The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they unfolded.
Hamas denies any connection to three men arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites.
Hamas “has no connection with the individuals arrested today in Germany,” the terror group says in a statement, adding the allegations that the detainees had links to Hamas were “completely unfounded.”
The Israeli Navy has begun to intercept the large flotilla attempting to break the Israeli maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip, according to activists.
Footage shows a Navy vessel close to one of the boats. According to the organizers, Israeli soldiers have boarded Alma, the flotilla’s lead boat, along with two others, Adara and Sirius.
Activists on Adara have thrown their phones into the sea after Israeli soldiers boarded them, livestream footage shows.
Footage of Israeli navy vessels intercepting global sumud flotilla pic.twitter.com/0PfcTFnnrO
— Global Sumud Flotilla Commentary (@GlobalSumudF) October 1, 2025
The Israeli military had repeatedly warned the activists to change course, including via radio this evening.
The 47-boat Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying over 500 activists, according to the organizers. Israel has accused some key participants of having ties to Hamas.
Italy’s foreign minister says that his Israeli counterpart assured him the Israeli armed forces will not use violence against activists on board the flotilla of ships sailing towards Gaza.
“The boarding was planned, we are talking about it … with Minister [Gideon] Sa’ar so that there would be no violent actions on the part of the Tel Aviv armed forces, and this has been assured to me,” Antonio Tajani says to Italian TV broadcaster Rai.
“We instructed our embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem to assist all Italians who will probably be taken to Ashdod, but then will be expelled,” he adds.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free speech advocacy group, condemns New York University’s law school for canceling an event scheduled for October 7, the two-year anniversary of the Hamas invasion of Israel.
The law school had been scheduled to host an event by the conservative Federalist Society, but reportedly canceled the talk due to “security concerns” related to expected protests related to the October 7 anniversary.
The Federalist Society event was scheduled to feature Ilya Shapiro, a Jewish attorney who has criticized anti-Israel protesters and universities.
A law school administrator first asked that the event switch locations, which student organizers agreed to, but then the administrator said that Shapiro could not come to the campus at all, The Free Beacon reported.
“Doing the work for the would-be censors without even needing them to show up, NYU Law School’s reported decision to cancel the Federalist Society’s event with Ilya Shapiro is a textbook heckler’s veto,” says FIRE Special Counsel for Campus Advocacy Robert Shibley.
“By preemptively canceling a student-sponsored lecture due to expected opposition, NYU allows the threat of disruption to override students’ and speakers’ rights to listen and be heard,” Shibley says. “By also approving other events scheduled for the same time, NYU sends the message that only some views can be heard on campus. Universities cannot selectively disfavor one speaker while approving other major events on the same day.”
“NYU must reaffirm its commitment to free expression by ensuring that all student groups, regardless of viewpoint, can peacefully host events with invited speakers without facing censorship disguised as logistics,” he says.
The Israeli Navy is calling on the large flotilla attempting to break the Israeli maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip to change course.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry publishes a video of a naval lieutenant speaking over a radio to the activists, saying they are “approaching a blockaded zone.”
“If you wish to deliver aid to Gaza, you may do so through the established channels. Please change your course toward the port of Ashdod, where the aid will undergo a security inspection and then be transferred into the Gaza Strip,” she says.
The sole purpose of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla is provocation. Israel, Italy, Greece, and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have all offered and continue to offer the flotilla a way to peacefully deliver any aid they might have to Gaza. The flotilla refused because they are not… pic.twitter.com/pLQj1FLIPA
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 1, 2025
The 47-boat Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying over 500 activists, according to the organizers. Israel has accused some key participants of having ties to Hamas.
The ministry says that “the sole purpose of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla is provocation.”
“Israel, Italy, Greece, and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have all offered and continue to offer the flotilla a way to peacefully deliver any aid they might have to Gaza. The flotilla refused because they are not interested in aid, but in provocation,” it adds.
Activists on the flotilla reported this evening that Israeli Navy vessels had approached them. Most of the livestreams from the various boats in the flotilla have been cut in the past hour.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani discussed with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday his plan to end the war in Gaza in a phone call, the emir’s office says.
Sheikh Tamim reiterated Qatar’s support for peace efforts and expressed confidence that the countries backing the plan could reach a just settlement that guarantees regional security and stability and protects Palestinian rights, according to the Qatari readout.
British primatologist Jane Goodall, who studied chimpanzees and became a renowned wildlife crusader, has died aged 91, her institute says.
Goodall “passed away due to natural causes” while in California on a speaking tour of the United States, the institute says in a statement on social media.
A Russian shelling attack has cut power to the confinement structure housing part of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, part of which was destroyed in a 1986 nuclear meltdown, Ukraine’s energy ministry says.
“As a result of power surges, the New Safe Confinement, a key facility that isolates the destroyed fourth power unit of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and prevents the release of radioactive materials into the environment, was left without power,” the ministry says on Telegram.
