Sept. 10: Source says top Qatari official questioned partnership with US after Israeli strike

Macron talks to Trump to discuss Middle East tensions after Israeli strike in Qatar

French President Emmanuel Macron says he has spoken to US President Donald Trump on the phone and shared concerns about the situation in the Middle East in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar.

The two leaders also spoke about developments in Russia’s “war of aggression against Ukraine,” particularly following Russian drone incursions into Poland, Macron says in an X post.

“Close cooperation between Europeans and Americans is crucial on each of these fronts,” Macron says.

Person arrested for shooting Charlie Kirk is no longer a suspect, source says

A person who was taken into custody on suspicion of shooting conservative US commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University is not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who is not authorized to speak publicly.

It is not clear if authorities were still searching the campus for a suspect.

Trump says conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has died after being shot at event

Charlie Kirk speaks before he is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

US President Donald Trump says conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has died after being shot during an event on a university campus in Utah.

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump says on Truth Social.

Anti-Netanyahu activist arrested for online incitement against PM

Dr. Yolanda Yavor of Tel Aviv University, a prominent activist in the Caesarea protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been arrested after writing incitement to the premier’s murder on social media, according to police and Hebrew media.

Police say they have arrested a resident of Or Akiva suspected of “incitement to violence against a public official” on social media, and taken her for questioning.

Reports name the suspect as Yavor, adding that she shared a video about the torching of the home of the Nepali prime minister and wrote a message encouraging such an act against Netanyahu.

Jewish, Israeli leaders call for prayers and end to political violence after Charlie Kirk is shot

Israeli and pro-Israeli US Jews are among those expressing concern after Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative activist who founded Turning Point USA and emerged as a leading voice of the pro-Trump right, was shot during an appearance in Utah.

The incident occurred around midday as Kirk launched into remarks for his “American Comeback” campus tour at Utah Valley University in Orem. Video from the scene shows a single gunshot striking Kirk in the neck, causing panic among attendees. He has been rushed to a nearby hospital and is said to be in critical condition.

Prominent politicians from both US political parties quickly condemn the violence. President Donald Trump, who has counted Kirk as one of his most loyal surrogates, calls him “a great guy” and urges supporters to “pray for Charlie.”

Utah Senator Mike Lee and Governor Spencer Cox also issue statements of support. California Governor Gavin Newsom posts on X: “The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”

Israeli leaders and Jewish activists, some of whom have developed relationships with Kirk through his pro-Israel activism, also react with alarm. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posts on X: “Praying for @charliekirk11.” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli writes: “Praying for Charlie.”

And Shabbos Kestenbaum, a right-wing American Jewish activist, urges his followers: “Please stop what you’re doing and pray for our friend Charlie Kirk. Many in the Jewish community are reciting chapters from the Book of Psalms, and I ask you to do the same. Something is deeply broken in America. The political violence must END. GOD HELP AMERICA.”

Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 while still a teenager. The organization has grown into a powerful platform for conservative youth activism, hosting major conferences and expanding into high schools and churches. Kirk became a regular commentator on Fox News and other right-wing outlets, building a reputation as an outspoken critic of higher education, liberal policies and what he calls “woke culture.”

Kirk’s Turning Point USA has maintained ties with pro-Israel organizations and regularly hosts pro-Israel speakers at its conferences. Kirk himself has traveled to Israel and praised Trump’s policies regarding the Jewish state, including the 2018 US embassy move to Jerusalem.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Conservative US activist Charlie Kirk in critical condition after being shot in neck

Charlie Kirk speaks before he is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, is in critical condition at a Utah hospital after being shot at a college event, a law enforcement official tells The Associated Press. A suspect is in custody, the college says.

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.”

A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP is able to confirm the videos were taken at the Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.

“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” says Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.

The college says a “single shot” was fired at Kirk and a suspect is in custody.

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters, Jewish counterprotesters gather outside Toronto premiere of Oct. 7 rescue film

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather outside the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada to protest the screening of a documentary about a retired Israeli general who rescued his family from Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, September 10, 2025. (Robert Rotenberg)

Some pro-Palestinian protesters gathered earlier outside the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada ahead of the premiere of a documentary about a retired Israeli general who rescued his family from Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” which charts how Noam Tibon saved his family and others during the attack, is currently being screened at North America’s biggest movie festival.

The Canadian-produced film makes use of actual Hamas bodycam footage of the attack that resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and in 251 people taken hostage to Gaza.

Around 20 protesters showed up ahead of the screening of Barry Avrich’s film at the Roy Thompson Hall Theatre, chanting “All the Zionists are racists.”

A number of Jewish supporters of Israel were also at the scene.

An estimated 50 Toronto police officers were in attendance, and as arguments escalated between the two groups, the cops separated them to opposite sides of the street. Protests continued ahead of the sold-out screening.

The film was initially cut from the schedule, with organizers citing a lack of “legal clearance” for this footage taken by the Hamas attackers, before it was restored amid outrage over alleged censorship.

After denying drone presence, Tunisia now calls attack on Gaza aid flotilla ‘premeditated aggression’

Tunisia’s interior ministry describes as “premeditated aggression” an alleged attack yesterday on a Gaza aid flotilla docked in the North African country.

The ministry adds that it is launching an investigation to “shed full light” on the incident, after activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla reported two drone attacks within 24 hours.

Tunisia’s national guard said yesterday that “no drones have been detected.”

British PM Starmer says he told Herzog Israel should change course over Gaza

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left) greets President Isaac Herzog on the steps of 10 Downing Street in central London on September 10, 2025. (Toby Shepheard / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated to President Isaac Herzog his “huge concern” over Gaza and implored Israel to change course during a meeting in London, Starmer’s office says.

A Downing Street spokesperson says Starmer told Herzog that Israel “must stop the manmade famine from worsening further by letting aid in and halting their offensive operations.”

Starmer also told Herzog that the UK and Israel are longstanding allies and that “he will continue his work to secure an enduring peace and a better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people alike,” the spokesperson adds.

Freed Israeli academic Tsurkov lands in country; report says she was freed for son of Iraqi militia figure

Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov, right, arrives in an ambulance at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan after being released following more than two years in captivity by an Iraqi militia, September 10, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian academic kidnapped in Iraq over two years ago and released last night, has landed in Israel, says the Prime Minister’s Office and the Mossad.

She stopped in Cyprus on the way from Iraq to Israel.

In the joint statement, Mossad chief David Barnea thanks his Cypriot counterpart for his help.

“The cooperation between the two states proves itself once again,” says the PMO and Mossad.

Elizabeth Tsurkov in an undated photo (Social media; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Meanwhile, the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports that Tsurkov, who had been held by pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, was freed in exchange for the release of the son of a senior militia figure.

The paper cites sources as saying the son of a senior official in one of the militias had been involved in an attack on Iraq’s Agriculture Ministry in June and was arrested by state authorities, and has now been released in exchange for Tsurkov.

According to the report, no ransom was paid for her release, but there had been previous American threats against the Kataib Hezbollah militia, which is most likely the group that held Tsurkov.

Hostage relatives meet Macron, press him to prioritize abductees’ release from Gaza

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza met earlier today with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, pressing him to place their loved ones’ release at the forefront of his diplomatic efforts, days ahead of his departure for the United Nations General Assembly.

“We urge decision-makers in Israel and around the world—no new chapter in the Middle East is possible without the return of all 48 hostages: the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for proper burial. This is the highest moral obligation.”

A delegation of hostage families… pic.twitter.com/T7dygAUPWn

— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) September 10, 2025

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the meeting lasted about two hours, during which relatives of hostages Guy Gilboa Dalal, Guy Illouz, Nimrod Cohen and Evyatar David “described the dire situation of the hostages in captivity and the harrowing testimonies from survivors of captivity.”

“We urge decision-makers in Israel and around the world — no new chapter in the Middle East is possible without the return of all 48 hostages,” reads a statement from the forum following the meeting.

At the UNGA, Macron is spearheading an initiative with Western and regional partners to recognize a Palestinian state and advance the two-state solution as the only viable path out of the Gaza conflict.

Macron assured the relatives that the “hostages have been an inseparable part of his daily agenda” since their abduction on October 7, 2023, and “pledged that he remains aware of the supreme importance of their release with regard to ending the war,” according to the forum’s statement.

“Macron promised he would carry the families’ words with him on his way to New York, and that he hopes the war will soon end and all the hostages will return home,” the statement adds.

A separate group of hostage families met a short time ago with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC.

Ex-IDF chief rejects claim he should’ve phoned PM ahead of Oct. 7 attack, says nobody knew it was coming

Then-outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, March 5, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

In newly aired recordings published by Hebrew media, former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi pushes back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that he failed to wake the premier in the hours before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, insisting that Israel’s security establishment had no indication of an imminent threat.

“Neither in the Shin Bet nor in the IDF did we find a single person who agreed that this terrible day, not even one percent of it, would happen,” Halevi is heard saying during remarks at Ein HaBesor yesterday, one of the many Gaza border communities attacked on October 7.

He added that he required no approval from either Netanyahu or then-defense minister Yoav Gallant to deploy forces to the area, and would have done so had there been any warning signs.

Rejecting conspiracy claims, Halevi told the audience: “Relieve yourselves of this horrible thought that someone from within us was a traitor.”

He acknowledged that while he and the Shin Bet chief had received reports of irregular activity in Gaza leading up to the assault, the situation appeared normal on the night of October 6 and the early morning hours of October 7, leading officials to conclude there was no imminent danger.

Halevi also confirmed that Hamas had twice prepared for an assault similar to the October 7 massacre in the past but aborted both plans at the last moment due to internal turmoil — information, he emphasized, that was only uncovered in hindsight.

The former chief of staff announced his resignation in January, alongside then-Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, citing responsibility for the IDF’s failures that led to the deadliest day in Israel’s history.

Top Qatari official has questioned partnership with US after Israeli strike — source

WASHINGTON — A senior Qatari official called Doha’s partnership with the US into question during a conversation with US special envoy Steve Witkoff following Israel’s strike targeting Hamas’s leaders in the Gulf country, a diplomatic source tells The Times of Israel.

The senior Qatari official pointed to both the Israeli strike yesterday and a June 2025 Iranian strike targeting a US military base in Qatar and lamented that the US has failed to protect his country, the source says, confirming a report on Channel 12.

Conservative US commentator Charlie Kirk shot in neck at Utah Valley University

Conservative American commentator Charlie Kirk is shot at an event at Utah Valley University, according to footage from the scene and a university spokesperson cited by US media.

The spokesperson says Kirk was giving a presentation when shots were fired and “to the best of our knowledge, he was hit and taken with his security team away from the premises.”

Video on social media shows him apparently being shot in the neck.

Top US officials — as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are quick to react with statements.

“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/GqYC4QdhA1

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 10, 2025

Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 10, 2025

We are closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected. Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and…

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 10, 2025

Praying for @charliekirk11

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 10, 2025

Knesset advances bill to increase defense budget, including for humanitarian aid to Gaza

Lawmakers vote 42-37 in favor of the first reading of a bill approving an increase of NIS 31 billion ($9 billion) to the state budget, most of it to bolster the defense budget, with NIS 1.6 billion ($473 million) in funding for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The bill will now be referred to the Knesset Finance Committee for preparation for its final two readings.

