The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine police have recovered a 17th century painting stolen from a Dutch Jewish art collector over a week after it appeared in a property ad, investigators say.
Prosecutors say that “Portrait of a Lady” by Italian baroque portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi, which was photographed hanging in the home of the daughter of a senior SS officer in Mar del Plata, has been returned by the woman’s lawyer.
Responding to a statement by Hamas insisting that the terror group is ready for a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office calls it “more spin by Hamas, containing nothing new.”
The PMO says that the war can end immediately if five conditions are met — the release of all hostages; the disarmament of Hamas; the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip; Israeli security control in Gaza; and “the establishment of an alternative civilian administration that does not indoctrinate for terror, does not dispatch terror, and does not threaten Israel.”
“Only these conditions will prevent Hamas from rearming and repeating the October 7 massacre again and again, as it openly vows to do,” Netanyahu’s office says.
Defense Minister Israel Katz warns that Hamas will soon face a stark choice: either accept Israel’s conditions to end the war — including the release of all hostages and disarmament — or see Gaza City “become like Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” accusing the group of continuing to “deceive and utter empty words.”
His remarks come after Hamas issued a statement saying that it was willing to release all the hostages in return for an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal.
Israel is preparing an expanded offensive to conquer Gaza City.
Police spray protesters with a water cannon in Jerusalem’s bustling city center, dispersing a demonstration for a hostage and ceasefire deal.
After declaring the protest unlawful, officers drag the demonstrators one by one from off the light rail tracks running through the city center, but protesters refuse to leave the area and continue to chant.
Police then spray protesters with a water cannon as they flee towards Ben Yehuda Street, filled with bystanders dining at restaurants.
The water cannon follows the demonstration but stops at the start of the street and refrains from dousing the protesters, who mingle with restaurant-goers on the crowded road.
Police, in a statement, call the demonstration a “violent riot” and say officers began to use force in order to disperse the protesters.
No arrests were reported.
Police drag protesters for a hostage-ceasefire deal from off the light rail tracks near Jerusalem's Zion Square pic.twitter.com/NzjhctiFU6
— charlie summers (@cbsu03) September 3, 2025
As Israel moves ahead with its preparations for an invasion of Gaza City, and US President Donald Trump demands that Hamas immediately release the living hostages it holds, the Gaza terror groups say in a statement that it is still waiting for Israel’s response to the ceasefire proposal they accepted two weeks ago.
Hamas stresses that it is ready “to enter into a comprehensive deal in which all enemy prisoners held by the resistance will be freed in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation.” Hamas refers to the hostages it holds as prisoners.
“This agreement will end the war on the Gaza Strip, result in the withdrawal of all occupation forces from the entire Gaza Strip, open the border crossings to allow the entry of all the Gaza Strip’s necessities and start the process of rebuilding,” Hamas continues.
The terror group emphasizes that it is ready to form “an independent national administration of technocrats” to run Gaza.
Israel has said it would only accept such a deal if Hamas surrenders and disarms.
At least 15 people died and around 18 were injured when Lisbon’s Gloria funicular railway car, which is popular with tourists, derailed and crashed, an emergency medical service spokesman tells reporters.
Authorities would not identify the victims or disclose their nationalities, but said some foreign nationals were among the dead.
“It’s a tragic day for our city…Lisbon is in mourning, it is a tragic, tragic incident,” Carlos Moedas, the mayor of the Portuguese capital, tells reporters.
The IDF says the Air Force struck two Hezbollah-linked targets in southern Lebanon a short while ago.
One strike hit a site in the town of Ansariyeh, located between Tyre and Sidon in southern Lebanon, where engineering equipment was allegedly being stored. The military says the tools were being used to help Hezbollah rebuild and advance terror operations.
A separate strike targeted a rocket launcher in the village of Jebbayn.
The IDF says the presence of the equipment and launcher violated understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
Adloun south Lebanon now pic.twitter.com/2aEvsL8N5O
— Pheebs (@galpalpheebs) September 3, 2025
The IDF says a missile intercepted over Israel this morning carried a cluster bomb warhead, the second such case in the last two weeks involving missiles launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi group.
There were no reports of injuries or damage from the missile and subsequent interception.
A similar incident was recorded on August 24, when an Israeli Air Force investigation determined the Houthis had, for the first time, used a ballistic missile with a cluster bomb warhead.
In that attack, one of the munitions struck the yard of a home in the central community of Ginaton, causing light damage. The military said the failure to intercept that missile was unrelated to the type of warhead it carried.
The IDF urges the public to heed Home Front Command instructions, remain vigilant for unidentified objects, keep away from such items, and immediately report them to the police.
A gut-wrenching new film about a five-year-old girl allegedly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year was given a 23-minute standing ovation after its premiere at the star-studded Venice Film Festival.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a docu-drama about events from January 2024, left much of the audience and many journalists sobbing as it screened for the first time.
Franco-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania and her cast, all dressed in black, were also in tears as they soaked in applause, cheers and shouts of “Free Palestine! at the 1,032-seat main festival cinema.
“We see that the narrative all around the world is that those dying in Gaza are collateral damage, in the media,” Ben Hania tells journalists ahead of the premiere.
“And I think this is so dehumanizing, and that’s why cinema, art and every kind of expression is very important to give those people a voice and face.”
Her film tells the story of Hind Rajab Hamada who was fleeing the Israeli military in Gaza City with six relatives last year when their car came under fire.
The sole survivor, her desperate calls with the Red Crescent rescue service — which were recorded and released — caused international outrage.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” has plenty of famous names attached as executive producers — from actors Joaquin Phoenix, who attended the premiere, and Brad Pitt to Oscar-winning directors Jonathan Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”) and Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”).
“I’m very happy, and I never in my life thought that could be possible,” Ben Hania said of her A-list backers.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance it sent to rescue Rajab.
The Israel Defense Forces said, some weeks after Rajab’s death, that an initial investigation suggested no troops were in the area when she was killed.
A Washington Post report published after the IDF’s statement found that Israeli armored vehicles were, in fact, operating in the area at the time, and that the gunfire heard in the Red Crescent recordings was consistent with IDF weapons.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a request by French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Israel ahead of Paris’s expected recognition of a Palestinian state later this month, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
According to the report, Macron sought to make a brief visit before the United Nations General Assembly, where France is expected to join other Western nations in unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu, however, conditioned the visit on Macron withdrawing the move — a demand the French leader refused.
Former French-Israeli lawmaker Meyer Habib told Kan earlier today that Macron had recently sought to travel to Israel but was rebuffed by Netanyahu.
“Macron sent a message to Netanyahu saying he wanted to come, but Netanyahu replied that under the current circumstances it was not the right time,” Habib said.
In its evening report, an Israeli official tells the Hebrew network: “We will not allow Macron to have it both ways.”
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls to boycott Britain’s Radiohead after the group announced its first tour in seven years.
“Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” drummer Philip Selway says on Instagram.
“After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us.”
Radiohead, which also comprises singer and main songwriter Thom Yorke, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, and bass player Colin Greenwood, will play four dates each in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin.
But the announcement was met with a boycott call by BDS.
“Even as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza reaches its latest, most brutal and depraved phase of induced starvation, Radiohead continues with its complicit silence, while one member repeatedly crosses our picket line, performing a short drive away from a livestreamed genocide, alongside an Israeli artist that entertains genocidal Israeli forces,” an Instagram post read.
“Palestinians reiterate our call for the boycott of Radiohead concerts, including its rumoured tour, until the group convincingly distances itself, at a minimum, from Jonny Greenwood’s crossing of our peaceful picket line during Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” it says.
Greenwood has a long collaboration with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa. In May, the two cancelled shows in the UK due to what they said were credible threats against the venues and audiences.
Fans can register to buy tickets for Radiohead’s tour from Friday.
Hundreds of protesters are blocking Jerusalem’s light rail in the center of the city, following a massive rally outside the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Demonstrators sit on the ground while chanting for a hostage deal and an end to the war as trains in both directions sit idle, blocked by the display.
Dozens of police and Border Police officers encircle the seated protesters. Mounted officers are also at the scene. No arrests have yet been made.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney says that any defense companies that supply arms to Israel will be ineligible for public funding, including grants and investment support.
Swinney also says he will freeze support for trade with Israel.
Speaking at the Scottish Parliament, in a session that also saw the raising of the Palestinian flag, Swinney calls for the “immediate recognition” of a Palestinian state by the UK government and for tougher action on Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Acknowledging that we are witnessing the signs of genocide brings with it a responsibility to act,” says Swinney, describing the situation in Gaza as a “man-made humanitarian catastrophe.”
Bar Godard, the daughter of murdered Israeli hostage Manny Godard, whose body is held in Gaza, tells thousands gathered to protest in Jerusalem that the country is at a “decisive moment.”
At a demonstration outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, she vows that “if the prime minister doesn’t bring them [the hostages] home, we will.”
“We are here because we want to ensure that not another mother will have to receive her son in a coffin,״ she continues.
Godard, 73, and his wife Ayelet, 63, were murdered by terrorists in their home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023. Manny’s body was taken to Gaza. The family was told by the IDF in February 2024 that Manny was murdered during the Hamas assault and that his body was being held by terrorists in Gaza.
