnaissance Unit — commonly known as the Bedouin reconnaissance unit — who holds the rank of lieutenant colonel, was seriously wounded in the incident.
A reservist tracker in the unit was also seriously wounded, and two other officers were listed in moderate and light condition, according to the IDF.
The four troops were taken to hospitals and their families were notified, the army adds.
UN aid agency hopes humanitarian pauses in Gaza will allow surge in food aid
The World Food Program hopes that an Israeli humanitarian pause in designated areas of the Gaza Strip will allow for a surge in urgently needed food aid to the region, it says.
The United Nations agency has enough food in or on its way to the region to feed the entire Gaza population of 2.1 million for almost three months, it says in a post on X.
????WFP Statement | #Gaza
WFP welcomes the news that Israel is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses, and that designated humanitarian corridors will be created, to facilitate the safe movement of UN convoys delivering emergency food supplies and other aid to people in Gaza.… pic.twitter.com/e4WlI4htRb
— World Food Programme (@WFP) July 27, 2025
IDF troops destroy 500-meter-long Hamas tunnel in Gaza
A 500-meter-long Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun was recently demolished by troops, the IDF says.
The military says the tunnel was located in recent days by reservists of the 646th Paratroopers Brigade, as part of efforts to uncover Hamas’s underground infrastructure in the area. Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit destroyed it.
A Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun is demolished by troops, in a video issued on July 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Several Likud MKs said to ask Netanyahu to delay Milwidsky’s appointment as Knesset finance panel head
Several Likud lawmakers are requesting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delay the appointment of MK Hanoch Milwidsky as chair of the Knesset Finance Committee, according to Hebrew media, following news that the lawmaker is being investigated by police for suspected sexual offenses.
Earlier today, Likud issued a statement backing Milwidsky and lashing out against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whom the party accused without evidence of launching the probe in retaliation for the government’s ongoing efforts to remove her from office.
Milwidsky had been slated to take over the influential Finance Committee this week following the departure of United Torah Judaism’s Moshe Gafni, whose party quit the coalition over the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service.
Erdogan welcomes France’s decision to recognize Palestinian state
France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) shaking hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting on the sideline of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (Photo by Handout / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey’s president welcomes a move by his French counterpart to recognize Palestinian statehood, in a phone call between the two leaders, the Turkish presidency says.
“During a telephone conversation, President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan congratulated French President (Emmanuel) Macron on his decision to recognize Palestine as a state,” it says in a statement.
Work begins on water pipeline linking Egyptian desalination plant to Gaza
Work has begun on a water pipeline from a desalination facility in Egypt to the al-Mawasi area on the coast of the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians currently reside, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says.
In a statement, COGAT says that several weeks ago it approved a United Arab Emirates initiative to construct the pipeline, which it says “is intended to serve approximately 600,000 residents in the area and will operate independently of Israel’s water pipelines.”
Today, UAE representatives “began transferring equipment for the project from Egypt under supervision and following a thorough security inspection via the Kerem Shalom Crossing,” COGAT says.
“Construction of the pipeline will commence in the coming days and is expected to continue for several weeks,” it adds.
Ex-Haredi patrol chief Rotter charged with serious sex offenses against four victims
Chaim Rotter, arrested on suspicion of numerous sex offenses, at a court hearing at the Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv on July 2, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
State prosecutors file charges against suspected rapist Chaim Rotter, former head of the Shomrim volunteer security patrol in Bnei Brak, following his arrest earlier this month.
He is charged with serious sexual offenses against four complainants in the Tel Aviv District Court. One of the victims was a 15-year-old boy at the time of the alleged assault.
Prosecutors claim that Rotter “exploited his position in the Shomrim organization… in order to carry out sexual offenses” against the complainants during his 15 years as chairman.
Many of his victims were young volunteers in the patrol, whom he recruited and and took on patrols around the streets of Bnei Brak, prosecutors say. Rotter also maintained deep ties with Bnei Brak police officers, which he capitalized on to evade justice.
“Rotter became a well-known public figure and gained status and power in the eyes of the city’s public,” reads today’s indictment.
Rotter, whose alleged assaults span decades, was arrested Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport as he arrived back in Israel. A gag order on his identity was lifted the next day. Rotter is suspected of forcing himself on victims as young as 12 years old.
At least a dozen people have filed police complaints against Rotter for sexual assault, Hebrew outlets reported earlier this month; however, prosecutors only filed charges in connection with four of the victims.