The bill would raise the expenditure budget for the 2025 fiscal year to around NIS 786.7 billion ($236 billion). Its passage comes shortly after MKs voted 48-40 in favor of the first reading of a bill to raise the deficit ceiling for 2025 to 2.5%.

Qatar says it’s reassessing mediation role and Hamas future in country, says regional response to Israeli strikes to come

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani addresses a press conference following Israeli strikes in Doha on September 9, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani says in an interview with CNN that there will be a response that is under discussion with regional partners to Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha yesterday.

Plans are ongoing for a summit to be held in Doha in the near future around these discussions, he says, without giving a specific date.

He says Qatar is reassessing “everything” about its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas for a Gaza ceasefire, as well as the Palestinian terror group’s future in Qatar. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on Doha to either expel Hamas leaders or bring them to justice.

Al-Thani accuses Netanyahu of dragging the Middle East to “chaos” and of “wasting” Qatar’s time, indicating he believes Israel hasn’t been genuinely negotiating.

He says Qatari officials were hurt in Israel’s strike and are in critical condition, cautioning that the Gulf region is at risk.

Israeli airstrikes on Yemen killed at least 35, injured 130, Houthi officials say

Israel airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels today killed at least 35 people and wounded over 130 others, the Houthi-run health ministry says.

Most of those killed were in Sanaa, the capital, where a military headquarters and a fuel station were among the sites hit, the health ministry says.

Israel’s military carried out the strikes just days after Houthi rebels launched a drone attack that struck an airport.

Netanyahu praises Trump at ceremony for boardwalk named after US leader

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, at a ceremony in Bat Yam with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, left, and Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot, September 10, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)

US President Donald Trump is “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier today at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a boardwalk named after the 47th president.

“He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moved the US Embassy there, recognized our sovereignty over the Golan Heights, withdrew from the catastrophic nuclear deal with Iran, helped us confront the Iranian nuclear threat, and did many other things as well,” he said at the Bat Yam ceremony, according to a statement.

“He is a true friend, and I am proud to be here to pay tribute to President Trump,” says Netanyahu, avoiding mention of Trump’s recent public criticism of Israel’s strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar.

“President Trump spoke to me several times about beachfront properties,” says Netanyahu. “He told me that we have wonderful coastal assets here. He spoke about a place located a bit south of here – in Gaza. He said it should become a place of peace, prosperity and good life, not terror. He is right.”

Bennett said set to skip meeting of anti-Netanyahu bloc chiefs due to father’s yahrzeit

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, May 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett will not attend a planned meeting of leaders of the anti-Netanyahu bloc on September 20 because he will be marking the 10th anniversary of his father’s death, known in Judaism as yahrzeit, Channel 12 news reports.

Earlier today, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s office announced that party chiefs from the so-called “change bloc” will meet in the “first in a series of meetings aimed at shaping the basic guidelines of the next government.”

The meeting was set to bring together Lapid; Bennett, chairman of the new Bennett 2026 party; former IDF chief of staff and ex-Blue and White–National Unity party No. 2 Gadi Eisenkot; Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman; Blue and White-National Unity chief Benny Gantz; and The Democrats party head Yair Golan.

Eisenkot meets Yair Golan, continuing blitz of sit-downs among opposition chiefs

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, right, meets with ex-Blue and White–National Unity party No. 2 Gadi Eisenkot, September 10, 2025. (Courtesy)

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan met today with ex-Blue and White–National Unity party No. 2 Gadi Eisenkot to discuss returning the hostages and “the importance of coordination between the opposition parties,” a spokesman for Golan announces.

“This meeting is part of a series of meetings aimed at replacing the government and formulating the basic guidelines for the next government, ahead of the opposition party leaders’ meeting at the end of next week,” the spokesman says.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s office announced today that party chiefs from the anti-Netanyahu so-called “change bloc” will meet on September 20 in the “first in a series of meetings aimed at shaping the basic guidelines of the next government.”

The meeting is set to bring together Eisenkot, Golan, Lapid, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the new Bennett 2026 party; Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman; and Blue and White-National Unity chief Benny Gantz.

The announcement follows separate sit-downs held days ago by Eisenkot with both Lapid and Bennett.

Trump meets relatives of hostages and captivity survivors at White House

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump just wrapped up an Oval Office meeting with a group of hostage families and former captives.

The meeting comes one day after Israel targeted Hamas leaders in Qatar — a decision that many of the hostage families have opposed, fearing that it will further harm negotiations to secure their loved ones’ release.

Participating in the meeting with Trump are US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

יממה לאחר התקיפה בקטר: שורדי שבי ומשפחות חטופים נפגשו עם הנשיא טראמפ בבית הלבן
(צילום: מטה משפחות החטופים) pic.twitter.com/KkIozzTpuq

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 10, 2025

Herzog ends meeting with Starmer, says he criticized Palestine recognition, ‘dangerous echoing’ of Gaza starvation claims

President Isaac Herzog, left, meets British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London, September 10, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

After concluding his London meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Isaac Herzog says he pressed the United Kingdom leader over his decision to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this month and emphasized that the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is “the only first step” to peace.

“I made clear that the United Kingdom’s stated intention to recognize a Palestinian state at this time would in no way help bring the hostages home, help the Palestinians, or help bring an end to the conflict,” Herzog says in a statement after the meeting at 10 Downing Street, adding that the move “would embolden extremists across the Middle East and beyond.”

“Above all,” he continues, “I underlined that the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages is both a humanitarian necessity and the only first step on the road to peace.”

The president adds that he “voiced strong opposition to any notion of sanctions against the only democracy in the region, and I warned against the dangerous echoing of Hamas’s propaganda campaign of starvation in Gaza, even while 48 hostages remain in brutal captivity.”

Herzog also emphasized in the meeting that “Israel’s struggle against the Iranian empire of evil and its terror proxies is the shared struggle of the free world, including Great Britain.”

Herzog thanked Starmer for the UK’s decision, alongside Germany and France, to activate the “snapback mechanism” against Iran’s nuclear program, highlighting “the importance of preventing the Iranian regime from rebuilding its nuclear capability.”

Netanyahu tells Qatar to expel Hamas leaders or bring them to justice: ‘If you don’t, we will’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message issued on September 10, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes a defiant tone amid international criticism over Israel’s strike against Hamas leaders in Doha, telling Qatar: “You either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.”

Speaking in an English-language video, Netanyahu compares Israel’s strike to US operations after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, the anniversary of which is tomorrow.

“We also have a September 11th,” he says. “We remember October 7th. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“Tomorrow is September 11th. We remember September 11th. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States. pic.twitter.com/KDZcTXRsK0

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 10, 2025

“What did America do in the wake of September 11th?” Netanyahu asks. “It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed this heinous crime, wherever they may be. And it also passed a resolution in the Security Council of the UN, two weeks later, that said that governments cannot give harbor to terrorists.”

Israel followed that approach, says Netanyahu, accusing Qatar of harboring terrorists, financing Hamas and giving its leaders mansions.

“So we did exactly what America did when it went after the al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan and after they went and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan,” argues Netanyahu.

He also argues that the same countries that applauded the US for killing Bin Laden should be ashamed of themselves for condemning Israel.

Report: Two senior Hamas officials were wounded in strike in Qatar, one seriously

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted part of a building that hosted Hamas's leaders in Doha, Qatar, September 10, 2025. (AP/Jon Gambrell)

The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports that two senior Hamas officials, members of the organization’s political bureau, were wounded in yesterday’s strike on the Palestinian terror group’s headquarters in Qatar.

The report does not specify their names, but it claims that one of them was seriously injured and that both are hospitalized in a private hospital under strict security.

The newspaper further reports that the area of the headquarters that sustained the heaviest damage and was struck four times was the office of Hamas leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, and that Hamas officials had gathered in the former office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by Israel in 2024 while in Tehran.

According to the report, one bomb fell in Haniyeh’s office, and Hamas officials sitting in a distant corner of the office from the point of impact were injured, but not killed.

The report also notes that a possible reason the officials were not killed is that Israel relied on phone geolocation when carrying out the strike, while Hamas officials, during such meetings, do not bring their phones inside but leave them in their offices or with advisers.

IDF chief appears to confirm Israel was behind Syria strikes earlier this week

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir indicates that the Israeli military was behind airstrikes in Syria earlier this week.

The strikes on Monday reportedly hit a military base near Homs and targets near the coastal city of Latakia and the historic city of Palmyra.

“In recent days, we have struck in several arenas simultaneously. In Syria, we thwarted capabilities that posed a threat to our freedom of action,” Zamir says at a Navy officers’ graduation ceremony.

After strikes in multiple countries, IDF chief says army will ‘sever the hands of all our enemies’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a Navy officers' graduation ceremony at the Haifa Naval Base, September 10, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking at a Navy officers’ graduation ceremony, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says that the “long arm of the IDF will reach every arena and sever the hands of all our enemies in the Middle East.”

“In recent days, we have struck in several arenas simultaneously,” he says, referring to strikes in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and against Hamas in Qatar.

“In the Gaza Strip, we will continue to act with force until we bring back our hostages, both the living and the fallen; we will spare no effort, this is our moral duty and our ethical mission. We are reshaping the security reality and inflicting massive blows on Hamas to decisively defeat and collapse its rule,” he says.

“Soon we will mark two years since the IDF rose to its feet and has been proving day by day its determination and its strength. Our message is clear: the long arm of the IDF will reach every arena and sever the hands of all our enemies in the Middle East,” Zamir adds.

Court confirms Netanyahu to testify 3 times per week from November, rejecting defense request

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Tel Aviv District Court, July 14, 2025. (Reuven Kastro/ POOL)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be required to testify three times a week in his corruption trial starting in November, with the total number of hearings per week bumped up to four, the judges overseeing the case rule, rejecting a request by his lawyers to keep proceedings the way they have been so far.

The expansion of the trial was announced by the Jerusalem District Court last month, citing the need to speed up the process.

The judges say they are not convinced by arguments made by Netanyahu’s attorneys that increasing the pace of the trial will harm his defense, noting that similar arrangements, sometimes with an even faster pace, have been made for large and important cases in the past, such as the Holyland trial in which former prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted.

The judges add that although in the past they had decided not to increase the number of hearings due to Netanyahu’s complaint that it would take up too much of his time and harm his ability to run the country, they say that the situation is now different.

“At the current juncture, the balance has changed. This is a huge case, and in many ways unprecedented… both in its scope and complexity. The proceedings have been going on for more than five years. We still have a long way to go. The defense is only at the beginning, and is progressing at a slow pace,” the judges say.

“Our duty to rule on the case requires a significant increase in the schedule of the hearings at this stage to four hearings per week,” they write.

The judges add that Netanyahu can still make requests to delay or cancel specific hearings, which the court will consider as and when they are made.

The trial has been going on since 2020, and Netanyahu has been testifying twice a week since December, with countless of these hearings canceled or cut short for various reasons related to the premier’s responsibilities and to his fatigue and illnesses.