After the speeches end, the thousands of protesters spontaneously split off into several different directions in the city.
Hundreds of protesters are currently outside the American embassy, demanding an end to the war while blocking traffic on the adjacent street.
The public donates more than NIS 200,000 ($60,000) for the family of a reservist whose car was accidentally torched during a demonstration in Jerusalem this morning, when protesters set fire to several trash cans that spread to the car.
In the wake of the incident, a group of protesters set up a fundraising page for the family, and within a few hours, NIS 200,000 had been raised — enough to purchase a new car, car seats and toys for the children.
The car belonged to Maj. (res.) Yoav Bar-Ishai and his wife Tamar, who have three young children, including three-month-old twins. The father of the family has served over 250 days of reserve duty in the IDF since October 7, 2023, and is set to head to Gaza for another tour next week following the latest mass round of callups.
“Our car is gone. We support the hostages and the families, but this causes hate,” the mother told Channel 12 news earlier today.
Later, Yoav Bar-Ishai tells the same outlet: “I am not angry with anybody.”
“They didn’t deliberately set the car on fire,” he says, explaining that the blaze spread from a dumpster that was set alight. “It was an act of stupidity,” he says. “Everyone does stupid things, and this shouldn’t be inflated into some political thing.”
He adds that “someone just told me that, on the news, a family of hostages apologized for this happening. That pains me. They really do not have to apologize. We have to apologize to that family.”
He says he is very grateful that a large sum of money has been raised to cover the cost of the torched car and says, “It’s far more than the car’s worth.”
“I’m going to reserve duty strengthened by that story. I feel that I have support, not just from my family and my incredible wife, but from all the people of Israel,” he says.
Calling it “irrelevant,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman’s report criticizing him and other senior ministers for their failure to adequately care for the civilian front in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion.
His office also calls into question the timing of its release.
“While the Government of Israel is achieving unprecedented historic successes that have changed the face of the Middle East, the State Comptroller’s report deals with marginal footnotes that have no real significance,” says a statement released by Netanyahu’s office.
The statement says Englman’s report “completely ignores the fact that this is an existential war on a scale the state has never known in all its years — a war that broke out without prior warning and with no precedents to act upon. The Government of Israel succeeded in responding immediately and created an appropriate working method for the unique emergency situation that emerged.”
It adds that the report is based on incomplete and outdated information.
Englman’s report said that government decisions after the outbreak of war largely failed to achieve their goals. He pointed to a broader trend, stretching back nearly two decades, in which successive governments “failed to appoint a body responsible for managing care of the home front in times of emergency.”
Netanyahu’s office points to the tens of billions of shekels invested in rehabilitating border areas in the north and south, and caring for evacuees, the injured, and families of hostages. It boasts that 95% of students in the north returned to study in their communities, and that “the shekel has strengthened, the stock market is at a peak, and Israel has attracted more foreign investment in R&D than any other country, except the United States.”
Inspections performed by Englman across the country revealed shortages of manpower in essential factories, a lack of psychological care professionals, insufficient government representatives at evacuee sites, and deficiencies in distributing grants and compensation.
“The Prime Minister rejects the unfounded conclusions raised in the report and views it as an irrelevant document,” says the PMO.
“The timing of the report’s publication — on the eve of the entry and takeover of Gaza City, a critical stage in Hamas’s defeat — is puzzling and raises questions about the purpose of the publication and the conclusions drawn in the report,” it adds.
Anat Angrest and Viki Cohen, whose sons Matan Angrest and Nimrod Cohen are held captive by Hamas in Gaza, decry Israel’s leadership at a rally near the prime minister’s residence.
“Every day of footdragging they die a little more… the hostages cannot wait for your speeches, your explanations, your excuses,” says Cohen onstage in Jerusalem, addressing Netanyahu. “If you actually cared, my child would be at home.”
She tells him to stop wearing the yellow hostages pin and “stop saying that you are with us, because if you were really with us, and really cared about us, I’d have a son at home.”
Behind the two mothers is a line of protesters wearing chains to signify the “hell that the hostages are enduring in Gaza,” in the words of the rally’s emcee.
Angrest calls on Netanyahu to sign a deal to return the hostages. “Only you can return them tomorrow morning, it’s in your hands to decide,” she says.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir is planning to warn the government that there will be no option but to impose military rule over the Gaza Strip if plans go ahead to conquer Gaza City, Channel 12 reports.
“There will be no choice but to impose military rule on all of Gaza from November,” the report quotes Zamir as saying he will tell the government.
Zamir is opposed to the government’s plan to conquer Gaza City and has urged the government to accept the deal to reach a ceasefire that will see the hostages released.
The report says Zamir will carry out the orders to capture Gaza City, but is warning the government to prepare for the military and diplomatic consequences.
After activists torched dumpsters and tires near Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, the prime minister says the protesters are acting “exactly like fascists.”
“In a democracy, demonstrations are legitimate,” he says in a video statement. “But what’s happening in the funded, organized, political protests against the government, which have broken every boundary — they vandalize property, block roads, make millions of citizens miserable, chase after elected officials and their children, to kindergartens and schools.”
“They threaten every day to murder me, the Prime Minister, and my family, and they also commit arson,” Netanyahu continues. “They said they would surround my house, the Prime Minister’s Residence, with a ring of fire — just like fascist militias.”
Today’s blazes, which led to locals being evacuated from their homes, were ignited on the morning of a planned “Day of Disruption” calling for the government to negotiate a deal to release the 48 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza.
The father of a family whose car was burned reportedly served over 260 days of reserve duty in the IDF and is set to head to Gaza for another tour next week following the latest mass round of callups.
“The car belongs to reserve Major Yoav Bar Ishay, the grandson of Yaakov Neeman, who was a wonderful Minister of Finance and Justice in Israel,” says Netanyahu.
“He has three daughters. They burned his car, and now his wife cannot take the children around. And then they say they’ll volunteer to help buy a new car. Don’t do us any favors. Don’t make us laugh. You speak about democracy? You speak and act exactly like fascists.”
Netanyahu insists that police are not enforcing the law, and demands that they must quickly take a harsher approach toward protestors.
The IDF says the air force struck and killed two Hezbollah-linked operatives in southern Lebanon within the span of two hours earlier today.
One of the men, identified as Al-Munim Musa Sweidan, was targeted in the southern town of Yater. The military describes him as Hezbollah’s local representative in the town, responsible for coordinating with residents and facilitating the group’s use of private properties to store weapons and conduct surveillance.
Separately, another operative from the Hezbollah-affiliated “Lebanese Resistance Brigades” was killed in a strike in the village of Shebaa.
The IDF claims that their activities constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
בתוך שעתיים: חוסלו שני מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף וחיסל מוקדם יותר היום בהכוונת אוגדה 91, את המחבל עבד אלמנעם מוסא סוידאן מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, במרחב יאטר שבדרום לבנון.
המחבל שימש כנציג המקומי של ארגון הטרור בכפר יאטר, בתפקידו היה אחראי על הקישור… pic.twitter.com/Q7D6zumXzJ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 3, 2025
Thousands of protesters are gathered outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, demanding a hostage and ceasefire deal.
The massive rally comes after non-stop protests throughout the capital during the day calling for a negotiated end to the war, as the IDF moves forward with an operation to conquer Gaza City.
“Military pressure kills the hostages!” chant masses of protesters, ahead of anticipated speeches from family members of hostages.
The IDF says that a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted a short while ago by the Israeli Air Force after alarms sounded in several areas across the country.
Sirens sounded in the Jerusalem area and parts of the southern West Bank.
The military says the alerts were triggered in accordance with policy, even as reports emerge of sirens sounding in areas not covered by the Home Front Command’s early warning system via its official app.
The IDF says it has detected a missile fired from Yemen toward Israeli territory, marking the second launch from Yemen today. Air defense systems are operating to intercept the threat.
The Home Front Command urges the public to follow safety instructions.
An official at a Jordanian government-affiliated charity says that aid airdrops over the Gaza Strip had stopped, without providing a reason for the change.
Several foreign countries had joined operations coordinated by the Jordanian military since late July to parachute parcels of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The airdrops, which aid groups have said were insufficient and could not replace land access, took place with Israeli approval. The last airdrop took place on August 26.
Hussein Al-Shebli, head of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, tells AFP that the airdrops had been suspended “in recent days,” without elaborating.
A Jordanian government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells AFP that unspecified “Israeli obstacles” were behind the change.
The UN nuclear watchdog’s talks with Iran on how to resume inspections at sites including those Israel and the United States bombed cannot go on for months on end, its chief tells Reuters, pushing for a deal as early as this week.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has had no information from Iran on the status or whereabouts of its stock of highly enriched uranium since Israel launched the first attacks on its enrichment sites on June 13, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi confirmed in an interview.
Tehran has now passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA and stipulating that any future inspections will need a green light from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Tehran and the IAEA are now in talks on how inspections can go ahead.
“It’s not something that can go on for months on end,” Grossi says in an interview at IAEA headquarters in Vienna.
“I certainly hope that we can conclude this process soon. We are trying to have another meeting, perhaps within a few days now, here in Vienna, to conclude this and to start the inspections,” he says. “It would be really good if we could have this agreed before next week.”