A US judge dismisses a lawsuit against the UN agency for the Palestinians, UNRWA, saying that UNRWA has immunity.
The ruling contradicts a statement by federal authorities earlier this year stating that UNRWA did not have immunity in the case.
The lawsuit, the Estate of Tamar Kedem Simon Tov v. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), was filed last year in the federal Southern District Court of New York.
The families of around 100 victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror assault claimed $1 billion in damages from UNRWA, asserting that the UN agency aided and abetted the terror group’s attack.
In April, the Department of Justice sent a letter to the judge, stating that UNRWA had played a significant role in “heinous offenses” by Hamas on October 7, and that “UNRWA is not immune from this litigation.”
That went against the position of the Department of Justice under the Biden administration, which had said that UNRWA had immunity in US courts.
The judge in the case — US District Judge Analisa Torres — dismisses the case, despite the Department of Justice’s position.
“Because UNRWA is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations and has not waived its immunity,” Torres writes, ” this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims. Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted, and the complaint dismissed.”
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Gavriel Mairone, says the judge “totally misinterpreted the most important argument that we made.”
“We’re definitely appealing and we think, respectfully, that the judge’s opinion is erroneous,” he says.
A nine-year-old girl in Gaza died due to severe malnutrition yesterday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says during a briefing, citing the United Nations Children’s Fund, which operates in the Strip.
We’re heartbroken to share that 9-year-old Jana, whose story we shared recently, has passed away from severe malnutrition.@UNICEFmena's Tess Ingram, who was with Jana last year and again in August of this year, shares this tragic update.
This should not have been Jana’s life.… pic.twitter.com/tlFTilB8Yp
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) September 29, 2025
Five rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the coastal city of Ashdod in southern Israel, the military says.
According to the IDF, four of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and one landed in an open area.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
The attack comes amid Yom Kippur, and as the Israeli Navy prepares to intercept the large flotilla attempting to break the Israeli maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip.
More than 400 people were arrested and nearly 300 injured during protests in Morocco demanding reforms in the public health and education sectors, the interior ministry says.
Unauthorized demonstrations were held for the fourth consecutive day at the call of the GenZ 212 group, a recently formed Discord-based collective whose organizers remain unknown.
The latest protests on Tuesday night turned violent in cities including Oujda and Inzegane.
Ministry spokesman Rachid El Khalfi says the clashes involved protesters using knives, Molotov cocktails and stones.
A total of 263 police officers were injured to varying degrees, along with 23 protesters, including one hospitalized in Oujda.
El Khalfi says 409 people were detained following the unrest, during which more than 140 police vehicles and 20 private cars were set ablaze.
“Protesters also stormed government offices, bank branches and shops, looting and vandalizing them,” especially in Inzegane and Oujda, he says.
Sirens sound in the southern coastal city of Ashdod amid a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
The rocket fire comes as the Israeli Navy prepares to intercept the large flotilla attempting to break the Israeli maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Asked whether the three to four day timeline that US President Donald Trump gave yesterday for Hamas to respond to his Gaza peace deal still stands, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says that it does.
“I will reiterate what the President of the United States said — three or four days,” Leavitt says during a press briefing.
“There are some very sensitive discussions that are taking place, but I certainly don’t want to get ahead of any announcement at this podium,” she adds.
Russia does not recognize the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia tells reporters on Wednesday when asked if Moscow would enforce the measures.
“We’ll be living in two parallel realities, because for some snapback happened, for us it didn’t,” he says at a press conference to mark the start of Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council for October.
Several vessels are approaching an international flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, two sources on board the flotilla tell Reuters.
Israel has repeatedly warned the flotilla to turn back from its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition behind the effort issues a statement saying that the Israeli interception “may be within the hour.”
Radars show “a concentration of roughly 12 unidentified vessels, five to fifteen miles from the flotilla,” the statement says.
“Contact has seemingly been disconnected with some flotilla vessels, with some experiencing signal jamming.”
The Netherlands calls on the EU to sanction Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist group, after the organization claimed responsibility for an attack on the Dutch-flagged general cargo ship Minervagracht in the Gulf of Aden.
The Iran-aligned group has launched numerous assaults on vessels in the Red Sea since 2023, targeting ships they deem linked to Israel in what they describe as solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
“The Houthis have long posed a serious threat to freedom of navigation,” the Dutch Foreign Ministry says in a statement.
Countries including the United States, Israel, Canada and Australia have labelled the Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, as a terrorist organization.
The UN Human Rights Chief calls for renewed efforts to bring a permanent end to hostilities in Lebanon, as Israeli air strikes continue despite an agreed ceasefire.
High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights Volker Turk says 103 civilians have been killed in the last 10 months.
“We are still seeing devastating impacts of jet and drone strikes in residential areas, as well as near UN peacekeepers in the south,” Turk says.
Israel has frequently targeted what it says are Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon despite a US-brokered truce between Lebanon and Israel, which took effect in November following more than a year of conflict triggered by war in Gaza.