The Jerusalem District Court judges have said four hearings per week will be held starting in November, and Netanyahu will testify in three of them until the end of his cross-examination, “in light of the current need to advance the trial.”

Canada says it’s ‘evaluating’ its ties with Israel following Qatar strike

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand delivers a press conference after a meeting with her German counterpart in Berlin, on June 26, 2025. (Photo by Tobias Schwarz / AFP)

Canada is “evaluating” its relationship with Israel after yesterday’s strike in Qatar, Foreign Minister Anita Anand says.

She adds that the strike was “unacceptable.”

Canada is expected to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month.

Houthis say 9 dead, 118 wounded in Israeli strikes on rebel-held Yemen

At least nine people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Israel’s strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa and the Jawf province today, the rebels say in a statement.

“The death toll has reached nine martyrs and 118 wounded in a preliminary tally as civil defense, ambulances and rescue teams are still searching for the missing,” Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi posts on X.

UN Security Council talks on Israel’s Qatar strike postponed to tomorrow

An emergency United Nations Security Council meeting in response to Israel’s strikes on Qatar has been postponed to tomorrow at Doha’s request, rotating council president South Korea says.

“The Security Council postponed today’s emergency briefing on ‘the situation in the Middle East’ to tomorrow afternoon, at Qatar’s request, so that the Prime Minister of Qatar can take part in the meeting,” the South Korean presidency says in a statement.

It is unclear if the Qatari prime minister will attend in person.

Palestinian Authority said to arrest purported candidate for Gaza administration

Palestinian media reports that the Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security apparatus in Ramallah has arrested Samir Khalila, a businessman who was recently mentioned as a candidate to serve as Gaza governor in a transitional capacity after the war.

Following media reports in early August that presented him as a US-backed candidate, Khalila clarified to several outlets that he would not take on such a role without the consent of the Palestinian Authority.

UN vows to stay in Gaza City ‘as long as we can’ to deliver aid

The United Nations says it will stay in Gaza City “for as long as we can and will remain across the Strip, doing all we can to bring aid and deliver lifesaving services.”

“This catastrophe is human-made, and responsibility rests with us all,” the UN humanitarian team in the Strip says in a statement.

IDF vows to further intensify Gaza City strikes, says over 360 sites hit in recent days

IDF strikes leveling mid-rise buildings in Gaza City on September 10, 2025. (Screencapture/STRINGER/AFPTV/AFP)

The IDF says it will “increase the pace of strikes” in Gaza City in the coming days, “with the aim of targeting Hamas’s terror infrastructure, disrupting its operational readiness, and reducing the threat to our forces as part of preparations for the next stages” of the army’s offensive against the Palestinian terror group.

In recent days, the IDF says it has struck over 360 terror targets in Gaza City, including several high-rise towers, as part of preparations for a major ground offensive against Hamas in the area.

The widespread strikes were conducted in three main waves, beginning on Friday with attacks against high-rise buildings where the military says Hamas installed surveillance equipment and set up sniper and anti-tank missile posts and command centers.

The first wave took place in the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, where the IDF says it hit Hamas observation and sniper posts, a Hamas interrogation facility, tunnel shafts under buildings, and weapon depots, among other targets.

The second and third waves took place in Daraj, Tuffah and the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, with numerous strikes against Hamas targets, including a tunnel where operatives were gathered to carry out an attack and an RPG manufacturing site, the military says.

Prince Harry donates $500,000 to help wounded children in Gaza and Ukraine

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, smiles during a visit to the Centre for Blast Injury Studies, in London, on September 10, 2025. (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett / POOL / AFP)

Prince Harry’s foundation is to donate $500,000 to projects, including the World Health Organization, to help develop prosthetics and provide other support for children from Gaza and Ukraine, his office says.

The announcement comes on the third day of the prince’s visit to Britain as Harry visits the Centre for Injury Studies (CIS), part of Imperial College London, to learn more about its work, especially its focus on injuries suffered by children and those sustained in natural disasters.

“No single organization can solve this alone,” he says in a statement. “Gaza now has the highest density of child amputees in the world and in history. It takes partnerships across government, science, medicine, humanitarian response and advocacy to ensure children survive and can recover after blast injuries.”

The three grants announced by Harry and his wife Meghan’s Archewell Foundation include $200,000 to the World Health Organization to support medical evacuations from Gaza to Jordan, and $150,000 to the Save the Children charity to provide ongoing humanitarian support in Gaza.

The third grant of $150,000 is to the Centre of Blast Injury Studies, to help its efforts to develop prostheses that can support injured children, particularly those injured from the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Leaders of anti-Netanyahu bloc to meet Sept. 20 to start coordination ahead of next elections

Head of The Democrats party Yair Golan, head of National Unity party Benny Gantz, head of Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid and head of Yisrael Beytenu party Avigdor Liberman hold a joint press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s office says that party chiefs from the anti-Netanyahu so-called “change bloc” will meet on September 20 in the “first in a series of meetings aimed at shaping the basic guidelines of the next government,” according to the Yesh Atid party leader’s office.

The meeting will bring together former prime minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the new Bennett 2026 party; former IDF chief of staff and ex-Blue and White–National Unity party No. 2 Gadi Eisenkot; Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman; Blue and White-National Unity chief Benny Gantz; and The Democrats party head Yair Golan.

The announcement follows separate sit-downs on Sunday held by Eisenkot with both Lapid and Bennett. Lapid’s spokesman said Monday that the leaders had agreed to convene a broader bloc meeting to “deepen coordination and begin formulating the basic guidelines for the next government, following the talks and meetings that have taken place in recent days.”

The bloc comprises right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties that seek to provide an alternative to the current Netanyahu-led coalition.

Several dead in Israeli strike on Houthi media building, rebels’ TV reports

Smoke rises over Sanaa after an Israeli airstrike on Yemen, September 10, 2025. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

An unspecified number of people have been killed and wounded in Israeli strikes on a building housing the Houthi armed forces’ media operation, rebel television says.

“Martyrs, wounded and several homes damaged as a result of the Israeli attack on the Moral Guidance Headquarters,” Al-Masirah television reports.

Israel has said the Houthi propaganda headquarters was among the targets of today’s strikes.

In DC, Lapid says he’s okay with not leading next government as long as it replaces Netanyahu

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

WASHINGTON — Opposition chair Yair Lapid indicates that while he aims to be the next prime minister, he is open to sufficing with a role in the formation of a new government, even if he is not the one leading it.

In an on-stage interview at the Middle East American Dialogue (MEAD) in Washington, DC, Lapid argues that he is the only politician who has succeeded in putting together an alternative government to one led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Naftali Bennett was the prime minister in the previous government, but Lapid was seen as having been integral in putting it together and served as premier in its final months.

“I’m the only one who [formed an alternative government] in the last 20 years, so maybe it’s a good idea to give [the premiership] to somebody who knows,” Lapid says.

Netanyahu has served as prime minister consecutively since 2009, except during the short-lived previous government.

“But it’s fine whether I’m king or king-maker, as long as there is going to be a government that’s not structured like the current government, in which it’s very clear who’s the leading body,” he adds, referring to Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Lapid notes that the new government he hopes to form will operate in a different manner, apparently acknowledging that there will be several leaders in the coalition he hopes to form, as was the case in the previous government.

‘We will continue to strike,’ Netanyahu promises after aerial assault on Houthis

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message issued on September 10, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)

Israel “will continue to strike,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says after Israeli airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen.

“A few days ago, we eliminated most members of the Houthis’ terror government,” says Netanyahu at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a new promenade in Bat Yam named after US President Donald Trump. “In response, the Houthis fired two days ago at Ramon Airport.”

“This did not weaken our resolve,” he continues. “Today, we struck them again from the air, hitting their terror facilities, terror bases with many terrorists, and additional sites as well.”

“We will continue to strike,” Netanyahu promises. “Whoever strikes us, whoever attacks us — we will reach them.”

Netanyahu won’t bring journalists on his flight to US for UN General Assembly

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) speaks to the press before departing to Washington, DC, at Ben Gurion Airport, July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not bring journalists with him on his visit to the United Nations in the US later this month, says his office, citing security considerations.

“Due to technical arrangements related to seating and security, it has been decided to reduce the number of passengers on the upcoming Wing of Zion flight, including journalists and some of the Prime Minister’s entourage,” the PMO tells The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu will be in New York on September 24-29, and will address the General Assembly on the morning of September 26.

‘Time is running out’: Ukrainian envoy says Israel hasn’t coordinated Uman pilgrimage

Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk, interviewed at his country's embassy in Tel Aviv, March 22, 2022 (Times of Israel)

Less than two weeks before the Rosh Hashanah holiday, Ukraine says Israel has not reached out to make necessary arrangements for the annual Jewish pilgrimage to Uman, and that “time is running out.”

“They think it has been agreed somehow by talking through the leaders of the Haredim, who then contact Ukrainian officials,” Ukrainian Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk tells The Times of Israel.

“Time is running out,” he continues. “We don’t know what’s happening.”

Korniychuk says that the sides have to arrange a large Israeli police presence for the pilgrims, who could number 40,000 this year. They also have to agree on delegations of Israeli paramedics, emergency workers and temporary bomb shelters.

Korniychuk laments the fact that this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have not spoken ahead of the holiday, as they have in the past.

If the arrangements are not made, “we might have surprises this year,” he warns. There is a ban on public gatherings of over 10 people during the war, he notes.

“We don’t need the visitors during a war,” he says, stressing that the tourist fees paid by Jewish pilgrims are used to clean the city after the holiday. The event demands Ukrainian resources during a war, including thousands of emergency workers.

“Why do they think this is our problem and not their problem?” he asks. “I am very surprised.”

War’s longest flight: 10 jets took part in Yemen strikes, dropping 30 bombs on 15 targets

The Israeli Air Force strike in Yemen today marks the longest flight carried out by the IAF since the beginning of the war, with fighter jets flying over 2,350 kilometers (1,460 miles) to the targets, according to the military.

The strike involved over 10 IAF fighter jets dropping some 30 munitions on 15 targets in Sanaa and in the al-Jawf area north of the capital, the IDF says.

En route to carrying out the strike and on the way back to Israel, several aerial refuelings were carried out.

Today’s strike is not the most distant attack of the war, as Sanaa is located only some 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) from Israel, with the jets taking a detour to avoid Saudi airspace. The most distant strike carried out by the IAF in the war was conducted at Iran’s Mashhad Airport in June, some 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) from Israel.

IDF says Yemen strikes targeted Houthi propaganda HQ, camps with operatives, and intel centers

The IDF confirms carrying out strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, saying it struck military camps where operatives were gathered, the headquarters of the terror group’s propaganda division, and a fuel depot, in both Sanaa and in the al-Jawf area north of the capital.

The strikes come after repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel in recent weeks, including a direct hit on Ramon Airport in southern Israel this week.

According to the IDF, the Houthis’ military propaganda division “is responsible for spreading incitement and propaganda messages in the media, including speeches by the leader Abdul-Malik [al-Houthi] and statements by spokesman Yahya Saree.”