Technically, inspections in Iran have resumed since IAEA inspectors recently carried out a mission at Bushehr, Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant, but it is of so little concern from a proliferation perspective that it does not generally feature in quarterly IAEA reports on Iran.
There was no stage winner on stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espana today, after race organizers ordered the race to finish three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the line due to pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters causing disruption at the finish in Bilbao.
“Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to take the time at three kilometers before the line,” was the announcement made by the race director on Radio Vuelta.
“We won’t have a stage winner. We will give the points for the mountain classification and the intermediate sprint, but not on the finish line.”
The 157.4km (98-mile) stage, which began and ended in Bilbao, was into the final 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) when the announcement came, while the main general classification riders were battling it out ahead of the peloton.
Before the stage, the Professional Cyclists’ Association (CPA) had called for better security at the Vuelta after several incidents involving protesters had already brought concern over rider safety, with the Israel-Premier Tech team the main target.
Race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Britain’s Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) broke away from their rivals in the final kilometers to come to the premature finish first.
Columbia University and New York University announce investigations into anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents, as the fall semester gets off to a relatively quiet start.
Columbia, previously an epicenter of anti-Israel protests, issues a statement saying university administrators are investigating recent incidents on campus that involve potential violations of the university’s anti-discrimination and harassment policies.
The announcement comes after a prominent anti-Israel activist on campus was pictured on the first day of class with a sign saying, “Some of your classmates were IOF criminals committing genocide in Palestine.”
Unacceptable conduct from @Columbia students on the first day of classes, including Cameron Jones, who was an encampment spokesperson in 2024. Why is he still on campus? Telling students to be automatically suspicious of Israelis is textbook discrimination. pic.twitter.com/lFUvyzcHSC
— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) September 2, 2025
IOF stands for Israeli Occupation Force, a derogatory term for the IDF that is often used by anti-Israel activists.
Israeli students and faculty have said such statements target Israelis on campus because IDF service is mandatory.
New York University says it is investigating the theft of a mezuzah from a student’s doorway. Campus safety officers report the incident to the NYPD as an antisemitic hate crime, the statement says, calling the theft “disgraceful, antisemitic conduct.”
Despite the incidents, the start of the semester does not see any major protest activity.
At the start of the last semester, in January, Columbia students held a raucous protest outside the campus gates and anti-Israel activists barged into an Israeli professor’s class on the history of Israel.
Columbia and other universities have come under heavy pressure from the Trump administration to rein in antisemitism on campus. Columbia has clamped down on anti-Israel activism since, including by suspending students who violated campus protest rules.
NYU has seen less protest activity and is less of a focus of the administration.
Separately, the NYPD reports 19 antisemitic hate crimes in the city last month, a slight increase over the same period last year.
Antisemitic hate crimes in the city have been trending downward in recent months. While August’s total is an increase over the previous year, the number is antisemitic incidents is far lower than earlier in the Gaza war. In November 2023, there were 69 antisemitic incidents reported to police.
Jews are still targeted more than all other groups combined in the city nearly every month. The number of antisemitic incidents in the city in August amounts to 56% of the 34 total hate crimes in the city.
The decrease in antisemitic hate crimes comes amid a broader downturn in major crimes in the city.
US President Donald Trump tells the Hamas terror group to give back “all 20 Hostages,” promising a rapid end to the war.
“Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!” he posts on his Truth Social.
"Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!" – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/oeOxqd3XO3
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 3, 2025
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.
They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.
Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
One Palestinian was killed and a suspect arrested as soldiers from the IDF’s Duvdevan commando unit, guided by Shin Bet intelligence, conducted an undercover raid earlier today in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the IDF says.
According to the military, troops stormed a building where the suspect, wanted for terror activity in the nearby Balata refugee camp, was hiding and successfully arrested him.
During the operation, another man dropped concrete blocks at the troops from a nearby rooftop. Soldiers responded with gunfire, killing the attacker.
The IDF says the operation was part of ongoing efforts to disrupt terrorist networks in the West Bank.
Breaking| The Israeli occupation forces storm the New Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus City, in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/RPvKgt0UxY
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 3, 2025
Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to weapons grade, increased slightly before Israel attacked its nuclear facilities on June 13, a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog seen by Reuters says.
On June 13, Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% in uranium hexafluoride form, which can be enriched in centrifuges, is estimated to have been 440.9 kg, the International Atomic Energy Agency report says. That is enough, if enriched further, for 10 nuclear bombs, according to an IAEA yardstick.
Police arrest two men suspected of setting trash bins and tires on fire during protests for a hostage-ceasefire deal in Jerusalem earlier this morning, law enforcement announces.
The two suspects — in their 60s and 80s — allegedly set fire to trash bins near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, and tires near the Prime Minister’s Office in Givat Ram. They were both arrested by detectives in the Jerusalem police’s investigations and intelligence unit.
The flames near Netanyahu’s home spread, consuming a car and forcing residents in nearby buildings to evacuate, police say. At around the same time, another suspect set fire to a pile of car tires outside the premier’s office. No injuries were reported in either incident.
Both suspects have been transferred to the capital’s Moriah police station for interrogation, police add.
The Health Ministry and Magen David Adom (MDA) Blood Services call on the public to donate blood at donation stations across the country.
Every year during the holiday period, there is a decrease in blood donations. A sufficient supply of blood units is required in routine and emergency situations; therefore, the organizations urge the public to donate blood.
Information on blood donation stations can be found on the website: https://www.mdais.org/blood-donation or by calling 03-5300400.
Pro-Israel activists join the International Association of Genocide Scholars after the group accused Israel of genocide, highlighting the fact that non-scholars can join the group.
The association charged Israel with genocide on Monday, garnering widespread media coverage that portrayed the group as a leading body of experts.
“Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s leading experts say,” the BBC reported in its headline, for example.
Pro-Israel activists have discovered that anyone can join the group by paying as little as $30, though. The group’s website says it is open to individuals including activists and artists, and scholars in unrelated fields.
Get in, loser. https://t.co/NVHOFUTtTL pic.twitter.com/ui67erlpbl
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) September 3, 2025
The group appears to have deactivated its public members directory on its website and taken down its profile on X since yesterday, following the influx of new members.
https://t.co/vLiFjpmXCi pic.twitter.com/lKsi46Dj3M
— Mark Zlochin – מארק זלוצ'ין༝ (@MarkZlochin) September 3, 2025
A number of pro-Israel activists say they joined the group, while others appear to prank the association. “Adolf Hitler” is listed as an inactive member of the group. Other accounts sign up as Star Wars characters.
One of the pro-Israel commentators who joined the association, Elliot Malin, is actually a legal expert, but says the association revoked his membership without explanation.
Malin is an attorney and the chairperson of the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust.
Pro-Palestinian activists were already members of the group. Nidal Jboor, the founder of the activist group Doctors Against Genocide, is one example.
Jboor is a member of the association who, over the weekend, said the anti-Israel movement needed to “take out” and “neutralize” its “child murderer” opponents at an anti-Israel activist conference.
Before the Israel genocide vote, the association had around 500 members, but only 129 voted on the resolution.
After the vote passed, a member of the association, Sara Brown, said the association had initially been made up of scholars, but had opened its membership to non-experts, including activists.
A day after meeting with Moshe Or — brother of Hamas hostage Avinatan Or — and other family members of hostages, UK Foreign Minister David Lammy calls the meeting “deeply moving.”
“Hamas must immediately release all hostages,” he writes on X. “We will continue working with international partners for an immediate ceasefire and a lasting peace.”
Hamas must immediately release all hostages. We will continue working with international partners for an immediate ceasefire and a lasting peace. https://t.co/y2agh7eThw
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) September 3, 2025
Hundreds of protesters led by a group of hostages’ families arrive at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem after marching there from the Knesset.
The hostages’ relatives call on Israelis to travel to the capital, announcing plans for two massive rallies against the expansion of the Gaza war to take place outside the premier’s home. The first rally is set to be held later this evening, while the second is scheduled for Saturday night.
“We are standing here with a very simple, straight and direct message: we want a ceasefire and hostage deal and this is his [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] responsibility to do it,” says Yehuda Cohen, the father of Hamas-held hostage Nimrod Cohen.
Anat Angrest, the mother of hostage Matan Angrest, decries the expansion of the war in Gaza. “The IDF chief of staff is saying in a clear voice that continuing the war is a death trap for soldiers,” she claims.
Ofir Braslavski, whose son Rom is also held captive in Gaza, refers to a video of his son released by his captors in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“Unfortunately, my child is dying, starving. His eyes were saying that he no longer wants to be alive. There’s nothing worse than that, for a father to see his child in that state and not be able to do anything,” he says. “How can it be that they’re keeping him there and the prime minister wants to occupy more land in Gaza?”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the Gaza Strip earlier today, surveying Gaza City and reviewing operational plans with commanders from the 162nd Division and multiple brigades as the IDF prepares to advance its offensive in the city.
Speaking to troops in the field, Zamir said, “We have entered the second phase of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ to fulfill the objectives of the war. Returning our hostages is both a moral and national mission. We will continue striking Hamas’s centers of gravity until it is defeated.”