One of the deadliest strikes killed five people, including three children, when an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle and a motorcycle in the border area of Bint Jbeil on September 21.
The Israeli military says it killed a Hezbollah member in the strike but that “several uninvolved civilians were killed.”
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible. The incident is under review,” it said in a statement the following day.
Turk has called for an independent investigation into that incident and others.
The OHCHR said it had no reports of killings from projectiles fired from Lebanon toward Israel since the ceasefire.
More than 80,000 people remain displaced in Lebanon and 30,000 people are still displaced in northern Israel, according to the OHCHR.
Iran’s top arbitration body has approved a bill that could help remove Tehran from the blacklist of a global financial crime watchdog, state media reports, as the country faces the return of UN and EU sanctions.
Iran’s Expediency Council conditionally approved joining the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), state media says.
Iran will adhere to the convention as long as it does not contradict its constitution or laws, Iranian state TV reports.
Iran has been on the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s blacklist since 2020 due to its non-compliance with international standards on anti-terrorism financing and combating organized crime.
The designation has further isolated Iran from global financial markets.
Foreign businesses assert that Iran’s adherence to FATF regulations is crucial for attracting investors, yet Iranian officials remain divided on the benefits of such compliance.
In 2024, President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Tehran must address issues related to FATF.
In May this year, the Expediency Council approved the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in accordance with local laws.
The Council, a body of clerics and jurists under the supervision of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, serves as a mediator in conflicts between parliament and the Guardian Council.
German authorities have arrested three suspected foreign operatives of Hamas they believe were preparing a serious act of violence in Germany, prosecutors say.
The three men are suspected by prosecutors of being involved in procuring firearms and ammunition for Hamas since at least the summer of this year to be used for assassinations targeting Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany, they say.
“In the course of today’s arrests, various weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle and several pistols, as well as a considerable amount of ammunition, were found,” says the federal prosecutors in a statement.
The three, identified in line with German privacy laws only as German citizen Abed Al G., Wael F. M., born in Lebanon, and German citizen Ahmad I., were arrested in Berlin.
In February, four Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe went on trial in Berlin in what prosecutors described as the first court case against militants of the Islamist group in Germany.
Der Spiegel media outlet reports that anti-terror investigators observed how the accused met on Wednesday in Berlin for a weapon handover before operational forces intervened and discovered functional weapons.
Tens of thousands of families left homeless after a powerful earthquake in Afghanistan urgently need shelter as winter approaches, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says.
The 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck on the night of August 31 into September 1, killing more than 2,200 people and destroying more than 8,000 homes, according to the IFRC.
“With more than 1.3 million people directly and indirectly affected, many families are still living in tents, makeshift shelters, or under the open sky,” the IFRC says in a statement.
“As winter sets in, tents are not enough. Families need safe, warm and dignified shelter to survive the freezing months ahead,” says Joy Singhal, Interim Head of Delegation, IFRC Afghanistan.
More than 11,000 displaced people are living in temporary camps in Kunar Province, where the Afghan Red Crescent is providing tents, hot meals, clean water, and essential household items.
The IFRC says its Emergency Appeal of CHF 25 million ($31.37 million) has only received one-third of the funding needed. Without more money, it will not be able to scale up much-needed shelter, food and protection for families and women, it said.
The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned in September that women and children are facing particular protection risks due to unsafe conditions, lack of privacy and limited access to basic services.
The IFRC warned that Afghanistan faces multiple crises, including widespread malnutrition and the return of more than 1.7 million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan in 2025.
A drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen at Israel was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the military says.
The drone was shot down off the coast of Eilat, but no sirens sounded “according to protocol,” the IDF says, because it did not pose a threat.
Lebanese media reports several casualties in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern Lebanon town of Kafra.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
مشاهد إضافية للسيارة المستهدَفة قُبيل إخماد النيران pic.twitter.com/KKpsfFiSfp
— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) October 1, 2025
The United States issues new Iran-related sanctions that cite numerous individuals and entities from Iran and China under a non-proliferation designation, according to a Treasury Department website.
Hundreds of people pour onto the streets of the capital Kabul night to celebrate the return of the internet across Afghanistan.
The previously deserted streets filled with people spreading the news, buying sweets and balloons, and drivers honking their horns in celebration, as AFP journalists witness.
“The city is alive again,” Mohammad Tawab Farooqi, a restaurant manager in the city, tells AFP while checking his phone.
A Hamas source tells the Saudi Al-Hadath channel that Hamas has requested clarifications from the mediators regarding several clauses in the US plan to end the Gaza war, arguing that the group has the right to introduce changes to the plan, as Israel did.
He adds that Hamas insists on distinguishing between defensive and offensive weapons, referring to the clause in the agreement that calls for Hamas to disarm. He claims that defensive weapons are Hamas’s right and that the group rejects any international body administering the Gaza Strip, insisting that it must be Palestinians who run the enclave, even if they’re apolitical.