Inquiry into Edinburgh U’s ties to slave trade recommends it drop IHRA antisemitism definition
An inquiry into the University of Edinburgh’s connections to the transatlantic slave trade has recommended that the institution unadopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
The inquiry, which made 47 recommendations, says the definition silenced “free conversation” about Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. It also suggested the university sell off its investments in companies that have significant links to the Israeli government.
The IHRA definition of antisemitism has been adopted by groups and governments worldwide, but is contested because it covers some examples of anti-Israel rhetoric, such as denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination.
The inquiry, commissioned by the university’s principal, Sir Peter Mathieson, found the Scottish capital’s university played an “outsized” role in the forming of racist pseudoscience and profited off slavery.
Luke Tress contributed to this report.
UN says it will boost efforts to feed Palestinians amid humanitarian pauses in Gaza
CAIRO, Egypt — United Nations teams will step up efforts to feed Palestinians in Gaza during pauses in designated areas announced by Israel, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher says.
“In contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window,” he says in a post on X.
Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through. In contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window.
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) July 27, 2025
Gaza flotilla seized by military arrives in Ashdod
This photograph shows a view of the Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade, at a port in Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy, on July 13, 2025. (Giovanni Isolino/AFP)
Israeli forces brought the activist boat Handala into the port of Ashdod on Sunday, after seizing the vessel in international waters and detaining the crew, an AFP journalist sees.
Campaigners from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition had attempted to breach an Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian territory of Gaza, but were intercepted late Saturday.
The legal rights center Adalah tells AFP its lawyers were in Ashdod and had asked to speak to the detained crew.
Iranian-born Israeli charged with giving sensitive info on Israel’s war plans to Tehran
State prosecutors file espionage charges against an Israeli citizen suspected of passing sensitive information about Israeli war plans to an Iranian intelligence agent.
The suspect’s name and most identifying details are barred from publication. He immigrated from Iran to Israel in 1999 and rekindled ties to his birthplace over a decade later on a trip to Turkey, when he visited the Iranian embassy.
Soon after that, the defendant began a relationship with an Iranian woman living in Iran. He came into contact with Iranian operatives by way of his partner, who was contacted by an agent asking her to arrange a meeting between the defendant and himself.
The defendant met with two Iranian operatives in September 2024, while visiting his partner in Turkey, prosecutors say. After his return to Israel, he maintained contact with one of the agents through the Telegram messaging app.
Prosecutors claim the defendant exploited his preexisting friendship with another Israeli man, who supposedly has ties to government figures.
The defendant’s associate was also in contact with an Iranian chemist who provided intelligence that could aid Israel against Iran. He requested the defendant’s help in translating his correspondence with the chemist from Farsi to Hebrew.
The suspect ratted out the Iranian chemist to the intelligence agent, sharing the information he was asked to translate and advising his contact to “keep an eye on him,” per the indictment.
In May 2025, a month before Israel’s air offensive against Iran, the defendant told his Iranian contact that Israel planned to carry out an attack in Iran. He later updated the agent that Israel was planning a commando operation targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
Police arrested the suspect on July 1. He is charged in the Lod District Court with the offenses of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing intelligence to the enemy with the intent to harm state security.
Likud accuses AG of ‘witch hunt’ against government over sexual assault probe into Milwidsky
Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky (right) is seen leaving the Lahav 433 police unit headquarters in Lod on July 25, 2025 alongside his attorney. (Roy Alima/Flash90)
Likud says Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is leading an “unbridled witch hunt” against the government, after police opened a criminal investigation into Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky on suspicion of sexual offenses.
“The attorney general, who is in a clear conflict of interest, is acting like a saboteur, trying to prevent her dismissal,” the party says in a statement, adding that “the decision to open an investigation into MK Milwidsky, one day after it was announced he would serve as Finance Committee chair, is yet another glaring example.”
Milwidsky was set to be appointed this week to lead the influential Finance Committee following the departure of United Torah Judaism’s Moshe Gafni, whose party quit the coalition in protest over the failure to pass a military draft exemption law for Haredim.
The Likud MK has faced multiple accusations in the past of sexual assault, but has not to date faced any charges.
The party alleges, without evidence, that the investigation into Milwidsky is retaliation for its attempts to remove the attorney general.
“Since the government announced its intention to dismiss her, the attorney general has been obstructing the government’s work in every way and initiating reckless investigations against coalition members, one after another,” the statement says.