“During the war, the headquarters has spearheaded the regime’s propaganda and psychological terror efforts,” the military says.

The Houthi camps that were struck were used by the Iran-backed group to “plan and execute terror attacks against the IDF and the State of Israel. The camps also contained operations and intelligence command centers used by the regime,” the IDF adds.

Washington expresses concern over Spanish measures against shipments to Israel

A US State Department spokesperson says the latest measures announced by the Spanish government against Israel, limiting access to Spanish ports and airspace to ships and planes carrying weapons for Israel, are “deeply concerning.”

“It is deeply concerning that​ Spain, a NATO member, has chosen to potentially limit US operations and to turn its back on Israel on the same day six individuals were killed in Jerusalem. These measures embolden terrorists,” the spokesperson said in an email sent to Reuters today.

A spokesperson for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Houthis claim their air defenses foiled much of Israeli assault

The Houthis in Yemen claim that their air defenses managed to confront “the Zionist aggression against our country, forcing some of the combat formations to withdraw before carrying out their attack, and foiling the majority of the assault.”

Footage has shown that several sites in Sanaa were hit. According to Defense Minister Israel Katz, the IDF struck Houthi military camps in Sanaa and other areas of Yemen.

Katz confirms series of Yemen strikes, says they targeted Houthi military camps

Smoke rises over Sanaa after an Israeli airstrike on Yemen, September 10, 2025. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says the Israeli strikes on Yemen a short while ago targeted Houthi military camps where operatives were gathered.

“We promised more strikes, and today we dealt another painful blow to the Houthi terror organization in Yemen,” says Katz in a statement.

“The IDF has just struck in Sanaa and other locations across Yemen, targeting military camps manned by Houthi operatives, including the Houthi propaganda apparatus,” he says.

“The long arm of the State of Israel will reach and strike terrorism wherever it exists and from wherever a threat is posed to our citizens,” Katz adds.

UAE bars Israel from Dubai Airshow; Jerusalem said to believe Qatar strike is the reason

A man walks past the empty stand of Israel Aerospace Industries with an empty Rafael stand seen at the Dubai Air Show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

The United Arab Emirates has informed the Israeli defense establishment that Israeli industries will be barred from participating in the Dubai Airshow in November, a Defense Ministry spokesperson tells The Times of Israel, confirming Hebrew media reports.

According to the reports, the organizers of the event — one of the world’s largest aerospace and defense exhibitions, held in the UAE’s capital every two years — sent a message this morning to the Defense Ministry and to relevant company managers in Israel.

While the official statements said the decision was due to security considerations, senior officials in Israel claim the reason behind the ban is the Israeli Air Force’s strike in Qatar yesterday against the top leadership of Hamas, Ynet reports. Gulf countries have since expressed their condemnation of the attack and solidarity with Qatar.

The Defense Ministry declines to comment on the stated or suspected reasoning of the ban.

IDF says it demolished 2 more West Bank homes of Palestinian attackers overnight

The IDF has demolished two more homes of Palestinians behind deadly attacks, during overnight operations in the West Bank.

The military says it operated in Tubas to raze the home of Muhammad Daraghmeh, who on February 4 carried out a shooting attack at an army post in the northern West Bank, killing reservists Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ofer Yung, 39, and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Avraham Tzvi Tzvika Friedman, 43.

Simultaneously, troops demolished the home of Abdullah Dhafer in the town of Kafr Abush. Dhafer was among several gunmen who shot dead Israeli civilian Amnon Muchtar, 67, in a terror attack in Qalqilya on June 21, 2024, the military says.

Yesterday, IDF troops demolished the homes of two Palestinian terrorists who carried out a deadly shooting attack in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank last year, and the home of another terrorist accused of carrying out a deadly December 2024 shooting attack near Jerusalem.

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

The process of razing a terrorist’s home usually takes months, as their family can appeal to the High Court against the move, and the military waits for “optimal conditions” to carry out the demolition.

Harris says Biden’s circle irked by March 2024 speech in which she urged Gaza truce

US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and US President Joe Biden arrive for an event in the East Room of the White House, in Washington, May 9, 2024. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Former US vice president Kamala Harris reveals that Joe Biden’s aides didn’t like a March 2024 speech she gave in which she called for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, claiming that the then-president’s inner circle felt she was outshining him.

The speech in question had been part of a commemoration of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, when civil rights marchers were attacked by police.

“I gave a strong speech on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Desperate people had been shot when they swarmed a food truck, and I spoke of families reduced to eating leaves or animal feed, women prematurely giving birth with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration,” Harris recalls in an excerpt, published in The Atlantic, from her upcoming book, “107 Days.”

“I reiterated my strong support for Israel’s security and called on Hamas to release the hostages and accept the ceasefire agreement then on the table. I also called on Israel for greater access to aid,” she continues.

“It was a speech that had been vetted and approved by the White House and the National Security Council. It went viral, and the West Wing was displeased. I was castigated for, apparently, delivering it too well,” Harris claims.

The speech did indeed make headlines as it appeared to be the first time that the US was calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The line was immediately cheered by those in attendance — so much so that the applause drowned out the part of the line clarifying that she was only referring to a six-week truce that had been under discussion, not something more long-term.

She was still seen by some as taking a slightly harder approach on Israel than Biden — something both of their offices denied at the time.

The speech was used to highlight a broader frustration Harris had — not with Biden, but with the aides around him.

“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed. None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well. That given the concerns about his age, my visible success as his vice president was vital. It would serve as a testament to his judgment in choosing me and reassurance that if something happened, the country was in good hands,” she writes. “My success was important for him. His team didn’t get it.”

Harris also notes in the excerpt that Biden, who was already struggling in the polls due to the perception that he was too old to serve, “started taking on water [in 2024] for his perceived blank check to Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza.”

Senior Hamas official on Qatar strike: Israel’s crimes will not affect leadership’s decisions

Senior Hamas figure Husam Badran issues a statement regarding yesterday’s Israeli strike in Qatar,  arguing that “Israel’s crimes will not affect the decisions of the leadership nor our coordination with the other factions.”

Badran adds: “The criminal occupation is a real threat to the region’s security and stability.”

Badran is a senior Hamas leader based abroad and is believed to have been in Qatar at the time of the strike. The statement put out in his name appears to indicate he wasn’t harmed in the strike.

Houthis say air defenses engaging Israeli aircraft, as several Sanaa sites said hit

The Houthis in Yemen say that their air defenses are engaging “Israeli aircraft that are launching an aggression against our country.”

Yemeni media reports that the Israeli Air Force hit several sites in the capital, Sanaa.

عاجل|
تصاعد كرة اللهب من موقع استهدفته غارة إسرائيلية في #صنعاء pic.twitter.com/AwKjZWSLM6

— يمن مونيتور (@YeMonitor) September 10, 2025

Herzog says top Hamas political leader was targeted for objecting to Gaza deal

Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya is seen outside the VIP hall at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on March 15, 2021. (Said Khatib/AFP)

Israel targeted senior Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya yesterday because he stood in the way of a hostage release-ceasefire deal in Gaza, says President Isaac Herzog.

“We targeted Khalil al-Hayya because he objected to a deal on Gaza. He kept saying ‘Yes, but’ in negotiations,” Herzog tells The Daily Mail.

“He is number one in Hamas and has the blood of thousands of Israelis on his hands,” says Herzog.

The president is on a three-day visit to the UK, and will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer today.

IDF chief okays operational plans for Gaza City op, says war is in ‘decisive stages’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to officers in southern Israel, September 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has approved operational plans and briefed senior officers ahead of the military’s upcoming offensive in Gaza City, the IDF says.

“We are moving toward the next stages in the mission of toppling Hamas rule; that is our objective. We are going to bring down this regime, and nothing will stop us from carrying out the mission,” he says to the officers, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

Zamir says the IDF’s two main goals remain “the release of the hostages, which is a moral mission of the highest priority, critical and essential, and alongside it the mission of toppling Hamas.”

“These are the missions of our generation. As I have said in the past, we will attack [Hamas] and pursue it everywhere, in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and in other places, as we did in the last 24 hours,” he says, referring to yesterday’s strike in Qatar.

Zamir also says that the IDF is “closely examining the shift in the balance of power in the Middle East.”

“We have already been in a war for nearly two years, and now we are in decisive stages of it,” he adds.

Israel reportedly striking Yemen’s capital after recent Houthi attacks

The Israeli Air Force is carrying out strikes in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, according to local media.

The strikes come following repeated missile and drone attacks by the Houthis on Israel.

The IDF has not yet commented on the strikes.

الغارات الصهيوںية على صنعاء https://t.co/zsvzkMYZMa pic.twitter.com/h4TE7xAmAs

— Ali. ABk (@Bk_Hanasa) September 10, 2025

Herzog’s office says he will meet Starmer today to ‘reject outright’ UK premier’s recent moves

President Isaac Herzog speaks during a public event on September 2, 2025 (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog will meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer today at 10 Downing Street in London for what looks to be a tense meeting, according to the President’s Residence.

Herzog’s office says that the meeting will take place “against the backdrop of recent statements by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and members of his government regarding Israel, the forthcoming decision to recognize a Palestinian state, and the ugly wave of antisemitism rising across the country.”

The president is meeting Starmer “in order to reject outright the positions presented by the UK recently,” his office says, and will “express protest over the sanctions imposed against the only democracy in the Middle East and over Britain’s echoing of Hamas’s starvation campaign — while 48 hostages are being cruelly tortured in captivity in Gaza.”

Herzog will reject plans to recognize a Palestinian state right now, arguing it rewards terrorism and could undermine efforts to release hostages. He will also call on the UK and other democracies to stand alongside Israel as it fights against Iran and its axis.

According to his office, Herzog will call sanctions against Israel and its leaders “unacceptable.”

Qatar urges UN Security Council to condemn Israel’s ‘cowardly’ strikes

Qatar reiterates its condemnation of Israel’s strikes targeting Hamas leaders in Doha yesterday in messages to the United Nations, calling them “cowardly” violations of the country’s sovereignty, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Doha describes the attack as “a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,” stressing that “it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior” and repeating that investigations are underway.

Qatar also “requested that the message be circulated to the members of the Security Council and issued as an official document of the Council,” the ministry adds.

The UN Security Council is set to discuss the strikes this evening.

In a separate statement delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Qatar’s representative says that “Israeli violations and crimes” in Gaza have been “extended to the cowardly targeting of residential buildings” housing Hamas members.

The ministry also reports that Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani received calls today from the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, affirming their solidarity with Qatar and their “strong condemnation” of the attack.

Haredi faction says it will abstain on key budget increase bill, making passage harder for coalition

In a statement, the Degel HaTorah faction announces that its MKs will abstain in a key vote on a massive increase to the defense budget in the Knesset today, and will not supporting it because the coalition has failed to meet its commitments to the ultra-Orthodox party.

However, the faction also won’t vote against the measure since “the amendment being presented today is exclusively for the needs of the security establishment and does not involve any cuts to civilian provisions [of the budget].”