According to the source, Hamas is also demanding a clear timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, along with guarantees to ensure the war’s end. The US plan envisions the withdrawal being performance-based.
An Israeli who was arrested and imprisoned in Jordan for the last three months is returned to Israel, where he is met by government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch, says the Prime Minister’s Office.
Mahmoud Salameh was released after talks between Shin Bet, the Foreign Ministry, Israel Police and their Jordanian counterparts, according to the PMO. The statement does not say why he was arrested, but says the case is under review.
Salameh will undergo medical examinations, will be questioned and will meet with his family.
According to the PMO, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Hirsch and all involved in bringing Salameh back, and stresses the importance of adhering to National Security Council travel advisories.
President Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will not allow Syria’s fragmentation or harm to its territorial integrity if diplomacy to implement an integration deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Syria’s government fails.
“We have engaged all channels of diplomacy, both to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and prevent a terrorist structure from forming across our borders. We continue to use these channels with patience, sincerity and common sense,” Erdogan tells an event to mark parliament’s re-opening.
“If diplomatic initiatives are left unanswered, Turkey’s policy and position are clear. Turkey will not allow a deja vu to take place in Syria,” he adds.
Ankara considers the SDF a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if it does not integrate into Syria’s state apparatus as per its agreement with Damascus.
The White House has published an executive order from US President Donald Trump instructing the government to view any armed attack on Qatar as “a threat to the peace and security of the United States.”
The order, a notable American commitment to ensure the security of an Arab state, is published some three weeks after an Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha prompted criticism from Trump and outrage from the Qataris.
Trump subsequently promised that such an attack would not recur, and this week persuaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologize to his Qatari counterpart for the strike.
The executive order was issued as part of the formulation of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, which Doha has praised and Netanyahu said he accepted.
The order indicates that the US will respond harshly to future armed attacks on Qatar.
“In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability,” the order says.
Senior US officials will “ensure a rapid and coordinated response to any foreign aggression against the State of Qatar,” the order says.
The US has a military base on Qatari territory, which was attacked by Iran earlier this year.
Qatar has also served as a mediator over a ceasefire in the Gaza war, and the executive order says, “The secretary of state shall continue to partner with the state of Qatar as and when appropriate for conflict resolution and mediation in recognition of the state of Qatar‘s extensive diplomatic and mediation experience.”
The IDF confirms it has “operational control” over the western portion of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, preventing Palestinians from returning to Gaza City.
In the past day, the 99th Division began a ground operation aimed at “strengthening and maintaining operational control over the Netzarim Corridor,” the military says.
“The troops operated to disrupt the operational capabilities of the Hamas terror organization in the area and to expand operational control in the sector,” the army adds.
Southbound movement from Gaza City is still permitted, though Defense Minister Israel Katz said Palestinians would need to go through army checkpoints. He said earlier today that civilians now have their “last opportunity” to leave.
Israel’s continued participation in international soccer has to be dealt with first and foremost by European governing body UEFA, FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani says.
UEFA was expected to hold an emergency vote this week on whether to suspend Israel from European competition over the war in Gaza.
However, British media reported that the continental body has decided to hold off on a proposed vote following the announcement of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war.
Israel stands third in Group I of the qualifying stage for next year’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. Amnesty International sent a letter to FIFA and UEFA today calling on them to suspend the Israel Football Association. FIFA has repeatedly pushed off a vote on suspending Israel.
However, Montagliani, President of the North and Central America and Caribbean soccer federation CONCACAF, says it is down to UEFA to rule on Israel’s participation.
“First and foremost, it [Israel] is a member of UEFA, no different than I have to deal with a member of my region for whatever reason… They have to deal with that,” Montagliani tells reporters at a sports business conference. “And I respect not only their process but whatever decision they make.”
Italy and Greece call on Israel not to hurt activists aboard an international flotilla, which is aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver aid there, and bracing for Israeli action to block it.
“[We] are calling on the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety and security of the participants and to allow for all consular protection measures,” the two countries say in a joint statement issued by their respective foreign ministers.
Rome and Athens also call on activists to accept a compromise proposal to hand over aid to the Catholic Church, letting it distribute it in Gaza, and avoid a direct confrontation with Israel.
Flotilla members have repeatedly rejected the proposal, saying that a key part of their mission is to challenge and expose Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza, which they consider unlawful. Israel stopped flotillas earlier this year and has depicted them as a publicity stunt.
Two rockets launched from the northern Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago were intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
There are no reports of damage or injuries.
Sirens had sounded in several communities near the border.
Iranian authorities approve a bill toughening penalties for those convicted of spying on behalf of Israel and the United States, months after the 12-day war between the foes.
The bill was presented to parliament on June 23, as Iran and Israel were engaged in a war that saw unprecedented Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which the US briefly joined. Iran retaliated to Israel’s strikes by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel.
Iran’s president must sign off on the bill before it goes into effect. It comes after dozens of people were captured by Iranian authorities on suspicion of spying for Israel and the United States in the aftermath of the war.