“We are creating a sense of being hunted for [Hamas] everywhere,” Zamir said.
He also praised soldiers and commanders for their courage and dedication in challenging conditions, emphasizing that the IDF is deepening its operations in Gaza to maximize impact on Hamas.
Zamir added that IDF forces on the ground “face some of the greatest challenges in Israel’s history.”
The visit included briefings on operational developments and the mobilization of reservists to support ongoing operations.
After an IDF document claiming that Operation “Gideon’s Chariots” failed to meet its objectives was released to the media, Hebrew media reports that the IDF Ground Forces commander, Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan, met yesterday with Brig. Gen. (res.) Guy Hazut, the officer apparently responsible for preparing and distributing the presentation.
Hazut had reportedly circulated the slides — which were shown to reservist brigades without official approval — warning that the IDF had failed to learn the necessary lessons ahead of implementing the cabinet-approved plan to conquer Gaza City, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots B.”
The IDF reportedly expressed anger at Hazut for adding his personal opinions to the presentation without authorization, but chose not to formally punish him.
A senior official told Israel Hayom that part of the reasoning was avoiding the appearance that the military “cannot accept criticism.”
However, reports claim Hazut was reprimanded by the military, resulting in his issuing an apology for his actions.
After Belgium says it will announce its recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN later this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls his Belgian counterpart Bart de Wever “a weak leader who seeks to appease Islamic terrorism by sacrificing Israel.”
He also called Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “a weak politician” after Canberra said it would recognize a Palestinian state
“He wants to feed the terrorist crocodile before it devours Belgium,” Netanyahu said of de Wever in a post on X. “Israel will won’t go along and will continue to defend itself.”
Prime Minister's Office:
Belgian Prime Minister de Wever is a weak leader who seeks to appease Islamic terrorism by sacrificing Israel. He wants to feed the terrorist crocodile before it devours Belgium. Israel will won’t go along and will continue to defend itself.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 3, 2025
In response to reports that Israeli drones dropped grenades near UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) personnel yesterday, the IDF clarifies that its forces were responding to a “suspicious presence” in the area.
An IDF unit stationed at a post in southern Lebanon deployed several stun grenades to disrupt the situation and neutralize the perceived threat. The military says no injuries were reported.
At the same time, UNIFIL soldiers operating nearby reported that shots were fired in their direction.
Following an investigation, the IDF says it held a discussion via military communication channels to clarify the incident.
The IDF emphasizes that no deliberate fire was directed at UNIFIL personnel and reaffirmed that the safety of Israeli civilians and forces remains a top priority.
UNIFIL had claimed that four grenades were dropped close to observers clearing roadblocks near the village of Marwahin, with one allegedly landing within 20 meters and three within approximately 100 meters of UN personnel and vehicles. UNIFIL described the incident as “one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement last November.”
UNIFIL, which has patrolled Lebanon’s southern border with Israel since 1978, was recently extended by the UN Security Council to continue its mission through the end of 2026, followed by a year-long drawdown.
In a letter addressed to Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, the chief rabbis of Israel reject a proposal to allow non-Jewish workers to operate dairies during the Jewish holidays in order to avoid an expected shortage.
“Dairies in Israel receive kosher certification from the Chief Rabbinate, and operating the plants on Shabbat could compromise the certification they are granted,” says the letter signed by Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber.
“The Sabbath is one of the most distinctive symbols of the Israeli nation and is the sign of the covenant between the Creator and his people,” it adds. “The very fact that factories in Israel observe the sanctity of Shabbat is a statement in itself and also expresses the Jewish identity of the State of Israel.”
The High Holidays — Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — followed immediately by Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret-Simchat Torah, starting later this month, will fall in the middle of the week, shutting milk production at dairies for a total of nine workdays. Production also ceases on Shabbat, to comply with kashrut constraints.
Yosef and Ber say that dairies in Israel already have experience with the challenge and managed to avoid shortages in the past.
“In our opinion, since we are still at a reasonable distance from the [Jewish month of] Tishrei holidays, there is sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that no shortage will occur, God forbid,” they write in the letter.
Grocery stores in Israel have been rationing milk over the past few weeks amid production shortfalls.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir thanks the Shin Bet security service, the Israel Prison Service, police and other agencies for working to protect him following the revelation of a Hamas plot to assassinate him.
“I will not be deterred and I will not be afraid! Hamas has already tried to eliminate me five times, and each time they failed, this time too,” he says in a video statement, praising God and expressing thanks for “the efforts of the security forces.”
“I will continue to lead a hardline policy in Israel’s prisons against terror, demand a complete victory in Gaza, and the erasure of Hamas from the map. The terrorists must know: instead of them harming us – we will harm them, everywhere and at any time,” Ben Gvir declares.
Ben Gvir’s statement comes after the Shin Bet announced that it had thwarted a plot by a Hamas cell in the West Bank to assassinate the far right minister. The would-be assassins sought to kill the minister with explosive-laden drones, according to the agency’s statement. The suspects, arrested by security forces in recent weeks, are operatives in a Hebron-based Hamas cell.
The Palestinian Authority welcomes the message from the United Arab Emirates that any Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a “red line” that would jeopardize normalization.
“We highly appreciate the stance of the state of the UAE in rejecting the Israeli measures to annex any parts of the West Bank, considering it a red line for the Emirates, which undermines regional integration and destroys the two-state solution,” Hussein al-Sheikh, PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s deputy, writes in a post on X.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with a forum of combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and instructed his office to expand assistance for soldiers coping with the condition, according to a statement from his office.
The forum is led by Itzik Saidyan, an IDF veteran of the 2014 Operation Protective Edge conflict in Gaza, who shared with Netanyahu the group’s “complex daily struggles” and rehabilitation processes.
Saidyan drew national attention in 2021 when he self-immolated outside a Defense Ministry office for injured soldiers, in a protest that sparked a reckoning over Israel’s treatment of wounded veterans.
According to the statement, Netanyahu “expressed his support for the veterans” and directed the acting director-general of his office, Drorit Steinmetz, to “examine ways to further assist the combat veterans so they can fully realize their rights.”
The IDF says that troops entered the Mount Dov area in southern Lebanon overnight and destroyed several positions previously used by Hezbollah.
According to the military, the operation followed months of observation and reconnaissance in the area.
The IDF says the operation was carried out by the 810th Mountain Regional Brigade, under the 210th “Bashan” Regional Division.
Mount Dov, also known as the Sheba Farms, is a contested area claimed by Israel, Lebanon and Syria.
The IDF also says it carried out an airstrike earlier today on a site in southern Lebanon used by Hezbollah to produce materials supporting the organization’s reconstruction and terrorist operations.
The IDF claims that the presence of the production site constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
The Shin Bet has thwarted a plot by a Hamas cell in the West Bank to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the security agency announces.
The would-be assassins sought to kill the minister with explosive-laden drones, according to the agency’s statement.
The suspects, arrested by security forces in recent weeks, are operatives in a Hebron-based Hamas cell.
They allegedly purchased several drones and planned to attach explosives to them. The drones were seized upon their arrest.
Families are leading a protest march from the Knesset to the prime minister’s residence, demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal for their loved ones’ release.
“Had the prime minister wanted it, the hostages would be back here within a few days, even by the High Holidays,” says Anat Angrest, whose son Matan is a hostage in Gaza.
Speaking before the march sets out, Angrest laments that a “hostages’ routine” has developed in Israel since October 7, 2023, marked by “great sadness, from rally to rally.”
“Decision-makers, some of them who haven’t served a day in the army, betray the army, are sending soldiers to fight and die,” she says.
Vicky Cohen, the mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, tells the crowd she has “not slept 698 nights” out of worry for her son.
“The time has come for you, too, to not sleep,” she says, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Prime minister, I’m on my way to you. I expect you to come out and greet us and explain to us what the plan will be to return Nimrod and all the other hostages,” she continues.
Marchers continue to Netanyahu’s house, flanked by dozens of police and Border Police officers.
There is a larger police presence than is usually visible at rallies for the hostages, after a group of protesters this morning lit fires that destroyed a car near the prime minister’s home.
Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs denies knowledge of a plan attributed to Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth involving the approval of a wartime “emergency regulation” that would allow for the immediate drafting of enough soldiers to fill the military’s manpower shortage while also lifting sanctions on ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.
“There was no such proposal,” Fuchs tells the committee, repeating a denial made to The Times of Israel several minutes earlier during a break in the committee’s proceedings.
According to a Monday report by the Walla news site, Bismuth supports the adoption of such a measure for a period of one year, during which an unspecified number of Haredim would be drafted “according to the needs of the army.”
At the same time, enforcement against Haredi draft dodgers would be halted, according to the reported plan. This would include an end to recent arrest operations by military police, which have roiled the ultra-Orthodox community, leading to declarations of “war” and protests across the country.
The reported plan would also provide for the resumption of yeshiva funding that was cut off last year in the wake of a High Court of Justice order barring the government from providing money for students eligible for IDF enlistment. The Attorney General’s Office has also ordered a halt to daycare subsidies for the children of draft evaders.
Responding to demands for clarification from lawmakers, Bismuth says that he has held meetings with many people involved in the issue since taking over the committee in late July.