The statement adds that ahead of further votes on the bill, the party’s decision-making rabbinical Council of Torah Sages “will instruct [MKs] on how to vote.”

Degel HaTorah quit the coalition this summer along with fellow Haredi faction Agudat Yisrael, which together make up the United Torah Judaism party. Currently, the coalition and opposition are deadlocked with 60 seats each, so the decision to abstain, while making it harder on the coalition, gives it a chance to make sure there are more yes votes than no.

In a separate statement, a spokesman for Rabbi Dov Lando, Degel HaTorah’s spiritual leader, says that the senior rabbi instructed that lawmakers “‘demonstratively abstain’ during voting on the budget today.”

Knesset lawmakers are slated to vote this afternoon on hiking the 2025 state budget by NIS 31 billion ($9 billion), most of it to bolster the defense budget, with NIS 1.6 billion ($473 million) in funding for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

After it was approved by the cabinet last month, Degel HaTorah chief Moshe Gafni appeared to threaten to vote against the increase due to a cut of NIS 481 million ($142 million) in taxpayer money set aside for Haredi schools’ eventual inclusion in the government’s New Horizon program, which funds work in small groups between teachers and pupils and bumps up teacher salaries, among other initiatives.

Haredi schools, which do not teach core subjects such as math or science, have been excluded from the program, but the money to add them is being set aside until laws are changed to allow the funds to be allocated.

Israel tells Gazans Hamas is lying about humanitarian zone having no room left

This graphic published by COGAT on September 10, 2025, shows open areas in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. (COGAT)

As Hamas allegedly seeks to prevent Palestinians from evacuating Gaza City, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says there are available spaces in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south to set up tents for those being displaced.

“In recent days, the Hamas terrorist organization has been running a false campaign aimed at preventing you, the residents of Gaza, from moving from the northern Gaza Strip to the south for your safety and protection,” says COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian on his Arabic-language Facebook page.

“To disperse the cloud of lies, it is important to set the record straight. Contrary to Hamas’s claims, there are available spaces in the humanitarian area for setting up tents. Do not fall for Hamas’s lies, as it wants to use you as a human shield for its murderous goals,” Alian says.

“Hamas endangers you and harms your families. You must know the truth and follow the evacuation instructions. These are life-saving instructions,” he adds.

COGAT publishes graphics showing locations in the humanitarian zone where there are open areas for setting up tents.

This graphic published by COGAT on September 10, 2025, shows open areas in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. (COGAT)

This graphic published by COGAT on September 10, 2025, shows open areas in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. (COGAT)

The IDF in the past two days has called on civilians in all of Gaza City to evacuate, including by dropping leaflets and making phone calls to Gazans in the area.

Around 150,000 of the estimated one million Palestinians in Gaza City have so far evacuated, according to updated army estimates from this morning.

Police ask court to extend ban on Urich contacting PM by 60 more days

Jonatan Urich, who was arrested in the so-called Qatargate investigation, arrives for a court hearing in Lod, August 19, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/ Flash90)

A police investigator tells the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court that the presence of Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Prime Minister’s Office would constitute a threat to state security due to his work with Qatar.

The investigator makes his comments in a court hearing over the police request to extend restrictions on Urich — banning him from contacting other figures linked to the Qatargate affair or anyone working in the Prime Minister’s Office, including Netanyahu himself — for another 60 days.

The police investigator says that some of the investigative actions that the police promised to complete before September 10 have been carried out, but that other actions “require the approval of the most senior officials in the Justice Ministry.”

The investigator is possibly alluding to a police desire to question under caution cabinet ministers, and possibly the prime minister, over the affair and Urich’s role in it.

On August 19, the Lod-Central District Court ruled in favor of a police appeal requesting that the restrictions on Urich be extended until today. That ruling overturned the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court ruling of August 15 against extending those restrictions.

The district court judge at the time criticized the lower court’s decision, writing explicitly that he did not share its position that there was an absence of reasonable suspicion that Urich committed the crimes of bribery and breach of trust, of which he is accused in the affair.

Democracies should leave UN and form alternative body, Lapid argues in Fox News op-ed

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on July 28, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid writes that the United Nations is a failed institution dominated by authoritarian states, in an op-ed in the right-wing Fox News, during his visit to the US.

He argues that the UN has been hijacked by authoritarian regimes. Out of 193 member states, only 25 are considered “full democracies,” according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. This imbalance, he says, allows dictatorships to dominate budgets, votes and resolutions.

As a remedy, the Yesh Atid party leader calls for democracies to leave the UN and form a new bloc, which he dubs “DAWN — the Democratic Alliance for World Nations.”

This is linked to what Lapid calls the UN’s “obsessive bias” against the Jewish state.

“The UN’s treatment of Israel is the diplomatic equivalent of a psychotic episode,” he says.

He points to numbers that underscore his case: Israel, representing just 0.1% of the world’s population, has been the target of more than 60% of the UN’s condemnatory resolutions over the past decade. By comparison, conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia and Myanmar — which have claimed far higher death tolls than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — have generated only a fraction of the criticism.

Lapid stresses that his critique is not rooted in blind defense of Israel’s government. “I am the last person to claim Israel is perfect or mistake-free,” he writes, adding that he disagrees with much of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition does, particularly in Gaza.

Source says planned Haredi protests called off

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

A source close to a leading rabbi says Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community will not hold protests against the conscription of yeshiva students tomorrow, despite the release of a letter by senior Haredi rabbis calling for nationwide demonstrations on Thursday evening.

The letter was backed by the rabbinic leadership of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah — the two factions that make up United Torah Judaism, the other ultra-Orthodox party in the Knesset — but according to a source close to Rabbi Dov Lando, a leading ultra-Orthodox religious figure for Degel Hatorah, it was leaked “before a final decision had been made to publish it.”

The source declines to detail why the call for protests is being shelved but says the idea “hasn’t been taken off the table” and that “it’s still in the works so it could happen later.”

There is no confirmation from Shas or UTJ. Spokespeople for Shas, Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael did not respond to inquiries by The Times of Israel.

According to Channel 13, the protests were aborted by several Hasidic rabbis, including the leader of the Gur Hasidic sect, who expressed opposition to the fact that the letter did not explicitly blame the government for failing to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service nor state that military service is categorically forbidden.

In recent months, anti-enlistment protesters have held multiple demonstrations outside the Beit Lid military prison, where several draft dodgers have been held, and blocked traffic near Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem.

West’s Palestinian statehood push derailed efforts to release tax funds to PA, Huckabee says

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee delivers remarks as US President Donald Trump hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images via AFP)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says growing international momentum to recognize a Palestinian state directly led to the collapse of US efforts to persuade Israel to release funds to the Palestinian Authority.

Huckabee says he had been “shuttling back and forth” between the two sides, partly out of concern that worsening economic instability in the West Bank could spark violence, but that momentum toward recognition has hardened Israeli positions.

“I felt like we were making progress. We weren’t quite there yet, but we were talking, and there was progress, and there was understanding of the importance of getting it resolved,” Huckabee tells Reuters in Jerusalem.

According to the PA, Israel is withholding around $3 billion in revenues. Under a longstanding arrangement, Israel collects customs and import taxes on behalf of the PA, which make up a large part of its budget.

Jerusalem has been withholding the money due to the PA’s practice of paying monthly salaries to Palestinian prisoners and families of dead attackers, including terrorists. Ramallah has pledged to reform the payment system.

Huckabee says that the amount being withheld is significant and that it is inflicting extraordinary economic pain on Palestinians. However, he insists that the Palestinian Authority bears some responsibility for encouraging recognition efforts.

He says the wave of recognition announcements also prompted more declarations by Israeli officials calling for sovereignty over parts of the West Bank.

Huckabee says he is not aware of any US-Israel communication over the issue, and adds that Washington’s position on settlement expansion is that “Israel has to do what Israel has to do.”

Germany says Israel stance unchanged after Qatar strike

Germany’s government says a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable, but Israel’s strike targeting Hamas officials in Doha does not change Berlin’s position toward the country.

“You know our basic stance on the Israeli state, and nothing has changed,” a government spokesperson tells journalists during a regular press conference.

When asked about the European Commission’s proposal to suspend trade-related measures in an EU agreement with Israel, the spokesperson says there has not yet been a majority for these proposed measures in the European Council.

University faculty behind much antisemitism aimed at Jewish colleagues, survey finds

Faculty and staff are key drivers of antisemitism faced by Jewish professors at US colleges and universities, according to a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League and the Academic Engagement Network.

The report, based on responses from more than 200 Jewish-identifying faculty, documents smear campaigns, boycotts, and even doxxing efforts carried out by colleagues and administrators. In some cases, these actions led to professional repercussions and concerns for personal safety.

Nearly 40 percent of those who reported antisemitic hostility said they had considered leaving academia, compared with just 5.1 percent of unaffected peers, the survey finds. More than a third of respondents admitted feeling the need to hide their Jewish or Zionist identity.

Many institutions appear reluctant to address antisemitism, often downplaying faculty concerns, the report claims. Despite being targets of antisemitic behavior themselves, many of the faculty members surveyed reported being told by others on campus what is and is not antisemitism.

“Universities are supposed to be the academic homes where faculty dedicate their lives to teaching, research, and the pursuit of truth,” says ADL vice president of advocacy Shira Goodman. “Instead, our findings show that antisemitism is driving Jewish faculty from those very homes – forcing them to choose between their safety and their careers.”

For second day, Netanyahu testimony halted after secret note

For the second day in a row, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his graft trial has been halted after he was handed a note, Channel 12 news reports.

On Tuesday, he left the session, the first in months, to deal with what would turn out to be an Israeli strike against Hamas in Qatar.

There is no indication of what today’s note contains.

Hundreds of trucks of aid entered Strip Wednesday, Israel says

Nearly 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip yesterday through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities (COGAT) says.

According to COGAT, around 400 trucks’ worth of aid were collected by the United Nations and other international organizations from the Gaza sides of the crossings yesterday to be distributed, though a backlog remains.

“The contents of hundreds of trucks are still awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the crossings,” COGAT says.

Deliveries of similar amounts of aid have been reported daily in the past few weeks.

The UN has said 600 trucks of aid need to be distributed each day in order to properly feed the Strip’s roughly two million people amid the war.

COGAT also says that “tankers of UN fuel entered for the operation of essential humanitarian systems” yesterday, and that it coordinated the entry and exit of humanitarian aid workers rotating in and out of Gaza.

Anti-Muslim biker gang linked to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation security team; group reviewing ties

This photo, provided by an American contractor on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, shows Palestinians behind gates before entering a food distribution site operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May 2025, shortly after the start of the organization's distribution sites. (AP Photo)

The BBC says members of a American biker gang known for its opposition to Islam have senior roles providing security at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites.

The report identifies 10 people working for UG Solutions, which provides security at GHF sites, as members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club, made up of combat veterans with an anti-Islam bent who “see themselves as modern Crusaders,” according to the British network.

The leader of the pack, named as Johnny “Taz” Mulford, heads the group’s security operations in Gaza, according to the BBC. Other gang leaders are also identified as having leading roles running security at GHF sites. The broadcaster says at least 10 people involved in the project were recruited by Mulford.