The text approving “tougher sanctions for spying and collaborating with the Zionist regime and hostile countries, including the United States, on security and national interests” was approved, says the Guardians’ Council, the body responsible for overseeing legislation.
It does not specify which other countries were considered “hostile,” according to state news agency IRNA, but said “all deliberate assistance is condemned as corruption on Earth” — one of the most serious charges in Iran, punishable by death.
The previous, existing law did not specify particular countries, and espionage was not necessarily considered a capital offense.
The new bill sets a penalty of up to two years for “using, transporting, buying or selling unlicensed internet devices such as Starlink,” which is often used to access restricted online content.
It also outlaws sending videos and images to “hostile or foreign channels that… could undermine national security,” an offense punishable by up to five years in prison, according to IRNA.
The bill, moreover, bans “all illegal marches and gatherings during wartime.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has been forced to temporarily suspend operations in Gaza City and relocate staff due to escalating hostilities.
“The ICRC will continue to strive to provide support to civilians in Gaza City, whenever circumstances allow, from our offices in Deir al-Balah and Rafah, which remain fully operational,” it said in a statement, referring to areas further south in the Strip.
Hamas officials want amendments to clauses in US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including on disarmament, a Palestinian source close to the terror group’s leadership tells AFP.
Hamas negotiators held discussions yesterday with Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha, the source says, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The source adds that the group needs “two or three days at most” to respond.
Trump’s plan, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Hamas within 72 hours, the group’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
But the Palestinian source says: “Hamas wants to amend some of the clauses such as the one on disarmament and the expulsion of Hamas and faction cadres.”
Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip” and guarantees that no assassination attempts will be made inside or outside the territory.
The source says Hamas was also in touch with “other regional and Arab parties,” without giving details.
Another source familiar with the negotiations tells AFP the Palestinian group was split over Trump’s plan.
“So far, there are two views within Hamas: the first supports unconditional approval because the important thing is to have a ceasefire guaranteed by Trump, provided that the mediators guarantee Israel’s implementation of the plan,” the source says, also requesting anonymity.
But others have “great reservations on important clauses,” the source adds. “They reject disarmament and for any Palestinian citizen to be taken away from Gaza.”
“They support a conditional agreement with clarifications that take into account demands by Hamas and the resistance factions so that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is not legitimized while the resistance is criminalized,” the source says. “Some factions reject the plan, but discussions are ongoing and things will become clearer soon.”
Rocket sirens sound in several Gaza border communities.
The alerts are activated in Kfar Aza, Sa’ad, Mefalsim and the Nir Am shooting range.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
A munition launched by an Israeli Air Force fighter jet at a target in the Gaza Strip earlier today exploded in midair over the Mediterranean Sea due to a technical fault, the military says.
The IDF says there was no danger to the plane, and no damage or injuries were caused. The incident is under further investigation by the IAF.
The largest Dutch pension fund ABP says that it has divested from US manufacturing firm Caterpillar following concerns about the alleged use of the company’s equipment by Israel in Gaza.
ABP, a major investor in many countries around the world, held a stake in Caterpillar worth approximately 387 million euros ($454 million) as of late March.
“Our investment approach must ensure good returns while being socially responsible,” says ABP, the pension fund for three million government and education employees in the Netherlands.
“If companies do not meet our criteria, we engage in discussions. If these do not lead to the desired results, ABP will stop investing in these companies,” the fund explains in a statement sent to AFP.
In August, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund –- the biggest in the world with a value of nearly $2 trillion — sold its stake in Caterpillar over purported involvement in rights violations in the Israel-Hamas war.
“There is no doubt that Caterpillar products are used to commit widespread and systematic violations of international humanitarian law,” the fund noted.
ABP, for its part, declines to comment on its decisions regarding specific companies “due to competitive sensitivity and confidentiality”.
However, “it is clear that the composition of our investment portfolio is evolving, particularly in Israel-Gaza,” ABP adds.
AFP contacted Caterpillar for comment but there is no immediate response.
Israeli troops are nearing the complete encirclement of Gaza City, Defense Minister Israel Katz says.
He says the IDF is currently seizing the western portion of the Netzarim Corridor — south of Gaza City — up to the coast, “bisecting Gaza between its north and south.”
“This will tighten the encirclement around Gaza City and everyone leaving it to the south will be forced to pass through IDF checkpoints,” Katz says.
Earlier, the military announced that the Rashid coastal road in Gaza would be closed for northbound movement to Gaza City starting at noon.
“This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City, in the face of IDF activity that continues with full force,” Katz continues.
He says that those remaining in Gaza City will be “terrorists and supporters of terror.”
“The IDF is preparing for all possibilities and is determined to continue its operations, until the return of all the hostages and the disarmament of Hamas, en route to ending the war,” Katz adds. His remarks come as Israel awaits the response of Hamas to an American proposal to end the war, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted.
