The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they unfolded.
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says Friday that 450,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since Israel began its offensive to seize the territory’s largest urban center.
The figure is very similar to the IDF’s 480,000, which is notable given that Israel says Hamas often low-balls its numbers regarding evacuations, as it seeks to prevent Palestinians from moving south.
“The number of citizens displaced from Gaza to the south has reached 450,000 people since the start of the military operation on Gaza City in August,” says Mohamed al-Mughayir from the civil defense agency.
Four suspected work migrants were detained by Israeli troops in the northern portion of the Jordan border this evening, the military says.
The suspects were spotted by soldiers operating surveillance cameras, who dispatched troops to the scene.
The military says the four, who were unarmed, were detained before they were able to cross Israel’s border fence, built inside Israeli territory.
Humanitarian workers and services in southern Gaza have become significantly strained by the massive influx of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians fleeing Gaza City, the UN says.
“As the offensive on Gaza City intensifies, the influx of newly displaced people arriving in the south is putting even more stress on already overstretched services, as space in southern Gaza continues to shrink due to overcrowding,” says UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a press briefing in New York.
Civilians are arriving at shelters in the south “deep into the night, many of them walking for long hours without food, without water and without shelter.”
The lone evacuation route known as the Al Rashid coastal road remains “extremely congested as vehicles, donkey carts, tuk-tuks and people on foot make their way south amid the escalating attacks,” Dujarric says.
On Thursday, a UN interagency mission assessed multiple areas of the southern city of Khan Younis, where people displaced from the north have recently arrived. “The assessment noted high levels of need among the displaced families, especially for shelter, for food, for water, for medical care and for every essential part of survival,” the UN spokesperson adds.
Dujarric notes that looting of critical aid remains “remains a critical obstacle,” with four UNICEF trucks full of ready-to-use therapeutic food were stolen at gunpoint in Gaza City.
UNICEF was also forced earlier today to cancel their mission to pick up supplies for the Kerem Shalom Crossing for the third day in a row, due to the high risk of looting on the route that was cleared by the Israeli authorities for us to use, Dujarric says.
Israel has kept the lone northern Gaza Zikim crossing closed and, since last Thursday, has denied attempts to coordinate water trucking to the north, while access to the water pipeline that runs from Israel also remains blocked.
Earlier today, a mission to deliver fuel to Gaza City was aborted after the convoy was forced to wait for five hours for approval due to Israeli restrictions, Dujarric says.
Those who are fleeing must be allowed to do so safely, and they must be allowed to return once the situation allows, if they wish.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack met earlier today in Washington Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani to discuss “the future of Syria, Israel-Syria relations and implementation of the March 10 agreement between Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces,” says a State Department readout.
“The deputy secretary underscored this historic opportunity for Syria to build a peaceful, prosperous, and sovereign nation following President Trump’s announcement on sanctions relief. Principals also discussed other matters of shared concern, including countering terrorism and continuing to expand mutual economic opportunities,” the readout adds.
For decades, the U.S. has not really had a meaningful relationship with Syria. Under the leadership of @POTUS @RealDonaldTrump and @SecRubio, that is changing, and we are engaging with the new government on issues of mutual interest. Special Envoy Tom Barrack and I were delighted… pic.twitter.com/RAMqTTxu9x
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) September 19, 2025
Outgoing Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin asks French public prosecutors to take tougher action against incidents of antisemitism, just days before President Emmanuel Macron is set to anger Israel by recognizing a Palestinian state.
The move also comes a few weeks after the new US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, published an open letter in the Wall Street Journal accusing France of not doing enough to stem antisemitic violence.
In a document seen by Reuters and circulated ahead of Rosh Hashanah, which coincides with Macron’s planned recognition of the Palestinian state on September 22, Darmanin asked for “very firm criminal action” against antisemitic acts and speeches.
He also calls for “general aggravating circumstances” to be taken into account in all cases where possible, which in French law means allowing for the maximum prison sentence to be imposed.
Darmanin asks prosecutors to open “systematic investigations” when they are notified by an elected official or civil servant of an antisemitic act or statement.
Macron has emerged as one of the more forceful critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, particularly with regard to Palestinian civilian casualties.
The president has also publicly criticized antisemitism as antithetical to French values and increased security measures to protect synagogues and other Jewish centers in response to antisemitic incidents linked to the Gaza conflict.
The United States is in discussions with the Taliban about re-establishing a small US military presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram air base as a launch point for counterterrorism operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The Journal, citing a US official, also reported that the talks – headed by Special Envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler – include a potential prisoner exchange, a possible economic deal and a security component.
Two Hezbollah operatives were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon today, the military says.
One strike carried out near the town of Ansar killed Amar Qasibani, who the military says commanded Hezbollah’s forces in the nearby village of Mazraat Sinay.