Pressed by opposition lawmakers, Bismuth says that if they want to conscript Haredim, they need to drop the issue and move on to their planned discussion of a proposed conscription bill.
“The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is the official address for updates on the conscription law issue. This is where the discussions are taking place and where the decisions are made,” he says, repeating verbatim part of a statement released by his office earlier this week.
The statement reads: “There is an understanding that in the current reality, in the midst of war, the need for soldiers is urgent and necessary, while a permanent law is a long and complex process. Therefore, temporary solutions adapted to this period are also being examined, in order to provide an immediate response to security needs, while at the same time continuing to advance a comprehensive and stable arrangement of the conscription law with cooperation and responsibility.”
Addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the father of hostage Rom Braslavski screams at lawmakers that “instead of having a toast on Rosh Hashanah, you will be drinking the blood of the hostages.”
“You will drink their blood because they are dead,” yells Ofir Braslavski, asking MKs if any of them care that his son is “dying.”
“You all need to go home… My son is dying, does that interest any of you? This happened on your watch,” he declares.
In July, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group published a video of Rom Braslavski, whom it is holding captive in the Gaza Strip. The terror group claimed that the six-minute video was recorded days before it lost contact with the captors holding Braslavski, and alleged that the hostage’s fate was unknown.
A still from the video published by Israeli media showed Braslavski, 21, looking pale and thin, lying on the ground in an unknown location in Gaza.
“They managed to break Rom. Even the most resilient person has their breaking point,” read a statement by his family released at the time.
The Israeli Air Force held a change of command ceremony yesterday at Tel Nof air base, where Brig. Gen. “Shin” officially assumed command, replacing Brig. Gen. “Alef,” who led the base for the past two years.
Both commanders can only be named by their first Hebrew initial, per IDF regulations.
IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar praised the base’s contribution during recent operations, most notably the June 13 strikes on Iran — dubbed “Operation Rising Lion” — that started a 12-day war during which Tehran’s nuclear facilities sustained immense damage.
“In Operation Rising Lion, everything came together in a completeness that showcased this base’s full capabilities,” adding that Tel Nof had played a decisive role in what he called “the historic task of removing an existential threat from the people of Israel.”
Outgoing commander Brig. Gen. “Alef” said leading Tel Nof was not a privilege but a duty, adding: “There is no greater sense of meaning than being another small stone in the mosaic built here across generations.”
Incoming commander Brig. Gen. “Shin” described Tel Nof as “a home, a family, and a warm corner of my heart.” He said he was taking on the role “with reverence, understanding the responsibility, challenges and complexities.”
In a court filing defending himself against a defamation lawsuit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Democrats party chief Yair Golan accuses the premier of seeking to block any public discussions of his alleged ties to Qatar.
The document details what Golan’s office describes as a pattern of behavior in recent years that “raises serious suspicions of harming national security for political gain,” and even suspicions that Netanyahu and his people “sold the security of Israel’s children for Qatari money.”
Golan says that he intends to demand the disclosure of documents detailing the sources of funding for Netanyahu and the Likud party in recent election campaigns, details of Netanyahu’s bank accounts and assets in Israel and abroad, and records of meetings and conversations with Qatari officials over the past decade.
“Netanyahu fears that his ties with Qatar, and the depth of the most serious security affair in Israel’s history, will be exposed to the public. This is a lawsuit with a clear goal: to silence any public discussion about the connections that led to the strengthening of Hamas, the failure and the massacre of October 7,” Golan says in a statement. “The citizens of Israel deserve to know the truth, and the court is the place to reveal it. We will demand the disclosure of all documents, testimonies and facts so that the truth comes to light.”
In April, Netanyahu filed a defamation suit against Golan over messages he sent to supporters accusing the premier of peddling the country’s security for money in the so-called Qatargate scandal.
According to the Ynet news site, Netanyahu charged that the message not only “contain[ed] false and ugly content” and “fake news, unbridled incitement, and slander,” but also was part of an effort to use such messaging to solicit donations.
Netanyahu is reportedly demanding financial compensation of NIS 320,000 ($86,400) and an order instructing Golan to “refrain from spreading defamation.”
Last month, Golan called for checking the prime minister’s bank accounts to ensure that he has not been accepting Qatari money in light of senior aides’ financial ties to the Arab state.
Under Netanyahu, Israel allowed suitcases with millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through Israeli crossings between 2018 and 2023, to maintain its fragile ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Strip.
Hebrew media has reported that Netanyahu was warned at least twice before the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, that the terror group’s military chief, Muhammad Deif, was appropriating funds provided by Qatar to Gaza.
Several of Netanyahu’s top aides are currently under investigation over alleged financial ties with Qatar. Netanyahu is not a suspect.
Police have arrested a man suspected of trying twice to set fire to a shop in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market earlier this week, law enforcement announces.
The first arson attempt took place Sunday, when the suspect allegedly set fire to cardboard near the shop in an attempt to burn it down.
Later that night, the same individual was said to have thrown a Molotov cocktail at the business, causing minor damage. No injuries were reported, police say.
Officers arrived at the suspect’s home days later and arrested him alongside a second individual, though it is unclear what the second person is suspected of.
The motive is likely related to a dispute between the alleged arsonist and an employee at the business, police add.
Both suspects will remain in police custody until September 5, at the order of a judge in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.
As the IDF prepares to expand its ground operations into Gaza City, Israeli officials say Hamas is preventing civilians from evacuating south, using them as human shields while amplifying claims of “forced displacement” to sway international opinion.
Defense officials estimate that 70,000 to 80,000 residents have fled Gaza City, most of them in the past 72 hours, even before an official evacuation order. Over the weekend, the number stood at about 10,000 out of the city’s estimated one million residents. Officials expect departures to continue as the IDF presses its campaign.
“The Hamas terror organization is doing everything it can to block the population’s movement southward in order to use civilians as human shields and for propaganda purposes,” one security official says. “In practice, the public’s barrier of fear has been broken, and tens of thousands of residents have managed to bypass Hamas checkpoints and evacuate the city.”
Meanwhile, the IDF releases a recording said to depict a Gaza City resident telling a Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) officer that Hamas is preventing civilians from moving south.
“We want to go south but Hamas is blocking the way,” the resident is heard saying. “They tell people: go back home, there is no evacuation, go back, go back — and people scatter.”
He adds that many residents are fearful, with some attempting to take side streets and alternative routes. According to his testimony, Hamas operatives are stationed along the seashore near al-Nabulsi junction in western Gaza City and other areas, blocking main roads.
The IDF says the testimony highlights Hamas’s use of civilians as human shields to deter military operations.
Israel says it is scaling up humanitarian infrastructure in southern Gaza, particularly in the al-Mawasi coastal area, in coordination with the UN, the US and regional partners. The zone is intended to accommodate up to two million people, with expanded deliveries of food, medicine and shelter supplies, as well as repairs to water and health facilities.
Hamas has rejected the evacuation plan as “forced displacement.” Its media office accused Israel of spreading “lies and misleading maps” and warned that designated humanitarian zones, including al-Mawasi and refugee camps in central Gaza, are already overcrowded and unsafe. Hamas-run outlets, including the al-Haras channel, have echoed the claims, asserting that no area in southern Gaza can be considered safe.
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee votes 8-5 to pass an extension of an emergency military call-up order until September 30.
The order was previously extended on August 18 by a close vote of 8-7, a week after the measure was put on the back burner due to the coalition being unable to muster a majority. The repeated extensions of the military call-up have long drawn criticism from opposition members, who accuse the government of overburdening exhausted reservists while simultaneously seeking to legislate draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
In an interview with the Belgian Sudinfo newspaper, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar calls Belgium’s announcement yesterday that it will recognize a Palestinian state “a very strange decision, which was taken under pressure.”
“But in any case, I’ll tell you frankly: it’s not happening now!” he continues. “If Hamas continues to rule Gaza, it will never happen. So the question of whether a Palestinian state will exist or not is not linked to the decision of the government in Brussels, but rather to the decisions of the government in Jerusalem.”
Asked about the future of Gaza after Hamas, Sa’ar says that Israel has “no intention of controlling the Palestinian population in Gaza.”
“They must be given autonomy, but it must be linked to the end of two things: first, the end of terrorism, of course; second, the end of incitement.”
He doesn’t categorically rule out a Palestinian state, instead saying that “this process can only be realistic when they change their attitude.”
He says US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over and rebuild Gaza “can be a good thing,” but only under two conditions: “The first: that those who want to leave Gaza can do so freely, of their own choice. The second: that there are countries willing to welcome them.”
Police have arrested 13 protesters in favor of a hostage deal who barricaded themselves on the roof of the National Library earlier this morning in Jerusalem, law enforcement announces.
The demonstrators climbed onto the roof and refused to leave their spot, hanging massive banners from the building — located across from the Knesset — denouncing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Protesters also set off a smoke bomb, police say.
Officers repeatedly called out to the protesters from the ground, demanding they come down.
Footage shows a group of police officers who also went up to the roof of the library and offered protesters water bottles while trying to convince them to come down the stairs. When they eventually complied, officers detained the 13 demonstrators and took them to the police station.