Israeli forces operating in the Ramallah area of the West Bank overnight located a cache of crude rockets and other weapons, the police, IDF and Shin Bet say in a joint statement.
The raid in the town of Beitunia overnight comes after a cell of terrorists was detained last month for manufacturing crude rockets to be launched at Israeli targets. The Shin Bet’s interrogation of the suspects led forces to the site.
The statement says Border Police officers, IDF troops and Shin Bet agents located 15 rockets that were in the process of being constructed, as well as 18 explosive devices, firearms and explosive material.
Some of the rockets and weapons were seized, while the rest were destroyed by Border Police sappers.
A flotilla carrying aid meant for Gaza says it will continue its course despite what it calls “intimidation tactics” by the Israeli military.
The flotilla of 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, departed Spain last month with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza and delivering humanitarian assistance there.
“In the early hours of this morning, Israeli occupation naval forces launched an intimidatory operation against the Global Sumud Flotilla,” the organizers say in a statement as the vessels approached waters off Egypt, where previous attempts have been intercepted.
Footage posted to social media from the flotilla earlier today appeared to show an Israeli Navy patrol boat passing one of the vessels.
One of the flotilla’s principal vessels, the Alma, “was aggressively circled by an Israeli warship for several minutes,” says a statement by the group, whose name means “steadfastness” in Arabic.
“Shortly after, the same naval vessel targeted Sirius, repeating similar harassing maneuvers for an extended period of time — before finally departing,” the statement adds.
Marie Mesmeur, a French lawmaker from the far-left LFI party who is on board the Sirius, told AFP that she saw at least two unidentified ships, one of which was “very, very close.”
There was also “a military patrol boat with a huge light pointed at us,” she says, explaining that during the incident, all radar and internet communications on the boat were cut off.
In another statement on X, the flotilla said it remained “vigilant as we enter the area where the previous flotillas were intercepted and/or attacked.”
Israel has depicted the flotilla as a publicity stunt, and has already blocked two attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza in June and July. This flotilla has rejected calls to drop off the aid and have it be delivered.
In June, 12 activists on board the sailboat Madleen, including Thunberg, were intercepted by Israeli forces 185 kilometers (115 miles) west of Gaza.
“We sail on undeterred by Israeli threats and tactics of intimidation,” the flotilla added in its statement.
Health authorities in Gaza say that at least 17 people across the Strip have been killed by the IDF today, most of them in Gaza City.
A strike on the old city in northwestern Gaza City killed seven people, while six people sheltering in a school in another part of the city were killed in a separate strike, medics say.
Figures reported by Hamas-run Gaza health authorities cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
In a daily update, the IDF details recent operations by ground troops operating in Gaza City and on its outskirts.
Troops of the 36th Division raided a building used by Hamas and seized weapons and military equipment, and in separate operations, killed terror operatives and destroyed infrastructure used by terror groups, the military says.
The IDF says forces of the 162nd Division directed a drone strike against several terror operatives who were identified in their area of operations, deep in Gaza City.
The 98th Division located several abandoned Hamas positions, where troops found numerous weapons and military equipment, and separately directed a strike that killed several Hamas operatives at a weapons depot, the army says.
On the outskirts of Gaza City, the IDF says the 99th Division killed terror operatives who had posed a threat and struck several buildings used by terror groups.
The fighting comes as Israel awaits Hamas’s response to a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has accepted the plan, which has also drawn praise from a range of Arab countries.
The Anti-Defamation League announces that it has deleted its Glossary of Extremism and Hate, an extensive guide to terms and groups associated with extremist views and statements.
The US-based antisemitism watchdog, which monitors a broad range of hate groups, faced criticism from right-wing activists over an entry in the glossary on Turning Point USA, the group founded and led by conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk was assassinated during an event at a Utah university earlier this month.
Prominent voices on the American right, including X owner Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr., the son of the US president, had criticized the ADL over the entry.
Disgraceful https://t.co/fiqQrJLPMI
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 29, 2025
Following the criticism, the ADL posted on X on Tuesday night, US time, that the entire database, which served as a resource for researchers, journalists and others, had been taken offline.
The description of the glossary said it “provides an overview of many of the terms and individuals used by or associated with movements and groups that subscribe to and/or promote extremist or hateful ideologies across the political and ideological spectrum.” The description noted that the glossary was “not all inclusive.”
But the ADL’s statement says entries in the database were “outdated” and that it “saw a number of entries intentionally misrepresented and misused.”
“Moreover, our experts have continued to develop more comprehensive resources and innovative ways to provide information about antisemitism, extremism and hate,” the group says. The step, it said, “will allow ADL to explore new strategies and creative approaches to deliver our data and present our research more effectively.”
An ADL “backgrounder” on Turning Point is still up. It notes that Kirk promoted Christian nationalism, which posits that Christianity should inform the policies of the US government, and that the group and its associates have promoted conspiracy theories. It says that “Individuals associated with TPUSA have a history of bigoted statements about the Black community, the LGBTQ community and specifically transgender people, and other minority groups.”