A second strike outside a hospital in the town of Tebnine killed Hussein Ramadan, who the IDF identifies as a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.
“Both terrorists were engaged in the efforts to restore the organization’s terror infrastructure,” the military says.
Separately, the Israeli Navy struck a vessel off the coast of southern Lebanon’s Naqoura early Friday morning. The IDF says the vessel was being used by Hezbollah for surveillance on Israeli forces.
“These activities constitute violations of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the army adds.
צה״ל ממשיך בסדרת חיסולים של מחבלי חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון: הותקף כלי שיט ששימש לאיסוף מודיעין
צה״ל בהובלת פיקוד הצפון, תקף באמצעות חיל האוויר וחיסל מוקדם יותר היום (ו׳), את המחבל עמאר האיל קציבאני, מפקד מתחם סינאי בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, בדרום לבנון.
בתקיפה נוספת מוקדם יותר היום… pic.twitter.com/FJwaiCz6ZG
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 19, 2025
US President Donald Trump announces that he will host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House on Thursday.
“We are working on many trade and military Deals with [Erdogan], including the large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively,” Trump writes on Truth Social.
“President Erdoğan and I have always had a very good relationship. I look forward to seeing him on the 25th!”
Israel has in the past expressed concern over the potential sale of the advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and other nearby countries, to preserve its military qualitative edge in the region.
Today, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with F-35s in its arsenal, currently operating 45 of the aircraft with another 30 units on order.
US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance hosted Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa at the Naval Observatory in Washington yesterday for dinner, according to confirmations from both their offices.
Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Princess Rajwa Al Hussein attended a banquet hosted by United States Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance in Washington, DC, on Thursday, in honour of Their Royal Highnesses visit to the #US #Jordan pic.twitter.com/kjPZ4NAVWP
— RHC (@RHCJO) September 19, 2025
The Trump administration is seeking congressional approval to sell nearly $6 billion in weapons to Israel, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The proposed sale includes 30 AH-64 Apache helicopters worth $3.8 billion, which would double Israel’s current fleet of the aircraft. The package also includes 3,250 infantry assault vehicles worth $1.9 billion.
The weapons likely wouldn’t be delivered for two to three years, one of the sources tells WSJ.
The White House is now seeking approval from the four top Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in order to move the package forward.
The leaders of those two committees typically must sign off on major foreign weapons deals before an administration can send a notification to the entire Congress.
While the ranking Democratic members could well choose to place an informal hold on the sale in order to delay the effort, the White House could still push it through.
A federal judge has tossed out US President Donald Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
District Judge Steven Merryday says Trump’s complaint, as submitted, was “decidedly improper and impermissible” and gave his lawyers 28 days to refile.
Edan Alexander, an American-Israeli soldier who was released in May after 584 days in Hamas captivity, announces that he will be resuming his IDF service next month.
“I was held for 584 days. Those were the hardest days of my life. Days of struggle, pain and separation from my family. But tonight, I’m standing here free,” Alexander says at a Friends of the IDF event in the US last night.
“Next month, God willing, I will return to Israel. I will once again, put on the IDF uniform, and I will proudly serve alongside my brothers,” Alexander adds in a clip of the speech released by FIDF.
“My story does not end with survival. It continues with service,” he says.
Alexander then switches to Hebrew and declares: “Until victory” before passionately knocking his podium with his hand two times.
The former hostage returned to his native New Jersey in June and subsequently met with US President Donald Trump in the White House after Washington helped secure his release.
US President Donald Trump hails what he calls progress with Chinese President Xi Jinping, including on selling blockbuster app TikTok, and said he would visit the Asian power, which offered a more cautious assessment of their talks.
The leaders of the world’s two largest economies spoke by telephone for the second time since the return to the White House of Trump, who has tried to keep a lid on tensions despite his once virulent criticism of China.
Trump told reporters ahead of the call that he hoped it would finalize a deal to take out of Chinese hands TikTok, the social media platform hugely popular with young Americans that the Republican mogul has turned to himself to garner support.
Neither side reported a final agreement, but Trump says the call was “very productive.”
“We made progress on many very important issues, including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” Trump writes on his Truth Social platform.
He says he will meet Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in South Korea starting at the end of next month and that he would travel to China next year.
Trump says Xi will also visit the United States at an unspecified time and that the two leaders would speak again by telephone.
British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack have joined other bands and musicians in seeking to block their tracks being streamed in Israel as part of a cultural boycott campaign over the war in Gaza.
The Bristol natives say they have joined “No Music for Genocide,” a new collective of musicians modeled on the “Film Workers for Palestine” group.
Massive Attack, who have nearly eight million monthly listeners on Spotify, write on Instagram that they have asked their label, Universal, that “our music be removed from all… streaming services in the territory of Israel.”