The BBC says it identified several members when Mulford accidentally included it in an email to fellow Infidels instructing them not to answer questions from the network.

The report cites a contractor who estimates that 40 of UGS’s approximately 320 staff in Gaza may have been brought on from the Infidels.

Members of the group have been accused of anti-Islamic speech and activity, such as holding a Ramadan pig roast, as well as glorification of the Christian conquest of the Holy Land in 1095.

UGS tells the BBC it does not screen candidates’ hobbies and interests.

In response, the GHF tells The Times of Israel that it “maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy toward any form of hateful or discriminatory behavior,” adding: “Mr. Mulford has not been involved with GHF since August and we are actively reviewing additional allegations.”

Deadly shootings plagued Palestinians attempting to access GHF distribution sites during the first months of activity earlier this year, though the GHF denied involvement and said incidents occurred outside its facilities.

German lawsuit targets IDF soldier born in Munich over alleged Gaza crimes

Human rights lawyers have filed a lawsuit against an Israeli soldier of German origin over suspected involvement in the targeted killing of unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and three Palestinian human rights organizations say they filed a criminal complaint with Germany’s federal prosecutor against a sniper in the so-called “Ghost Unit” of the 202nd Paratroopers Battalion.

ECCHR says the 25-year-old soldier was born and raised in Munich and had a registered residence in Germany until recently, but could not confirm that the man has dual citizenship.

In a 130-page complaint, ECCHR says it has submitted evidence, including investigative research and audiovisual recordings, alleging that the soldier belonged to the unit, alleging that its members deliberately killed civilians in Gaza.

The Israeli military and foreign ministry and Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office do not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The case is filed under German laws that allow prosecutors to pursue international crimes if the accused persons were born in Germany or German nationals, ECCHR says.

“There must be no double standards – even if the suspects are members of the Israeli armed forces,” ECCHR’s lawyer Alexander Schwarz says in a statement.

Qatar mulling legal action against Netanyahu — report

A legal team in Qatar has been instructed to explore the possibility of pursuing international charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a strike he ordered targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, the BBC reports, citing Qatari sources.

Netanyahu is already wanted by the International Criminal Court over war crimes allegations related to Gaza.

In a press conference yesterday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani described the strike as “state-sponsored terrorism carried out under” Netanyahu, and said his country reserved the right to respond over it.

Tehran says inspectors still banned from nuclear sites as UN watchdog touts deal

Iran’s new cooperation framework with the UN nuclear watchdog includes “all facilities and installations in Iran,” agency head Rafael Grossi says, but Iran’s foreign minister says it does not provide for inspectors to access any nuclear sites.

Iran agreed to a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday, after having suspended cooperation following the war with Israel in June.

Grossi says the agreement document “provides for a clear understanding of the procedures for inspections.”

It “includes all facilities and installations in Iran, and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities, including the nuclear material present at those,” Grossi tells the Vienna-based agency’s Board of Governors meeting.

But Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says in an interview on state TV that no access to Iranian nuclear sites is provided to IAEA inspectors under the new agreement.

He says the nature of inspectors’ access in Iran will be determined in future negotiations.

Grossi says “Iran and the agency will now resume cooperation in a respectful and comprehensive way,” calling for “practical steps” to be implemented immediately.

“There may be difficulties and issues to be resolved for sure, but we now know what we have to do,” he adds.

Hamas military chief said to tell Gaza City fighters to dig in ahead of battle as IDF reiterates call to leave

Palestinians transport their belongings as they evacuate Gaza City toward southern areas of the coastal Gaza Strip, on September 10, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports that Izz al-Din Haddad, who currently heads Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, has told Hamas fighters to remain in Gaza City and gird for battle, as Israel readies to invade and conquer the city.

In the message, Haddad reportedly says he will be on the front lines and predicts that the campaign will last for months.

Other terror groups have threatened to punish fighters if they leave the city, the report says.

Israel has repeatedly advised Gaza’s nearly 1 million residents to leave the city before it invades, though most have not heeded the call.

It is reiterating that message across the city for a second day now, saying civilians should evacuate immediately to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.

#عاجل إلى جميع سكان مدينة غزة والمقيمين في كل أحيائها، من المدينة القديمة والتفاح شرقًا وحتى البحر غربًا والذين لم يخلوا المنطقة بعد

⭕️جيش الدفاع مصمم على حسم حماس وسيعمل في منطقة مدينة غزة بقوة كبيرة، كما عمل في مختلف أنحاء القطاع.

⭕️من أجل سلامتكم، أخلوا فورًا عبر محور الرشيد… pic.twitter.com/MTWxUm0jV6

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) September 10, 2025

“The IDF is determined to defeat Hamas and will operate in the Gaza City area with great force, just as it has throughout the Strip,” says Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson on X.

The IDF estimates that around 150,000 have so far evacuated, but has accused Hamas of blocking people trying to leave.

Sa’ar says EU chief ‘sending wrong message’ with planned sanctions

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar calls European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement that the Commission will propose sanctioning Israeli ministers and a partial suspension of the EU’s association agreement with Israel “regrettable,” saying her remarks strengthen Hamas and ignore Israel’s efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“The President of the European Commission’s comments this morning are regrettable,” Sa’ar writes on X. “Once again, Europe conveys the wrong message that strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East.”

Von der Leyen had said, “Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war,” referring to allegations of widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel refusing to ensure aid distribution as part of its war strategy.

Sa’ar rejects her account, writing that some of her statements “are also tainted by echoing the false propaganda of Hamas and its partners.”

The President of the European Commission's comments this morning are regrettable. Some of them are also tainted by echoing the false propaganda of Hamas and its partners.
Once again, Europe conveys the wrong message that strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East.…

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 10, 2025

“The President is well aware of Israel’s efforts” to assist the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the foreign minister continues, writing that progress is “evident on the ground, including by the dramatic decline in the prices of basic goods in Gaza.”

He adds that “the suffering in Gaza is entirely the work of Hamas,” pointing to the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre that sparked the ongoing war, and its refusal to release hostages.

Israel confirms bringing down Gaza apartment tower

The IDF confirms striking a high-rise tower in Gaza City a short while ago, saying the building was used by Hamas.

According to the military, Hamas installed surveillance equipment in the building that was used to track the movement of Israeli troops in the area and to advance attacks on Israel.

The IDF had issued an evacuation warning to Palestinians in the area before carrying out the strike.

#عاجل | الاحتلال يطلق صواريخ ثقيلة على برج "طيبة" السكني غرب مدينة غزة، ما أدى إلى تدميره بالكامل. pic.twitter.com/uGpvkrtItu

— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) September 10, 2025

Leaders from UAE, Jordan and Saudi Arabia heading to Qatar

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein are expected to visit Qatar today, an official with knowledge of the matter says.

The visit does not appear to be pre-planned and may come in response to an Israeli attack a day ago targeting Hamas leaders in Doha.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to arrive in Doha on Thursday, the official adds.

EU set to consider downgrading Israel trade ties, sanctions on far-right ministers

The European Commission will propose sanctioning extremist Israeli ministers and a partial suspension of the European Union’s association agreement with Israel, targeting trade-related matters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says.

“What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world,” von der Leyen says in a State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, acknowledging divisions within Europe on how to move forward and pledging that the commission will do what it can on its own.

On Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the Commission had a roster of possible sanctions ready to go, but could not reach consensus with all members of the 27-nation bloc to implement any.

A suspension of the trade chapter of the agreement would withdraw trade preferences for Israeli products to enter the EU market and would require a qualified majority vote among EU governments, according to a July options paper prepared by the bloc’s diplomatic service.

The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner, accounting for nearly a third of Israel’s total international trade in goods last year.

A qualified majority is reached with the support of 15 out of 27 members representing 65% of the EU population, still a difficult threshold to reach at a time when European capitals continue to have diverging views on how to approach Israel and Gaza.

Von der Leyen also says that the Commission will put its bilateral support for Israel on hold, without affecting work with Israeli civil society and Yad Vashem.

The Commission had previously proposed curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding program but failed to garner sufficient support from EU member countries for the move.

Diplomats say Germany’s view on the proposal is key, and Germany has said it is so far unconvinced.

The Commission chief says the body will set up a Palestine Donor Group next month, including an instrument for Gaza reconstruction.

MKs to vote on NIS 31 billion budget increase to fund defense, Gaza aid

Knesset lawmakers are slated to vote this afternoon on hiking the 2025 state budget by NIS 31 billion ($9 billion), most of it to bolster the defense budget, with NIS 1.6 billion ($473 million) in funding for humanitarian aid to Gaza. First voted on by the cabinet last month, the measure is expected to pass narrowly, with some ultra-Orthodox lawmakers who recently left the coalition reportedly intending to either abstain or vote against it.

Following last month’s cabinet vote, MK Moshe Gafni, who heads the United Torah Judaism’s Degel HaTorah faction, appeared to threaten to vote against the increase due to a cut of NIS 481 million ($142 million) in taxpayer money set aside for Haredi schools’ eventual inclusion in the government’s New Horizon program, which funds work in small groups between teachers and pupils and bumps up teacher salaries, among other initiatives.

Haredi schools which do not teach core subjects such as math or science have been excluded from the program, but the money to add them is being set aside until laws are changed to allow the funds to be allocated.

A source close to the veteran lawmaker tells The Times of Israel that Gafni plans on abstaining rather than voting against the budget increase because of the importance of the defense funds involved. Other Degel MKs are expected to follow suit.

UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf is expected to oppose the budget increase while other members of his Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction are still undecided, the ultra-Orthodox Behadrei Haredim website reports.

According to Hebrew media reports, Shas’s 11 MKs will vote in favor, despite the party recently leaving the government, though not the coalition. The government recently approved the transfer of NIS 40 million ($11.9 million) in state funding to ultra-Orthodox schools affiliated with the ultra-Orthodox party’s Bnei Yosef educational network.

According to financial daily The Marker, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party is also threatening to oppose the budget increase unless NIS 80 million ($23.9 million) in funds intended for the Settlements and National Projects Ministry, controlled by a Religious Zionism lawmaker, is instead transferred to the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Ministry, headed by Otzma Yehudit’s Yitzhak Wasserlauf.

Earlier this week, Wasserlauf announced he would vote against increasing the deficit in the cabinet, accusing Religious Zionism head Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of gutting the ministry’s budget while he was in the opposition.

Mossad reportedly promised Qatar days ago not to target Hamas on its soil

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas' political leadership in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP/Jon Gambrell)

Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the White House both promised Doha recently that they would not carry out attacks on Hamas figures in Qatar, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reports, citing a Qatari official.

According to Ignatius, Qatar sought assurances after IDF Chief Eyal Zamir said on August 31 that “the bulk of Hamas’s ruling leadership that remains is abroad, and we will reach them too.”

He says the pledges were given last month, indicating that the Mossad and White House did so within hours of Zamir’s comments.

Tuesday’s strike “came as a total surprise,” a Qatari official is quoted telling the columnist.