A ministerial committee recommended last week that the cabinet fire Baharav-Miara due to “substantive and ongoing differences of opinion between the government and the attorney general, preventing effective cooperation,” with the cabinet set to vote to fire the attorney general on August 4.
Rate of Israeli businesses using AI double EU average, IDI study finds
Illustrative: The OpenAI logo is seen displayed on a cell phone with an image on a computer monitor generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, December 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Artificial intelligence is beginning to do work previously performed by humans in some Israeli businesses, an Israel Democracy Institute analysis of a Central Bureau of Statistics survey of AI usage finds.
According to the IDI analysis, 28 percent of businesses in Israel used AI in the past six months — double the EU average in 2024 but lower than Germany’s rate of 44% in 2025.
Among those businesses, 60% say that certain tasks formerly performed by humans are now performed by AI, with 44% saying AI does “routine and technical tasks only,” while 16% say it does “tasks that require thinking.”
At this stage, 9% of businesses say that the use of AI has impacted the number of humans they employ. Within that figure, 5% of businesses say the use of AI has led to a decrease in recruitment, while the rest of the businesses surveyed say that they have shed employees due to AI.
“At this time, replacement of workers by AI is not negligible on the one hand, while on the other hand, it is substantially lower across industries than risk projection studies, but this merely represents one point in time and is likely to change as technology and usage develops,” IDI says in a statement.
“AI use is approximately three times higher in knowledge-intensive industries, led by high tech, than in traditional industries such as manufacturing and trade,” the statement says.
Train services restored after brief halt due to blaze near tracks in Yavne area
Train services are restored after a brief halt due to a fire that approached the tracks in the area of the central city of Yavne, an Israel Railways spokesperson says.
The fire led to a halt of services in parts of southern and central Israel.
Footage shows scramble for humanitarian aid airdropped in Gaza yesterday
A video circulated by media outlets in Gaza shows dozens of Gazans scrambling for humanitarian aid that was airdropped in the Gaza Strip last night.
In the footage — whose exact location in the Strip is unclear — Gazans can be seen also celebrating the arrival of the aid.
الإنزال الجوي الإماراتي ليلة أمس!
شعبٌ محاصر منذ شهور، يُلقى إليه فتات الطحين ليلًا ، هذا ليس إنزالًا "إنسانيًا"، بل استعراضا للذلّ… هذا مشهد يُراد به أن يُهزم الإنسان في داخلك، أن تُجبر على الاختيار بين الجوع أو الكرامة.أي ذلّ هذا؟! أي إهانة تُرتكب بحق هذا الشعب؟ أهكذا يُطعم… pic.twitter.com/Eqf44Hlf7a
— أَحْمَد وَائِل حَمْدَان (@AHM3D_HAMDAN) July 27, 2025
Israeli musician says he was kicked out of Vienna restaurant for speaking Hebrew with friends
Israeli cellist Amit Peled says he was told to leave a restaurant in Vienna by a waiter after being overheard speaking Hebrew with two other Israeli musicians.
In a post on Instagram, Peled writes that he was sitting with violinist Hagai Shaham and pianist Julia Gurvitch at an Italian restaurant, Ramazotti, on Friday, when a waiter confronted them for speaking Hebrew.
“After taking our order, the waiter returned and suddenly asked what language we were speaking. I replied casually, ‘English and German.’ ‘No, no,’ he insisted. ‘What were you just speaking now?’ I answered, ‘Hebrew, of course,'” Peled writes.
“He looked me directly in the eye and said, without hesitation: ‘In that case, leave. I’m not serving you food.’ Just like that,” Peled continues.
“The initial shock and humiliation were profound. But what struck us even more deeply was what came next — or rather, what didn’t. The people around us were clearly startled, some offered sympathetic glances… and then, quietly, they went back to their dinners, their conversations, their wine — as though nothing had happened,” he adds. “Welcome to Europe, 2025.”
View this post on Instagram
Police close Tel Aviv University cafe for 30 days after it employed two Palestinians who entered Israel illegally
A policeman puts a closure order on a Tel Aviv University cafe, July 27, 2025. (Israel Police)
Israel Police orders a Tel Aviv University cafe to close for 30 days after it employed West Bank residents who illegally entered Israel.
Police say that during a search of the cafe on July 18, they located two Palestinians who illegally entered Israel — a Hebron resident and Beit Ula resident in their 20s.
The two were arrested and questioned by police.
In 1st since Israel took control of Rafah crossing, Egypt delivers aid to Gaza during wartime
Egyptian media reports that trucks carrying humanitarian aid began entering the Gaza Strip this morning.