The ADL has also faced criticism from Musk and others over a page on Christian Identity, which the group said is a particular white supremacist ideology that is “antisemitic, racist, and unambiguously poisonous” and bears no resemblance to mainstream Christianity.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on X that the suggestion his group is anti-Christian is “offensive and wrong.”
But echoing criticism of that page, Musk — who has criticized the ADL repeatedly in the past — posted, “The ADL hates Christians, therefore it is is [sic] a hate group.”
JTA contributed to this report.
A man was found dead with a stab wound in his apartment in Kiryat Ata, a city east of Haifa, police say.
He was confirmed dead on the scene, and police say they are investigating.
Ynet reports that prior to his body being discovered, the man called Magen David Adom and said he was not feeling well.
The death toll from a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines has risen to at least 69, a disaster official says, with scores of injured patients overwhelming hospitals on the island of Cebu.
Injured children cried and adults screamed while being treated on beds beneath blue tents outside the Cebu Provincial Hospital, having been wheeled outside as a precaution against waves of aftershocks overnight.
They are survivors of the shallow magnitude 6.9 quake that struck late on Tuesday off Cebu Island’s north near Bogo, a city of 90,000 people, according to the US Geological Survey.
Thirty people were killed in Bogo, Office of Civil Defence deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro says.
In other municipalities near the quake’s epicenter, 22 were killed in San Remigio, 10 in Medellin, five in Tabogon, and one each in Sogod and Tabuelan, he says.
The Bogo hospital puts the number of injured at 186 so far.
A senior Hamas official tells the BBC that the terror group will likely reject US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, telling the British network that it “serves Israel’s interests” and “ignores those of the Palestinian people.”
The official added that Hamas opposes several key provisions of the plan.
Those include the call for the group to disarm and the entry of a so-called International Stabilization Force to take control of Gaza as Hamas leaves and the IDF withdraws. Hamas is also presumed to oppose the requirement that it release all 48 hostages it is holding within the first 72 hours after the agreement is adopted.
The release of the hostages and Hamas’s disarmament are among Israel’s core conditions for ending the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has accepted Trump’s plan, which the president unveiled alongside the prime minister at a White House press conference earlier this week.
A range of Arab states and other countries have also praised the plan.
Hamas has said it is examining the plan, and Trump has demanded that it give a response within a few days. A recent Saudi report also indicated Hamas’s skepticism toward the plan.
The Trump administration has withdrawn its nomination of a conservative economist who has expressed an affinity for Nazi-related imagery.
President Donald Trump had nominated EJ Antoni last month to serve as head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the Department of Labor and produces statistics closely watched by the markets. Trump had earlier fired the agency’s head, Erika McEntarfer, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the bureau’s figures.
The White House announced on Tuesday that it pulled the nomination.
“Dr. EJ Antoni is a brilliant economist and an American patriot that will continue to do good work on behalf of our great country,” a White House official said in a statement, promising the president will announce a new nominee “very soon.”
Antoni currently serves as chief economist at the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation and has been a critic of the BLS, whose monthly job market and inflation report is used by a global audience of economists, investors, business leaders, public policymakers, and consumers.
Antoni’s nomination raised concerns among economists about the quality of BLS data.
In addition, NBC News reported that Antoni was in the crowd outside the US Capitol during the pro-Trump January 6, 2021, riot there. And observers found that the wall art behind Antoni during interviews on TV was of the German battleship Bismarck used by the Nazis in World War II.
He has also engaged in multiple friendly X conversations about German victimhood with the pundit Candace Owens, even as large swaths of the right began to isolate her last year over her growing, vocal antisemitism.
The US Justice Department announces that it will probe the response of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to claims of antisemitism on campus, the latest federal investigation of a school over protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funds to universities over campus pro-Palestinian protests. The government says universities allowed displays of antisemitism.
Protesters say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s offensive and its control of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism. The government has not announced probes into Islamophobia under Trump.
“The investigation will focus on the University’s response to antisemitism on campus,” the Justice Department says.
“The compliance review investigation will examine whether UNLV, a recipient of federal financial assistance, has engaged in discriminatory practices.”
UNLV says it will cooperate with the probe and expresses confidence that the review will show it complies with applicable laws.
The department’s civil rights division asks for documents by November 1 on how it handled complaints of alleged discrimination on campus after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza.
Trump has faced some legal setbacks in actions against pro-Palestinian protesters. A US judge ruled on Tuesday that his administration acted unconstitutionally by adopting a policy of revoking visas, arresting, detaining, and deporting foreign students and faculty over pro-Palestinian advocacy.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Sources in Hamas tell the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that the White House’s plan to end the war “leans to one side and creates injustice,” serving Israeli rather than Palestinian interests, though they added that it would still be examined “positively.”
The sources add that no clear date has been set for delivering Hamas’s response to the plan, but mediators have asked the group to act quickly and provide an answer within about two days.