Perhaps tellingly, comments describing the strike from Israeli officials have noted the involvement of the military and the Shin Bet, but not the Mossad, which would normally play a key role in a sensitive operation against terror figures outside of Israel or its immediate environs.

Mossad head David Barnea has played a leading role in indirect talks with Hamas on ending the Gaza war and freeing hostages, which have been mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Israel appears to take down Gaza City tower

Following an evacuation warning, the Israeli Air Force leveled a high-rise building in Gaza City a short while ago, according to Palestinian media.

The IDF has not yet commented on the strike, but said earlier that the building was to be targeted because of its use by Hamas.

لحظة سقوط برج طيبة قرب ميناء غزة

بعد الغارات الإسرائيلية pic.twitter.com/Ue4TpSbu0u

— Hanzala (@Hanzpal2) September 10, 2025

Video shared online shows the building collapsing in a cloud of dust, followed by a secondary explosion.

Haredi draft dodger arrested at airport while trying to leave for Uman — reports

A 23-year old draft dodger was arrested at Ben Gurion International Airport this morning after attempting to fly abroad to attend the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to the Ukrainian city of Uman, Hebrew media outlets report.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the man, a student at the Chut Shel Hesed yeshiva, attempted to leave the country on an American passport before being detained. He has been sent to a military prison, the report says.

The arrest seems to be the first case of a draft evader from the Haredi community being held while trying to leave the country for a religious pilgrimage.

Haredi political leaders have been lobbying for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military officials to allow draft-dodging yeshiva students to join the annual pilgrimage to Uman, which hosts tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews who visit the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav over Rosh Hashanah.

The Attorney General’s Office recently informed the government that it has no right to create a mechanism to let ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers leave Israel.

Russia, China join chorus rejecting Israeli strike in Doha

Russia and China join international condemnation of Israel’s attack against Hamas members in Qatar’s capital Doha.

“Russia considers this incident a gross violation of international law and the UN Charter, an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent state, and a step leading to further escalation and destabilization of the situation in the Middle East,” the Russian Foreign Ministry says in a statement.

“Such methods of fighting those whom Israel considers its enemies and opponents deserve the strongest condemnation,” it adds. “The rocket attack on Qatar… cannot be perceived as anything other than an action aimed at undermining international efforts to find peaceful solutions.”

China’s foreign ministry says it firmly opposes Israel’s violation of Qatar’s territorial sovereignty.

China is deeply worried about the possible escalation the strikes could lead to, China foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian tells a regular press conference.

Gantz says troops must remain on edges of Gaza Strip after war

Israel must remain on the perimeter of the Gaza Strip “for the foreseeable future” for the country’s national security, Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz told attendees at the Middle East–America Dialogue summit in Washington, DC, yesterday, his office says.

“The challenge Gaza poses will continue for the next decade. In the short term, no alternative regime will be able to assume governance and therefore Israel must remain in Gaza, on the perimeter, for the foreseeable future so that civilians can go to sleep safely in their homes. So that the children of Sderot and southern Israel can go to school safely,” said the former defense minister and IDF chief of staff.

Gantz also advocated for Israel continuing to hold the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, describing it as “our longest border.”

IDF warns of imminent strike on Gaza City high-rise

The IDF has issued an evacuation warning for Palestinians residing in the vicinity of a high-rise building in Gaza City ahead of an airstrike.

“The IDF will strike the building soon due to the presence of Hamas terror infrastructure inside or nearby,” the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, says.

Civilians are instructed to leave Gaza City for the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in the Strip’s south.

#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى كل من لم يخل بعد منطقة ميناء غزة وحي الرمال الجنوبي في البلوكات 663، 785، 786، 787، وبشكل خاص في برج طيبة 2 المحدد بالأحمر وفي الخيام القريبة منه والواقع في شارع

⭕️سيهاجم جيش الدفاع المبنى في الوقت القريب نظرًا لوجود بنى تحتية إرهابية لحماس داخله أو… pic.twitter.com/h46PHPA6uY

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) September 10, 2025

The army has knocked down several 10- to 15-story Gaza City buildings in recent days, saying they are being used to surveil troops and for other terror activities.

Former foreign minister Eli Cohen grilled by cops over diplomatic passports for Likud mayors, PM’s son

File: Then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen during an interview in Jerusalem, June 12, 2023. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Energy Minister Eli Cohen is being questioned by police investigators as a possible suspect over allegations that diplomatic passports were unlawfully issued to several Likud mayors as well as Yair Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Cohen was serving as foreign minister at the time the passports were issued.

Cohen, who is grilled by investigators from the Lahav 433 serious crime unit, posts on X that he had been “asked to give my version of events” about the affair, and says that the investigation involved only four diplomatic passports which he said had been issued by the director general of the ministry.

He says that Yair Netanyahu’s diplomatic passport had been renewed several times since 2009 by several ministry directors, due to his security detail.

And the minister says the issuance of diplomatic passports for three mayors had been done “in accordance with ministry procedures” due to their “international activities,” and insists that such passports have been issued for similar reasons to other mayors in the past.

Cohen says that the investigation should have “never been opened” but that “as a law-abiding citizen” he was willing to answer any questions about the matter.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel welcomes Cohen’s questioning, noting that the investigation was prompted by its petition to the High Court of Justice against diplomatic passports being issued to political associates of cabinet ministers.

“Now that [it has emerged] that the investigation is well-founded, we demand that the authorities act immediately: collect the diplomatic passports that were distributed illegally and are still in the hands of those who are not entitled to them, and bring to justice all those involved in the affair,” the organization says.

Israeli sources said to be increasingly dubious of Qatar strike’s success

This frame grab taken from an AFPTV footage shows smoke billowing after an Israeli strike in Doha's capital Qatar on September 9, 2025. (Photo by Jacqueline PENNEY / AFPTV / AFP)

Israeli officials quoted anonymously in several Hebrew-language news sites appear to cast increasing doubt on the success of a strike in Qatar targeting the leaders of the Hamas terror group’s politburo yesterday.

“Right now there’s no indication that the terrorists were killed,” an anonymous source is quoted telling Channel 12 news. “We continue to hope they were assassinated, but optimism is fading.”

Similar sentiments are reported by the Kan public broadcaster.

In Ynet, Ronen Bergman writes that two sources from the defense and intelligence community told him that, in his words, they are “pessimistic regarding the lethality of the strike on most of the targets, and perhaps all of them.” He adds that a battle damage assessment is ongoing.

He adds however, that another source noted that at least one part of the mission was accomplished: striking fear into the hearts of Hamas’s political leaders.

Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that its top leaders survived the strike but that five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya — Hamas’s leader for Gaza and its top negotiator — as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya’s office.

Hamas, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, has offered no proof that al-Hayya and other senior figures had survived.

AP contributed to this report.

EU says Russian UAV over Poland looks intentional, calls for ‘drone wall’

The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas says Russia appears to have intentionally violated Polish airspace in an incident that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says involved a “huge number” of Russian drones.

“Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental,” Kallas writes on X.

“The EU stands in full solidarity with Poland. Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” Kallas wrote.

“Last night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk says.

Ukraine’s air force says Russian forces launched 415 drones and 43 missiles in the attack that Ukrainian officials said left at least one dead. Air defense units downed 386 drones and 27 missiles, the air force adds.

Drone components were found near a cemetery in the town of Czesniki in southeastern Poland, a local prosecutor’s office says in a statement. No one was injured.

Polsat news reports that a drone also struck a residential building in Wyryki, in eastern Poland, but nobody was injured, citing local police.

Following the incident, European Union Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius says the EU must develop a “drone wall” along the eastern flank of its shared borders.

“Once again Russia tests frontier states, EU & NATO,” Kubilius writes on X. “We shall work together with Member States, frontier countries and Ukraine. Russia will be stopped.”

Katz: We’ll hit our enemies anywhere

Defense Minister Israel Katz speaks to press at the site of a missile impact in Holon on June 19, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz appears to reject criticism of the decision to go after Hamas figures in US-allied Qatar, saying Israel will not allow the group to find safe haven anywhere.

“Israel’s security doctrine is clear — its long arm will act against its enemies everywhere,” he says in a statement. “There’s nowhere they can hide.”

He does not address indications that some of the Hamas leaders targeted in Doha were not killed in the strike, but says anyone who took part in the October 7, 2023, massacre will “have justice served.”

Katz also repeats his demand that Hamas agree to Israel’s conditions to end the war, including freeing the hostages and disarming.

Otherwise “they will be wiped out and Gaza destroyed,” he threatens.

Israel says 150,000 have left Gaza City so far

Displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza carry their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders from Gaza City. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)

Around 150,000 Palestinians are estimated by the military to have evacuated from Gaza City, including tens of thousands in the past day, according to defense officials.

Yesterday, for the first time, the IDF ordered all of Gaza City to evacuate immediately, ahead of an upcoming offensive against Hamas there.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 100,000 people had left Gaza City, out of around one million estimated to be residing in the city.

Envoys say Israel will continue going after Hamas despite criticism, as UN meeting on airstrike set

The UN Security Council will meet this afternoon to discuss Israel’s attack on Hamas’s leadership in Qatar, ambassador to the UN Danny Danon says on X.

Danon says he will tell the body that Jerusalem plans to continue going after terror figures regardless of where they are located, shrugging off condemnations from allies and foes alike.

“I intend to make it absolutely clear to the Council: there will be no immunity for terrorists – not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, and not in Qatar. We will not back down and we will continue to act decisively against the leaders of terror wherever they are hiding,” he says.

On Fox News, the ambassador to the US says Israel will continue targeting any Hamas leaders who may have survived the strike.

“If we didn’t get them this time, we’ll get them next time,” Leiter says.

But while he also brushes away criticism of the strike, which also came from the US, Leiter emphasis that Washington and Jerusalem are “united in the effort of eliminating Hamas as being a threat to peace in the Middle East.”

“We have acted together in the past, we’ll act together in the future,” Leiter adds.

Report says freed student Tsurkov to return to Israel, will be treated like Gaza hostages

Elizabeth Tsurkov giving a speech at the Knesset about the humanitarian situation in Gaza (Facebook/used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Freed Israeli-Russian hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov is expected to be flown to Israel in the coming days and will undergo the same process as hostages freed or rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza, the Kan news outlet reports.

Tsurkov, an academic studying at Princeton University, was kidnapped by a Shiite militia while doing research in Iraq in 2023. She was released to the US embassy in Baghdad Tuesday.

Hostages brought back from Gaza have been hospitalized in special wards, where they are able to reunite with family while gradually recuperating and undergoing various medical and mental health checkups.

According to Kan, Israel was not asked to make any concessions in exchange for her release, the circumstances of which have remained murky.

Tsurkov’s mother Irina tells Army Radio of experiencing indescribable joy upon receiving the news.

“It’s hard for me to breathe,” she says. “I’m going crazy. It’s crazy joy, happiness. I’ve waited for this moment for almost two and a half years.”

She adds that she “hopes all the families of our hostages get the same message,” that she got telling her of her daughter’s release.

Turkey, Egypt warned Hamas leaders weeks before Doha attack — report

Turkish and Egyptian interlocutors warned Hamas’s political leadership to tighten security around their meetings in the weeks before Israel’s attack on the group in Doha yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing interviews with officials from Israel, the US, Qatar and other Arab countries.