The trucks are entering through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
تغطية خاصة | شاحنات المساعدات الإنسانية تتحرك من مصر إلى قطاع غزة تحمل كميات كبيرة من المواد الغذائية#القاهرة_الإخبارية#تضامنا_مع_فلسطين #فلسطين #غزة
https://t.co/JQwYecVc08— القاهرة الإخبارية – AlQahera News (@Alqaheranewstv) July 27, 2025
Egypt had delivered aid during the war via the Rafah crossing but halted it after Israel took control of the crossing in May 2024. During the ceasefire in January 2025, Egypt resumed sending aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing. This is the first time Egypt has delivered aid in this manner during active fighting.
In early July, the European Union announced it had reached an agreement with Israel to reopen aid corridors from Jordan and Egypt, as part of a broader deal with Israel to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza. In recent days, there has been a growing online campaign criticizing Egypt and questioning why it has not reopened the Gaza border crossing to allow aid in, amid the severe humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Protests have also taken place in recent days outside Egyptian embassies in Lebanon, Syria, the UK, Denmark, Canada, and other countries.
Train delays expected in central and southern Israel due to blaze close to tracks
Commuters can expect train delays in the areas of Ashdod, Yavne, Rishon Lezion, Rehovot, and Be’er Ya’akov due to a fire nearing the tracks in the area of Yavne, an Israel Railways spokesperson tells Hebrew media.
The spokesperson says that due to the blaze, train services have been halted in the area of Yavne.
Two IDF soldiers killed by blast in southern Gaza yesterday
Cpt. Amir Saad (left) and Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana. (Israel Defense Forces)
Two IDF soldiers were killed and an officer was moderately wounded by an explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
The slain soldiers are named as:
Cpt. Amir Saad, 22, a Technology and Maintenance Corps officer serving in the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Yanuh-Jat.
Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, 20, a Technology and Maintenance Corps soldier serving in the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Kiryat Tiv’on.
The wounded Golani reconnaissance unit officer was taken to a hospital in moderate condition, the army says.
According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were inside a Namer armored personnel carrier that was hit by an explosive device during operations in Khan Younis.
The military says it is continuing to investigate how the bomb was detonated against the APC.
Iran executes two members of banned opposition group over attacks on infrastructure
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran executed two members of the outlawed Mujahideen-e-Khalq opposition group for targeting civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan reports.
Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, “operational elements” of the MEK, were sentenced to death in a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, Mizan says.
“The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had set up a team house in Tehran, where they built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group’s goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centres, and also carried out propaganda and information-gathering activities in support of the MEK,” the report says.
The defendants were indicted with “moharebeh,” an Islamic term meaning waging war against God, destroying public property, and “membership in a terrorist organisation with the aim of disrupting national security.”
The report does not say whether the defendants’ actions took place during last month’s Israel-Iran war, during which Tehran accused opposition groups like MEK of providing support to Israel from within Iran.
IDF announces daily 10-hour humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas of Gaza
This infographic, published by the IDF on July 27, 2025, shows the areas where humanitarian pauses will take place in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israeli military will conduct a “local tactical pause of military activity” in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip, starting from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m., the IDF announces.
The military says the “pause” will take place in areas where the IDF is currently not operating with ground troops, including al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, “every day until further notice.”
The move is being carried out “in accordance with directives from the political echelon, and as part of the IDF’s ongoing effort, led by COGAT, to increase the scope of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip,” the military says.
“This decision was coordinated with the UN and international organizations following discussions regarding the matter,” it says.
Additionally, the IDF says “secure routes” will be designated from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., “to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organization convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip.”
“The IDF will continue to support humanitarian efforts alongside ongoing maneuvering and offensive operations against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, in order to protect Israeli civilians. The IDF is prepared to expand the scale of this activity as required,” the army adds.
Herzog praises measures to boost aid to Gaza, urges UN, other groups to ‘do their part’
President Isaac Herzog welcomes the decision to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, in a post on X.
“In coordination with international partners, Israel is doing its utmost to improve the flow of vital supplies through designated corridors, airdrops, and expanded humanitarian zones. I call on UN agencies and international organizations working with @COGATonline to do their part and ensure that aid reaches those in need without delay — as Israel has demanded for some time,” he writes.
“It is unacceptable that aid delivered to Gaza remains undistributed or is hijacked by Hamas, even as they falsely accuse Israel of blocking it. The world must stand firm against terror — and work relentlessly to bring all our hostages home immediately,” he adds.