שוטרים עלו על גג הספרייה הלאומית בניסיון לפנות את המתבצרים במחאה לשחרור החטופים pic.twitter.com/WoRUw38Yg9
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 3, 2025
Fiji will open its embassy in Jerusalem on September 17, the Foreign Ministry announces.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will be in Israel for the occasion.
Rabuka came to power in late 2022 as the head of a three-party government that includes the right-wing Christian Sodelpa party, one of whose leaders’ demands was that Fiji open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Fiji’s decision on the embassy followed a decades-long campaign by the Jerusalem-based International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem, which preaches support for Israel at churches across the Southern Pacific.
Currently, six countries have embassies in Jerusalem — the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.
“I congratulate Fiji and its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Friend of Israel Sitiveni Rabuka, on its decision to open an embassy in Israel, in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” says Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in a statement. “We will continue to work to open and transfer additional embassies to Jerusalem, our capital.”
Far right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presents a plan to annex the majority of the West Bank, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “make a historic decision to apply Israeli sovereignty to all open areas in Judea and Samaria.”
In a joint statement with Israel Ganz, the head of the Yesha Council, the umbrella body for West Bank settlements, Smotrich says that there is a consensus in Israel today against “a terrorist state in the heart of the country,” citing the late foreign minister Abba Eban’s statement about Israel’s pre-1967 border being “Auschwitz borders.”
“After October 7, very few people believe that Israel can afford to multiply Gaza twentyfold and place it in an area that controls, geographically and topographically, all of our population centers,” he declares, citing the recent passage of a non-binding Knesset motion in favor of annexing the West Bank as proof that most Israelis support extending sovereignty to the territory.
“The broad consensus for sovereignty is a direct result of a deep understanding that we can never allow an existential threat to establish itself among us, and after decades of hesitation, it is time to state this clearly and act accordingly. It is time to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and remove once and for all the idea of dividing our small land and establishing a terrorist state in its heart,” Smotrich states, using the biblical name of the West Bank.
“We will never allow Kfar Saba to become Kfar Aza,” he continues, citing Israel’s “biblical, historical and moral right to all our land.”
Smotrich rules out the idea of settlement blocs and “partial sovereignty,” insisting that Israel take control of “maximum land with minimum [Palestinian] population” because “we have no desire to apply our sovereignty over a population that wishes for our destruction.”
“In recent months, the Settlement Administration in the Defense Ministry has worked on mapping sovereignty according to this overarching principle, and Israeli sovereignty will, God willing, be applied to approximately 82 percent of the territory,” Smotrich says, adding that while the Palestinians will continue to run their own lives, the Palestinian Authority will eventually be phased out in favor of what he calls “regional civilian management alternatives.”
Citing recent statements by several countries planning on recognizing a Palestinian state, Smotrich bills the application of sovereignty as “a preventative step against the diplomatic offensive planned against us and the attempts to threaten our existence and our children’s future.”
“Israeli hesitation fuels the diplomatic attack against us. The way to end the attack is to stop hesitating and speak clearly: Judea and Samaria are not disputed territory; they are the inheritance of our ancestors for generations. There will never, and can never be, a Palestinian state in our land,” Smotrich insists, dismissing what he predicts will be warnings against his plan by security experts and senior defense officials.
“We are done surrendering to threats and intimidation. If the Palestinian Authority dares to rise up and try to harm us, we will destroy them just as we do Hamas,” he declares, calling on Netanyahu to convene the government and decide on applying sovereignty.
“And you, Mr. Prime Minister, will enter the nation’s history books for generations as a great leader who knew how to seize the moment, take advantage of the opportunity, and save Israel once and for all from the idea of dividing the land and the existential threat euphemistically called a ‘Palestinian state,'” he says.
The IDF says that the Israeli Navy conducted a joint exercise in the Mediterranean sea two days ago with maritime combat management systems and the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.
Troops practiced a variety of combat scenarios along the maritime border and emergency procedures across command posts, aimed at enhancing readiness and real-time coordination between naval and ground forces.
The statement comes days before a large activist flotilla is set to try to break the maritime blockade of Gaza, though there is no evidence to suggest the recent drill is connected to that.
The Civil Administration, a department of the Defense Ministry, has declared 456 dunams (112 acres) of land adjacent to the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad in the northern West Bank to be “state land,” meaning it will be available for the development of settlements and settlement infrastructure, according to a Civil Administration document.
The land was previously part of the administrative lands of the nearby Palestinian villages of Jit, Tell and Fara’ata, although it is not privately owned. Anyone who claims the land is under their private ownership can appeal the decision within 45 days of the declaration, which was approved on September 1.
Although the land declared to be state land is likely not privately owned, the borders of the new state land area are tortuously drawn and include islands of land within the state land zone that may be privately owned by Palestinians.
Access to this land will be impossible if residential or commercial settlement developments are built on the state land, the left-wing Peace Now organization, which campaigns against the settlement movement, said.
The government in 2018 declared its intention to legalize Havat Gilad, but due to claims by local Palestinians that they own land on which the outpost is built, efforts to legalize it have run aground.
Residents of the outpost have tried to claim the land was legally purchased but have been unable to prove this, apart from for one plot out of dozens on which the outpost lies, according to Peace Now.
The large majority of the state land declared by the Civil Administration lies around a kilometer south of Havat Gilad. Peace Now argues that the land declaration will therefore be used to expand the outpost, without the original dwellings being demolished.
The current government has declared unprecedented amounts of West Bank land to be state land. Since it took office at the end of 2022, some 26,000 dunams (6,424 acres) of West Bank land have been declared state land in less than three years, half the total since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.
Some 99.8% of state land in the West Bank designated for development has been allocated to settlements and settlement enterprises, and just 0.2% to Palestinians, Peace Now says.
Following red alert sirens at the Nir Am shooting range a short while ago, the IDF says the warning was a false alarm.
The IDF says red alert sirens were triggered at the Nir Am shooting range along the Gaza border.
Details are currently under investigation, the army says.
A 25-year-old man was shot dead overnight by unknown assailants in Arraba, an Arab city in the Galilee, police and paramedics say.
The victim, named as Khaled Bilal Asla, was killed in his home after two attackers masquerading as police officers arrived at his doorstep. It was a targeted killing, and the perpetrators first asked around on the street regarding the victims residence, Ynet reports.
The attackers were greeted at the door by Asla’s mother, then entered and shot the young man. They also shot Asla’s special needs brother in the leg, just after he had recovered from a surgery and had started walking again. He was taken to a nearby hospital with light injuries, Magen David Adom paramedics say.
Security camera footage of the incident published by Ynet shows the two faux police officers arriving on the steps of his home and then entering. Seconds later, the killers flee the scene, rushing back down the steps and to their car.
Police have opened an investigation into the shooting, the third to rock Arab society in the past 24 hours.
The Abraham Initiatives organization, which tracks Arab murder victims, has called on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to resign over the soaring murder rate plaguing Arab society.
Since the start of 2025, 172 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent incidents, a 12% increase from the same period last year, the group says.
The organization accuses the government, specifically Ben Gvir and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of having “failed miserably in dealing with crime in Arab society.”
“In any civilized country, the person in charge of dealing with such a failed phenomenon would immediately resign,” the organization says.
The IDF says it is boosting operational and logistical preparedness for reservists called up for the military’s planned Gaza City offensive, dubbed Operation “Gideon’s Chariots B.”
Over the coming weeks, troops will participate in open-terrain and urban warfare exercises to strengthen readiness across the Gaza Strip. Advanced equipment and weapons, including drones for company and platoon-level commanders, have been deployed to enhance tactical capabilities.
In preparation for the large-scale call-up, the IDF has also upgraded military infrastructure, including new firing ranges, air-conditioned accommodations and hot-water showering facilities.
The Technology and Logistics Directorate is providing comprehensive support, covering personal gear, infrastructure, vehicle maintenance, daily logistics, and both medical and mental health care for the reservists.
Yesterday, tens of thousands of reservists were called up for duty as the first phase of a wider draft for the planned conquest of Gaza City, amid reports of low turnout rates.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman Hanoch Milwidsky has tweeted a photograph of himself holding a meeting in his office while wearing a red MAGA cap.
“The silence in the Knesset has ended, preparing for the next discussion of the Finance Committee,” he writes, as his committee prepares to resume its activities despite the current legislative recess.
Milwidsky adds in a follow-up tweet that he is wearing the cap “for all the right reasons” but does not immediately respond to The Times of Israel’s request for elaboration.
Not for “some reason”. For all the right reasons.
— חנוך מילביצקי – Hanoch Milwidsky (@hanochmilwidsky) September 3, 2025
The Likud lawmaker was appointed to his position as chairman of the Finance Committee in late July despite an ongoing police investigation against him on suspicion of rape and witness tampering. He replaced MK Moshe Gafni, whose United Torah Judaism party quit the coalition earlier that month over its failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service.
“Ignore the stupid gimmick for a moment, pay attention to something else — this room is not the office of the Finance Committee chairman. The one who stayed in the Finance Committee chairman’s office is the previous chairman, Gafni. Why?” writes Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak, retweeting Milwidsky’s post.