The sources say that while the points contained in the plan are outlined at length and in detail, they contain no real guarantees for implementing the terms of the agreement. They add that there may be a need for adjustments regarding the timeline for releasing hostages, including those who are dead, since time would be required to locate the burial sites of the slain captives within the Strip.
The plan calls for Hamas to release all hostages within 72 hours.
Hamas sources inside the Strip tell the newspaper that, in conversation with the terror group’s leadership abroad, Hamas officials in Gaza had stressed the importance of responding positively to the plan in order to bring an end to the war. According to them, the group’s military wing also agrees with this approach.
Palestinian media outlets report that settlers set fire last night to a structure outside a home in the village of Huwara, south of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.
Footage shows figures outside the house, followed by the building engulfed in flames. There are no casualties, according to reports.
مليشيات المستوطنين تهاجم منزلا وتحرق أجزاء خارجية منه في بلدة حوارة جنوب نابلس. pic.twitter.com/Zk9XNP4wAv
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) October 1, 2025
The military announces that the Rashid coastal road in Gaza will be closed for northbound movement to Gaza City starting at noon.
Movement south, for those evacuating Gaza City, will still be permitted, and at this stage, continues to be without IDF inspection, says the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee.
The US government begins shutting down after midnight Wednesday, local time, as lawmakers and US President Donald Trump fail to break a budget impasse during acrimonious talks that hinged on Democratic demands for health care funding.
It is the first shutdown in almost seven years, when the US saw the longest shutdown in history, lasting 35 days. Work will stop at multiple federal departments and agencies, affecting hundreds of thousands of government workers.
Trump blames Democrats over the stalled talks and threatens to punish the party and its voters during the stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.
“So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office.
He says a “lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” and suggested he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”
US Government operations began grinding to a halt at 12:01 a.m. Washington, DC, time, after a frenetic but ultimately failed bid in the Senate to rubber-stamp a short-term funding resolution already approved by the House of Representatives.
Democrats, in the minority in both chambers of Congress, have been seeking to flex their rare leverage over the federal government eight months into Trump’s barnstorming second term, which has seen entire government agencies dismantled. The 100-member Senate requires government funding bills to receive 60 votes — seven more than the Republicans control.
Republicans had proposed to extend current funding until late November, pending negotiations on a longer-term spending plan. But Democrats wanted to see hundreds of billions of dollars in health care spending restored.
It remains unclear how long the shutdown will last. The Senate will be out on Thursday for the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, but will be back on Friday and possibly in session through the weekend.
The shutdown will not affect vital functions like the Postal Service, the military, and welfare programs like Social Security and food stamps.
The international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza says several of its boats were approached by unidentified vessels, some navigating without lights.
The Global Sumud Flotilla says in a post on Telegram that the vessels have departed, and participants implemented security protocols in anticipation of a possible interception.
Footage posted to social media by one of the activists appears to show an Israeli Navy patrol boat passing by the lead vessels of the flotilla.
thiagoavilabrasil IG
URGENT!!!
An Israeli military vessel just came across our boats intimidating, damaging our communication systems and doing very dangerous manouvers circling our lead boats ALMA and SIRIUS!
Despite the loss of electronic devices, no one has been injured and… pic.twitter.com/jjrh2OIqEF
— Nancy Abdallah???????????????????????????????? (@NanceAbdallah) October 1, 2025
“An Israeli military vessel just came across our boats intimidating, damaging our communication systems and doing very dangerous manouvers circling our lead boats,” says Brazilian activist Thiago Avila.
The international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza says drone activity is increasing over the flotilla as it nears the destination.
“We have now entered the high-risk zone, the area where previous flotillas have been attacked and/or intercepted,” the Global Sumud Flotilla says in a post on Telegram.
Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for an attack on the Dutch-flagged general cargo ship Minervagracht.
In a statement, the Houthis’ military spokesperson says Monday’s attack, which took place some distance from the Red Sea, where most of its strikes have occurred, was carried out by a cruise missile.
“The operation resulted in a direct hit on the ship, which caught fire and is now at risk of sinking,” the rebels claim.
They contend that the operation is “in response to the crimes of genocide and starvation perpetrated by the Zionist enemy against our people in the Gaza Strip, and to affirm the continued ban on Israeli maritime traffic in the Red and Arabian Seas.”
However, the US Navy-overseen Joint Maritime Information Center has said the Minervagracht had “no Israeli affiliations.”
The strike injured two sailors and forced a helicopter evacuation of the ship’s 19 crew members, according to the EU maritime mission Aspides and the vessel’s operator.
A day before Yom Kippur eve, thousands gather at the Western Wall for the last night of solemn Slichot prayers before the Jewish Day of Atonement.
In attendance are families of hostages held in Gaza.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Mtan Zangauker, puts a note in the wall asking God for the return of all the captives and the safe return of all soldiers fighting in the Strip.
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch reads out the names of all the 48 remaining hostages during the service, in which observant Jews traditionally ask God for forgiveness for their sins during the past year.
The event is being livestreamed.