I welcome the major steps announced by the Israeli leadership and military to strengthen and upgrade the humanitarian response in Gaza — particularly the decision to implement humanitarian pauses to protect civilian lives and allow the safe delivery of aid.
In coordination with…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 26, 2025
Reports say Turkish embassy staffer caught by police taking photos of underage girls at Tel Aviv beach locker rooms
An employee at the Turkish embassy was caught by police photographing 13-year-old girls at Tel Aviv beach locker rooms, Hebrew media reports.
According to reports, police were called on Friday to Frishman Beach with complaints that the man was taking photos.
One of the complainants told police that she screamed after noticing a mobile phone popping out from a stall door, reports say. Police collected evidence from three complainants.
The man’s custody has been extended until Monday, the reports say.
Aid trucks said to start moving toward Gaza from Egypt, after IDF announced ‘humanitarian pauses’
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)
Aid trucks have started moving toward Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reports, after mounting international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the enclave.
With the Rafah Crossing shut, the trucks will go via Israel to be checked before they enter the Strip.
The Israeli military has said that “humanitarian corridors” will be established starting today for safe movement of United Nations convoys delivering aid to Gazans and that “humanitarian pauses” will be implemented in densely populated areas.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Australian PM: Israel clearly in breach of international law; we won’t imminently recognize Palestinian state
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a joint press conference with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto after their bilateral meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Israel “quite clearly” breached international law and “decent humanity and morality” by withholding aid from Gaza in March, saying images of starving Gazans “break the heart,” while also calling Hamas terrorists who are holding the Gazan population hostage as well by refusing to release the 50 Israeli and foreign captives it is holding.
In an interview with public broadcaster ABC, Albanese also says Canberra doesn’t plan to “imminently” recognize a Palestinian state, as France has said it will do.
“You need to recognize a Palestinian state as part of moving forward. How do you exclude Hamas from any involvement there? How do you ensure that a Palestinian state operates in an appropriate way which does not threaten the existence of Israel?” he stresses.
“And so we won’t do any decision as a gesture, we will do it as a way forward if the circumstances are met,” he continues. “Is the time right now? Are we about to imminently do that? No, we are not… But we will engage constructively.”
Asked about Israel allowing and conducting airdrops of aid into Gaza, Albanese says it’s “a start,” but more must be done to protect civilians.
“A one-year-old boy is not a Hamas fighter. The civilian casualties and deaths in Gaza are completely unacceptable. It’s completely indefensible,” he says.
“We have rules of engagement and they are there for a reason. They are to stop innocent lives being lost… Quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March,” he adds. “International law says that you can’t hold innocent people responsible for what is a conflict.”
In 1st since war began, IDF says it airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza
Israeli Air Force staff prepare boxes of humanitarian aid ahead of an airdrop in the Gaza Strip, July 26, 2025. (IDF)
The IDF says on Telegram that earlier in the night, it “carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid as part of the ongoing efforts to allow and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.”
The military says the move was taken “in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”
It is the first time Israel airdrops aid into Gaza since the current war began, after previously having only allowed other countries to carry out such operations.
Unusually, the statement is only issued in English, and isn’t featured on its X pages in either Hebrew or English.
דובר צה"ל באנגלית: התחלנו בהצנחת סיוע הומניטרי לעזה – הוצנחו 7 חבילות הכוללות קמח, סוכר ומזון משומר https://t.co/mcVVzPmteH pic.twitter.com/sjyyMvMJiB
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) July 27, 2025
Foreign Ministry says IDF took over activist boat heading for Gaza, everyone is safe
A screenshot taken from live footage of the Handala activist boat trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza as it is boarded by Israeli Navy forces, on July 26, 2025. (Screenshot: Salaamedia on Youtube)
The Foreign Ministry confirms that the Israeli Navy has taken over the Handala activist boat attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, stressing that everyone on board is safe.
In a statement, using the original name of the vessel, the ministry says the forces “stopped the vessel Navarn from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza.”
“The vessel is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. All passengers are safe,” it adds.
“Unauthorized attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts.”
The IDF itself is yet to issue a statement on the matter. Live footage from the vessel earlier showed Navy troops reaching the Handala and boarding it.
Handala is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which also dispatched a previous boat that was stopped, the Madleen, on a mission to reach Gaza.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s website, the Handala is carrying 19 activists as well as two Al Jazeera journalists.
The boat will be towed to Ashdod Port by the Navy, and the activists will then be deported from the country.
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