“Because the Likud is interested in bringing Gafni back to the coalition as soon as possible. Gafni will not return without the evasion law and without canceling the sanctions on draft dodgers. And that’s what the Likud promised to give him: the evasion law and budgets for draft dodgers. This is a great betrayal of the reservists and the Israeli middle class by Netanyahu’s party.”
Opposition leaders come out against the torching of bins, cars and tires in Jerusalem by anti-government protesters while also more generally supporting today’s protests for a hostage deal.
“I condemn the torching of vehicles in Jerusalem, but I condemn much more a government that abandons hostages to their deaths in Gaza,” tweets Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
Activists set several recycling bins alight, damaging cars, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood and burned tires near the Prime Minister’s office in the Givat Ram neighborhood.
“The protests and solidarity with the families of the hostages today are a democratic right and a moral duty of every citizen — burning vehicles and any form of violence, by an unrepresentative minority, does not advance the return of the hostages and only harms the determined and important public struggle,” declares Blue and White-National Unity chair Benny Gantz.
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet slam anti-government protesters over the torching of bins, cars and tires in Jerusalem, with several blaming the arson on the High Court of Justice and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Activists set several recycling bins alight near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, damaging cars in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood, and burned tires near the Prime Minister’s office in the Givat Ram neighborhood.
“What is happening this morning has one name: terrorism,” declares Justice Minister Yariv Levin, insisting that responsibility for the incidents is shared by an attorney general “who dictates criminal selective enforcement, and the High Court judges who stand by her and try to force her continued tenure on the government and the entire public.”
“Today’s events once again illustrate the duty of the entire government to stand behind the decision to dismiss Baharav-Miara and complete the appointment of David Zini as head of the Shin Bet. This is the path that will lead to prosecuting the arsonists and those who incited them. This is the path to putting an end to lawlessness in the streets,” Levin states.
In a post on X, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana insists that “the despicable criminals who set Jerusalem ablaze today and seek to set the entire country on fire would have been arrested and punished to the fullest extent of the law if they had set fires near the home of Mrs. Baharav-Miara, one of the Supreme Court justices, or the State Prosecutor.”
However, “the system responsible for law enforcement has been hijacked by a pyromaniac who has not the slightest connection to the rule of law,” Ohana writes.
Sharing a picture of a burnt bin and car on X, Culture Minister Miki Zohar calls to take a “firm hand” against “violent rioters,” arguing that “the enemy is rubbing its hands with pleasure at these images, and we must not allow that to happen.”
Transportation Minister Miri Regev declares that protests by “the left” have spiraled out of control and “turned into violent, dangerous and inconceivable behavior.”
“This is no longer freedom of expression; this is thuggish violence reminiscent of the methods of terrorist organizations,” Regev tweets. “I expect the police, the attorney general, and the State Prosecutor’s Office to stop this lawlessness, enforce the law, and put an end to the riots. This violence endangers human lives, the security of the prime minister and his family, and this is crossing a red line that must not be allowed to pass in silence.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, one of the most vocal advocates for firing Baharav-Miara, calls the arson “anarchy and civil terrorism… with the encouragement of the former attorney general and her deafening silence in the face of criminals and lawbreakers from the left.”
Police slam “criminality under the guise of protest” after Jerusalem activists set fire to dumpsters and tires near the prime minister’s residence and office this morning.
The fires, which spread to consume several vehicles and forced residents in nearby buildings to evacuate, “represent a red line,” the police say in a statement. “These actions have nothing to do with lawful protest, they are the acts of lawbreakers behaving like criminals.”
Police also take the media to task and call on news outlets to denounce the acts, saying they “regret that some choose to portray such actions as legitimate protest.”
Protesters are planning to demonstrate throughout the day in Jerusalem and this evening are set to stage a mass rally outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence.
Hebrew media reports that the car torched this morning in Jerusalem by activists for a hostage deal belongs to a couple with three young children, including three-month-old twins, with the father having served over 260 days of reserve IDF duty and being set to head to Gaza next week following the latest mass round of callups.
“Our car is gone. We support the hostages and the families, but this causes hate,” the mother, Tamar Bar Shai, is quoted as saying by Channel 12 news.
Speaking to the Ynet news site, Bar Shai says three car seats for the children have been burnt, after her husband tried to move the car before it went up in flames.
“The tree started catching fire and the whole building adjacent to us was evacuated. People were taken out to the street in their underwear due to the danger,” she said, lamenting that she will have to drop off her kids at daycares on foot this week.
Another resident of the capital’s Rehavia neighborhood, Talya Levavi Ehrlich, tells Channel 12 that around 6:30 a.m., tires were burned in several spots near her home, causing smoke to come in through her window.
“One of the firefighters said that had the trees not been wet from the night’s dew, the house could have been burned as well,” she says. “I don’t understand why a mass protest must happen in a residential neighborhood with narrow roads.”
Several more residents urge authorities to do more to prevent their daily lives from being disrupted, accusing them of not doing enough to date.
The frequent protests in Rehavia happen near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home.
Following alerts that were activated a short while ago in several areas across the country, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, the IDF says.
The alerts were activated in accordance with policy, the military adds.
Sirens are sounding in several areas across central Israel, including the Tel Aviv area, after the IDF identified a missile launched from Yemen a short while ago.
Details are under review.
The IDF says it has detected a missile fired from Yemen toward Israeli territory. Air defense systems are operating to intercept the threat.
The Home Front Command urges the public to follow safety instructions.
Early warning alerts sound in large swathes of central Israel, meaning sirens may sound soon.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir strongly condemns “offensive discourse” targeting the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and its head, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, after some correspondents and panelists on the right-wing Channel 14 made racially charged comments on air.
During a live broadcast yesterday, the correspondents claimed that not only Alian, but the Druze community as a whole “have taken over the position of COGAT head and don’t always do a good job there,” insinuating that Alian is beholden more to his community than to the state, accusing him of the failures surrounding Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, and alleging without evidence that “dark things are happening at COGAT.”
“The remarks referring to the general’s ethnic background are unacceptable and have no place in public discourse in the State of Israel,” the IDF responds in a statement.
The military stresses that Zamir has “full confidence in and appreciation” for Alian, describing him as “an outstanding combat officer who has served for decades with unwavering dedication to the security of the State of Israel, its citizens, and residents — often at the risk of his own life.” His contribution to the country, and particularly to strengthening ties with the Druze community, is highlighted as “unique and profound.”
“Any attempt to cast doubt on the service of COGAT personnel — whose contribution to Israel is highly significant and forms an essential part of the country’s security and civilian activity — is entirely unacceptable, and the IDF rejects it outright,” the army adds.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) claims that Israeli drones dropped four grenades yesterday morning close to its observers who were working to clear roadblocks hindering access to a UN position.
“This is one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement of last November,” UNIFIL says in a statement.
One grenade allegedly impacted within 20 meters and three within approximately 100 meters of UN personnel and vehicles.
UNIFIL says the Israeli military had been informed in advance of the road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council unanimously extended the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until the end of 2026, after which a year-long orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal will commence, ending the force’s operations.
Established in 1978, UNIFIL patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
Coalition voices are decrying the actions this morning of activists for the hostages, who have torched bins and tires in Jerusalem, damaging cars and causing residents to be evacuated, and gained access to the roof of the National Library near the Knesset.
Police say Commissioner Daniel Levy has spoken to the Jerusalem District commander and ordered him to “act with all means” to restore order.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is in charge of police, goes as far as to call the incidents “terrorism.”
“The wave of terror arson this morning near the Prime Minister’s home in the Rehavia neighborhood [happened] with the backing of the criminal attorney general who wants to burn the country,” he alleges, referring to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has clashed with the government and allegedly taken insufficient action against anti-government protesters.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch says that “the criminals who torched citizens’ cars know very well that this doesn’t serve the return of the hostages — only anarchy.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz says that the successful launch of the Ofek-19 reconnaissance satellite serves not only as a technological milestone but also as a warning to Israel’s adversaries.
“The launch of the Ofek-19 satellite yesterday is an achievement of the highest global standard… it is also a message to all our enemies, wherever they may be — we are watching you at all times and in all circumstances,” Katz writes on X.
Katz also extends an invitation to regional powers to cooperate with Israel in harnessing such capabilities “for a better shared future for us all,” while stressing that Israel will continue to invest heavily in space and satellite programs to strengthen its security edge.
He praises Israel Aerospace Industries, the Defense Ministry and the IDF for their role in developing the satellite, adding that few countries possess such capabilities.
Following the launch of the Ofek-19 radar observation satellite last night, the Defense Ministry says the spacecraft has successfully entered orbit, begun transmitting data, and passed a series of initial tests.
The launch, carried out in cooperation with the IDF and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was attended by President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram, head of Defense Research & Development at the Defense Ministry Danny Gold, and IAI CEO Boaz Levy.
Engineers from the Defense Ministry’s Space Department and IAI’s Space Division are continuing a series of pre-planned checks before the satellite enters full operational service in the near future. Responsibility for operating it will then be transferred to the IDF’s Unit 9900, which specializes in visual intelligence.