According to the report, 10 jets were deployed to fire long-range munitions at a house in the Qatari capital where Hamas’s political leadership had gathered to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

The jets fired the missiles from outside Qatari airspace and also did not breach the airspace of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, the broadsheet reports.

US officials tell the newspaper that Israel informed the US of the attack minutes before the launch, and did not disclose the target.

Army razes homes of Palestinians accused of deadly 2024 West Bank attack

IDF troops demolish the home of a Palestinian gunman who carried out a deadly shooting attack, in the West Bank village of Aqabah, September 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF troops demolished the homes of two Palestinian terrorists who carried out a deadly shooting attack in the West Bank last year, the military says.

According to the IDF, Abd al-Arouf Masri and Ahmed Abu Ara were among members of a Hamas cell that carried out the shooting on August 11, 2024, at the Mehola Junction on Route 90, the main north-south artery in the Jordan Valley, killing Yonatan Deutsch, 23, and wounding Anas Jaramana, 32.

Abu Ara was killed in a drone strike on August 16, 2024 and Masri was killed in an exchange of fire with troops on October 8, 2024.

The army says troops demolished the homes of the two gunmen, in the West Bank village of Aqabah yesterday.

The IDF previously announced that it had razed the home of a Palestinian gunman accused of carrying out a deadly December 2024 shooting attack yesterday.

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

The process of razing a terrorist’s home usually takes months as their family can appeal to the High Court against the move, and the military waits for “optimal conditions” to carry out the demolition.

Poland says multiple drone-type objects downed as airspace violated during Russian attack on Ukraine

Poland says “hostile objects” were downed by Polish or allied aircraft scrambled in response to multiple violations of its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine.

“Aircraft have used weapons against hostile objects,” Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz says on social media, adding: “We are in constant contact with NATO command.”

Poland’s military says it spotted a dozen drone-type objects, condemning the multiple violations of its airspace as an “act of aggression.”

“Following today’s attack by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory, an unprecedented violation of Polish airspace by drone-type objects took place,” the operational command of Poland’s armed forces says on social media.

Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of NATO members including Poland several times during Russia’s three-and-a-half-year war, but a NATO country has never attempted to shoot them down until now.

Poland slams Russia’s violation of its airspace while attacking Ukraine as ‘act of aggression’

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s army says that the entry of drones into the country’s airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine was an “act of aggression” that threatened the safety of the public and which required the objects to be shot down.

“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces says on X.

Poland working to down ‘objects’ that breached its airspace amid Russian attack on Ukraine

WARSAW, Poland — Poland has used weapons to shoot down objects following repeated violations of its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine, Prime Minister Donald Tusk says.

“An operation is underway related to the repeated violation of Polish airspace,” Tusk writes on X. “The military has used weaponry against the objects.”

Japan denounces Israel over Qatar strike, urges resumption of hostage-truce talks

TOKYO — Japan strongly condemns Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar as a threat to Qatar’s sovereignty and regional security, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says.

Hayashi calls the attack a “hindrance to diplomatic efforts” for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, expressing solidarity with Qatar and urging Israel to return to negotiations.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Gaza flotilla activists claim drone targeted another of their boats

Organizers of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists say that another of their boats has been struck in a suspected drone attack off Tunisia’s coast.

Aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the flotilla is due to resume its voyage on Wednesday after being delayed multiple times by weather conditions and other issues.

“Second night, second drone attack,” Melanie Schweizer, one of its coordinators, tells AFP.

The British-flagged Alma was docked in Tunisian waters on Tuesday, when it was “attacked” and “sustained fire damage on its top deck,” the Global Sumud Flotilla says in a statement, adding no one was hurt.

AFP journalists at the scene saw a boat in the distance surrounded by Tunisian law enforcement vessels with flashing lights.

The incident comes a day after the activists said another of their boats was hit by a similar suspected UAV attack, but Tunisian authorities said “no drones” had been detected.

The activists say they will continue their “peaceful voyage” on Wednesday as planned, as the flotilla “presses forward with determination and resolve.”

Israeli envoy to US on Hamas chiefs: ‘If we didn’t get them this time, we’ll get them the next time’

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter talks with reporters on May 22, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Israeli Ambassador to US Yechiel Leiter says he hopes the strike on Hamas leaders in Doha “will actually advance the efforts for a ceasefire and peace.”

Asked by Fox News’ “Special Report” whether Israel successfully targeted the Hamas chiefs, Leiter responds, “if we didn’t get them this time, we’ll get them the next time.”

Trump on Doha strike: ‘We want the hostages back, but not thrilled about the way that went down’

US President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks to reporters outside the restaurant Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Washington on September 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says he wasn’t notified in advance of Israel’s strikes against Qatar and expresses dissatisfaction with the attack against an American ally.

“I’m just, I’m not thrilled about the whole situation,” Trump tells reporters as he makes a rare outing onto Washington’s streets. “We want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.”

While asserting Israel didn’t give advance notice of the strike, Trump also says he wasn’t caught off guard when asked by a reporter if he was surprised.

“I’m never surprised by anything, especially when it comes to the Middle East,” he says.

Trump adds that he will be “giving a full statement tomorrow.” But, he repeats, “I am very unhappy about every aspect. We’ve got to get the hostages back, but I’m very unhappy about the way that went down.”

Trump speaks before entering a restaurant, outside of which a few woman shout “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!” before being led across the street by law enforcement officers.

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather near the restaurant entrance after US President Donald Trump arrived for dinner near the White House, September 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Palestinian man with special needs reportedly attacked by settlers in West Bank

A Palestinian man with special needs was reportedly assaulted by Israeli settlers outside of his home during an attack in the village of Yabrud northeast of Ramallah.

The young man has been evacuated to a nearby hospital for treatment.

There are no reports of any arrests in what has become a near-daily occurrence in the West Bank.

The Israel Defense Forces does not immediately comment on the latest incident, which was reported by Palestinian media.

#عاجل |مصادر محلية: إصابة شاب من ذوي الاحتياجات الخاصة في الرأس بقرية يبرود شمال شرق رام الله بعد اعتداء المستوطنين عليه امام منزله. pic.twitter.com/AwWLs1kBbT

— قناة فلسطين اليوم (@Paltodaytv) September 9, 2025

Kataeb Hezbollah source: Tsurkov freed ‘to facilitate withdrawal of US forces,’ prevent ‘conflicts’ in Iraq

Illustrative: Young men raise the flag of the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah militia group during commemorations marking the second anniversary of the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on January 8, 2022. (Hussein Faleh/AFP)

BAGHDAD — A source in the powerful Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah says that academic Elizabeth Tsurkov was released to avoid any “conflicts” in Iraq and facilitate the withdrawal of US forces.

Kataeb Hezbollah doesn’t claim Tsurkov’s abduction but the source tells AFP that she “was released according to conditions, the most important of which was to facilitate the withdrawal of US forces without a fight and to spare Iraq any conflicts or fighting.”

“She was released and not liberated. No military operation was carried out to free her,” he says.

Algeria asks UN Security Council to meet after Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar

Algeria has asked the United Nations Security Council to meet after Israel carried out an attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, diplomats say.

Algeria requested the 15-member council meet on Wednesday, diplomats say.

Netanyahu phones family of Elizabeth Tsurkov, says ‘great efforts’ were made to secure her release

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the family of Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli researcher who was kidnapped in Iraq two years ago and freed today, he says in a statement.

“Through teamwork led by Hostage and Missing Persons Coordinator Gal Hirsch, which lasted many long months and after great efforts, we succeeded in bringing about her release,” says Netanyahu.

“This evening I spoke with Emma and Avital her sisters, and in the emotional conversation I told them that all of Israel is happy to see her back home,” he continues.

“We will continue to fight with strength and determination until we bring all of our hostages back home — both the living and the fallen,” he says, referring to the 48 hostages still held in Gaza.

Trump says he ‘feels very badly about location’ of strike targeting Hamas heads, tried to warn Qatar, but it could lead to ‘PEACE’

US President Donald Trump during a business roundtable, in Doha, Qatar, May 15, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump offers somewhat contradicting statements regarding Israel’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar.

On the one hand, Trump writes on Truth Social that the Israeli strike “does not advance Israel or America’s goals.”

“However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal,” Trump adds.

“I believe this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for PEACE,” he declares.

Trump says he was tipped off by the US military about the Israeli strike in Doha and immediately directed US special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatar of what was coming — “which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.”

“This [strike] was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” the US president stresses.

Trump makes a point of hailing Qatar, saying the Gulf mediator is “working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace.”

“I view Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the US, and feel very badly about the location of the attack,” he says.

Trump reiterates his desire to see the release of all hostages and an end to the war “NOW!”

He says he spoke with Netanyahu after the strike and that the prime minister stated that “he wants to make peace.”

Trump adds that he also spoke to the emir and prime minister of Qatar and thanked them for their “support and friendship to our country.”

“I assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil,” Trump says, adding that he has also directing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finalize a defense cooperation agreement with Qatar.

Tel Aviv shares rise to record high after strike on Hamas leaders

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange seen on April 28, 2025. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Tel Aviv shares rose to new record highs at the end of the trading day following an Israeli airstrike that targeted top leaders of the Hamas terror group in the Qatari capital Doha.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index gained 1.7% at the close of trading. The benchmark index has increased more than 32% so far this year.

The TA-35 index of blue-chip companies rose 1.8%. The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, was up 1.4%, and the TA-Oil and Gas index soared 2.9%.

Family of Elizabeth Tsurkov thanks Trump, US envoy Boehler for ‘personal mission’ to free her from captivity in Iraq

FILE - In this Sept., 2018 selfie image provided by Emma Tsurkov, right, she and Elizabeth Tsurkov are shown in Santa Clara Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Tucker, file)

The family of Israeli-Russian student Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was released from captivity in Iraq, gives thanks to US President Trump and his hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, for their efforts that led to her being freed.

“My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days,” Tsurkov’s sister Emma says in a post on X.

“We are so thankful to President Trump and his Special Envoy, Adam Boehler. If Adam had not made my sister’s return his personal mission, I do not know where we would be,” she says.

“We also want to thank Josh Harris and his team at the US Embassy in Baghdad for the support they provided to our sister and the team at the nonprofit Global Reach, who advocated relentlessly for my sister’s safe return,” Emma says.

Details on how the US secured her release were not immediately released.

In May, Arabic media reported that negotiations were in advanced stages between the US and Iraq for the release of Tsurkov in exchange for an IRGC officer and others involved in anti-US terror.

Israeli-Russian graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov who was kidnapped in Iraq has been freed, Trump says

Elizabeth Tsurkov in an undated photo (Social media; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

US President Donald Trump announces that Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian researcher who was taken hostage in Iraq two years ago, has been freed.

“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” Trump posts on Truth Social.

“I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!”

Tsurkov, who likely entered Iraq on her Russian passport, had traveled to Iraq as part of her doctoral studies at Princeton after previously traveling to the country and other Arab countries in the region.