Herzog hails the launch as proof of Israel’s innovation: “We are not only a Start-Up Nation, we are a Space Nation. Israel must be in space — that is where the future of humanity lies, and it holds the most important strategic capabilities… This is yet another proof that we are a unique and exceptional people — there is no country like Israel.”
Katz calls the launch “a moment of immense national pride,” adding that Ofek-19 represents “another layer of Israel’s strength” dealing with long-range threats, and “expresses the advanced capabilities of the Defense Ministry, the IDF and the IAI.”
Israel “continues to soar, to lead, and to ensure our security with pride and strength,” he adds.
Baram says the satellite will serve as a “significant force multiplier” for the defense establishment, noting that “modern warfare also takes place in space” and that Israel plans to invest billions of shekels over the next decade into building a “constellation of satellites.”
Levy emphasizes the satellite’s day-and-night radar imaging capabilities, saying these are “more essential today, particularly following Operation Rising Lion, which highlighted… that advanced observation abilities in our region are critical for achieving both air and ground superiority.”
Operation Rising Lion is the army’s name for the June strikes on Iran, which started a 12-day war.
As protesters calling for a hostage deal escalate their tactics, an activist says an “extreme act” is necessary to save the 48 captives.
Demonstrators this morning have torched bins in Jerusalem, in what police said damaged a car and caused nearby residents to be evacuated, and gained access to the roof of the National Library, near the Knesset.
Police are attempting to remove them.
“We must commit an extreme act so that someone is reminded [to act],” one of the National Library protesters, Yael Kuperman, tells the Kan public broadcaster. “A state cannot abandon its citizens. The National Library overlooks the Knesset. We want to be seen.”
מפגינים התבצרו על גג הספרייה הלאומית הסמוכה לכנסת | תיעוד@YCiechanover pic.twitter.com/jvgolcWnYC
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 3, 2025
שוטרים עלו על גג הספרייה הלאומית בניסיון לפנות את המתבצרים במחאה לשחרור החטופים pic.twitter.com/WoRUw38Yg9
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 3, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet killed the Gaza head of the Mujahideen Brigades terror group during operations in the Strip last week, the army says in a statement.
The military says Musbah Salim Musbah Dayyah, killed in Nuseirat, was involved in recruiting members in the West Bank and advancing terror attacks in that territory and in Israel, as well as attacks on IDF forces in Gaza.
It is the fourth time the IDF says it has eliminated the organization’s leader in the past few months, after Dayyah’s predecessors were also assassinated.
The IDF releases footage of the strike.
צה"ל ושב"כ: חוסל ראש ארגון הטרור כתאא'ב אלמג'האדין שמחבליו החזיקו בבני משפחת ביבסhttps://t.co/Xlym2T2BvD@ela1949 @Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/0T0QruE8Fk
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 3, 2025
The IDF says Mujahideen Brigades members took a “significant part” in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, and took an active part in murders and abductions even without having been privy to Hamas’s attack plans ahead of time.
Among those kidnapped by the group were Shiri Bibas and her kids Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 10 months. The three were later killed in captivity and their bodies were returned in a deal earlier this year.
Advocates for the hostages in Gaza are holding protests as part of a “Day of disruption” intended to raise awareness for the 48 abductees’ plight and call for an end to the war and a deal that returns them all.
Activists have set several recycling bins alight near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem.
Police say in a statement that bins and tires were torched, damaging several cars in the Rehavia and Givat Ram neighborhoods. They add that several residents were evacuated from nearby buildings, though nobody was hurt. They say fire and rescue teams have put out the fires, and stress that lighting fires in public places illegally is “irresponsible” and could endanger the public.
Elsewhere in the capital, dozens of demonstrators, including from the Brothers and Sisters in Arms group, gather outside the home of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, accusing him of failing to secure the return in a deal of a single captive since becoming the chief Israeli negotiator on the matter.
“Complete failure,” the protesters say in a statement, accusing the government of capitulating to its far-right flank and “torpedoing” a proposal for a ceasefire-hostage deal accepted by Hamas weeks ago and that Israel hasn’t responded to, despite mediators saying it is almost identical to an outline previously accepted by Jerusalem.
A convoy of vehicles has also set out from Latrun toward Jerusalem to call for the captives’ release.
UNITED NATIONS — At least 19 UN employees have been detained by Iranian-backed Houthis during raids on UN offices in Yemen’s capital, the United Nations says, a higher number than originally reported.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric says 18 of those being held are Yemeni staffers and one is an international employee. He calls for all to be released immediately.
Sunday’s raids on offices of the United Nations’ food, health and children’s agencies in Sanaa followed Israel’s killing of Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and several cabinet ministers in an airstrike on Thursday.
The Houthis have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they took control of Sanaa and most of northern Yemen.
The raids were the latest in a long-running Houthi crackdown on the UN and other international organizations as well as diplomats working in rebel-held areas. Dujarric says the Houthis previously had detained 23 UN employees, holding some since 2021.
UN special envoy Hans Grundberg just ended a visit to Oman’s capital, Muscat, where he met Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdelsalam and representatives of the diplomatic community, the UN spokesman says;
Dujarric says the envoy reiterated the UN’s strong condemnation of the detentions and forced entry into its offices, warning that the Houthi action seriously endangers the UN’s ability to deliver aid to the people of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country.
US President Donald Trump accuses the leaders of China, North Korea and Russia of conspiring against the United States as they gather in Beijing for a massive military parade.
As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin flank Xi Jinping at the parade marking 80 years since World War II ended, Trump writes a testy Truth Social post addressing Xi: “give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
The State Department avoids criticizing Britain for its plans to recognize a Palestinian state, hours after stressing its opposition to the move in a readout on a call US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held with his French counterpart Jean Noel-Barrot.
While both France and the UK have announced plans to recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly, only Paris was called out for the move in the US readouts on Rubio’s calls with his French and British counterparts earlier today.
The latter readout on Rubio’s call with David Lammy just says the pair “discussed Hamas and the situation in Gaza, including efforts to bring all the hostages home.”
The US readout on the call with Noel-Barrot said Rubio conveyed Washington’s “strong opposition to any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State, a move that would reward Hamas for October 7 and hinder efforts to bring all hostages home.”
While US readouts are often regurgitations of talking points without little details, they are sometimes used to signal subtle diplomatic messages, and the differences between the two statements potentially indicated a different approach in Washington to its ties with the United Kingdom and France regarding their planned recognition of a state of Palestine.
France notably was the first country that announced it would take the step, with the UK, Canada, Australia and Belgium among the others following suit.
A US House of Representatives committee releases a batch of documents from the investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
More than 33,000 pages of documents related to Epstein have been uploaded to a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee website after being handed over by the Trump administration’s Justice Department.
The Defense Ministry provides further details regarding its successful launch of the “Ofek-19” satellite into space today at 10:30 p.m., using a “Shavit” launcher at Palmachim airbase, alongside the IDF and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
“Ofek-19” is a synthetic aperture radar observation satellite with advanced capabilities, designed to provide high-resolution imaging for intelligence and surveillance purposes. Once in orbit, the satellite will undergo a series of tests to ensure it is fully operational.
The project was developed by IAI, with contributions from its Systems, Missiles, and Space Group, the ELTA Group, and IAI’s MLM Division. The rocket engines were produced in collaboration with Tomer Ltd. and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
The launch is part of an ongoing program led by the Defense Ministry’s Defense Research and Development Directorate, in cooperation with the IDF, including Unit 9900 of the Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Air Force.
“Ofek-19” follows the “Ofek-13,” which was launched in March 2023, continuing Israel’s efforts to maintain advanced space-based observation capabilities.
The Defense Ministry, in collaboration with the IDF and Israel Aerospace Industries, announces it has successfully launched the ‘Ofek 19’ satellite into space.
The satellite, which will be used for military reconnaissance, was launched from Palmachim airbase in central Israel.
The most recent satellite in the series before this launch was the “Ofek-13,” which was sent into orbit in March 2023.
Further details are expected to follow.
The launch is said to have caused brief panic in Tel Aviv and central Israel, where residents mistook the satellite for an interceptor missile.
The IDF and Shin Bet say in a joint statement that they eliminated senior Hamas operative Hazem Awni Naeem in the Gaza City area last week.
According to the military, Naeem had held Israeli hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Naama Levy in captivity prior to their release as part of a ceasefire deal.
The IDF says Naeem also served in multiple roles within Hamas’s Gaza City brigade, most recently as a senior figure in the brigade’s military intelligence, being described as a close associate of its commander, Izz al-Din Haddad.
The US decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials ahead of the United Nations General Assembly is “unacceptable,” says French President Emmanuel Macron after speaking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We call for this measure to be reversed and for Palestinian representation to be ensured in accordance with the Host Country Agreement.”
The two countries are holding a conference promoting a two-state solution on September 22.
Writing on X, Macron calls for a “permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and the deployment of a stabilization mission in Gaza.”
He says that France is working to “ensure that, the day after, Hamas is disarmed and excluded from any governance of Gaza, that the Palestinian Authority is reformed and strengthened, and that the Gaza Strip is fully reconstructed.”
“No offensive, annexation attempt, or forced displacement of populations will derail the momentum we have created with the Crown Prince—momentum that many partners have already joined,” writes Macron.