A website for “No Music for Genocide” says it brings together more than 400 artists and labels that “have geo-blocked and removed their music” from Israel in protest at the country’s Gaza campaign.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem urges Saudi Arabia to turn “a new page” with the Iran-backed group and set aside past disputes to create a unified front against Israel, following years of hostility that strained Riyadh’s ties with Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states designated Shi’ite Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2016. In recent months, Riyadh has joined Washington and Hezbollah’s rivals within Lebanon in pressuring the Lebanese government to disarm the group, which was badly weakened by last year’s war with Israel.
In a televised address on Friday, Qassem says that regional powers should see Israel, not Hezbollah, as the main threat to the Middle East and proposed “mending relations” with Riyadh.
“We assure you that the arms of the resistance (Hezbollah) are pointed at the Israeli enemy, not Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, or any other place or entity in the world,” Qassem says.
He says dialogue will “freeze the disagreements of the past, at least in this exceptional phase, so that we can confront Israel and curb it,” and says that pressuring Hezbollah “is a net gain for Israel.”
The door to diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program is not closed, its UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani tells reporters after the UN Security Council decided not to permanently lift sanctions on the country.
He said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi would meet with his European counterparts in New York next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemns a move by the “E3” group of Britain, France and Germany to reimpose sanctions on Tehran as “illegal, unjustified and provocative,” saying it “gravely” undermined diplomatic efforts.
The 15-member UN Security Council earlier opted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran, after the three European countries launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose them, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies having any such intention.
The United States has held talks with Gulf Arab states about the possibility that they could administer Gaza once the war is over, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee tells Reuters.
Huckabee said there had been conversations around an interim governing structure involving Gulf Arab states, potentially with the US taking on a supervisory role, with a decision on a permanent arrangement to be made later.
“It’s a discussion. It’s not something that has been accepted by the administration, by Israel, by anyone. I’m not familiar with anything that is ready for signature,” he says.
Arab states have long conditioned their involvement in the post-war management of Gaza on being invited by the Palestinian Authority as part of a pathway to the establishment of a unified Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long rejected efforts to allow the PA to gain a foothold in Gaza.
Huckabee does not say when the talks took place or which Gulf states had been involved.
Huckabee says the US would not join any plan with the PA if Ramallah continues to make payments to individuals and families involved in terror attacks.
“Why would we push something that violates our own law? We’re never going to do that,” he says in an interview, not mentioning that the PA announced that it was ending the policy months ago.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who wants to annex Gaza, this week said that he was negotiating with the US on how to divide Gaza once the war ends. Huckabee says he was not aware of such talks.
Hamas has acknowledged it will no longer govern after the war but has refused to discuss disarmament.
“They have to give up. They can’t continue to think that they have a future,” Huckabee says at the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Huckabee also said former British prime minister Tony Blair was working on a plan for post-war Gaza, though he was not aware of the details. The Times of Israel revealed the plan earlier this week.
Asked what message Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered on the Gaza City operation during his visit to Israel this week, Huckabee says that the US recognized that “Israel has to do what it has to do to get its hostages back and end the war.”
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Former Hamas hostage Naama Levy tells diplomats in New York to use diplomacy and negotiations to free the captives still held in Gaza.
Levy speaks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at an event held by the Hostage Aid Worldwide advocacy group. The event is attended by representatives from the United Nations and from countries’ UN missions.
Levy describes her experience of being taken captive and held in Gaza.
“I suffered severe malnutrition, indescribable hunger and many untreated injuries. I was kept in unbearable, unsanitary conditions with the constant fear that each moment could be my last,” she says. “My time being held hostage will remain carved into my body and soul for the rest of my life.”
Levy says the most terrifying moments for her were being moved between locations during combat.
“I was forced to run from house to house with my two captors, terrified and under fire. I could hear the gunshots and bullets whistling past my ears. I ran as fast as I could, struggling to breathe, while my captors reloaded their weapons,” she says.
Levy calls for “diplomacy and negotiations” to free the captives. Data presented by the hostaegs group shows that a plurality of releases worldwide are secured through negotiations.
“Please act to find a solution immediately. Save these innocent lives, for when you do, it is as if you have saved the entire world. Bring them all home now,” she says.
Democrats chair Yair Golan knocks Opposition chief Yair Lapid for saying yesterday that there won’t be another government with Arab parties after Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Lapid was one of the main architects of the previous coalition, which for the first time included an Arab-majority party. It fell apart after one year due largely to fissures on the the bloc’s right-wing flank, though, the Islamist Ra’am party was also responsible for several coalition crises throughout the brief tenure.
Lapid was quoted as having said at an event yesterday that “there will be no government with the Arabs again after October 7. The public is not ready for a government that depends on Arab votes.”
Hitting back at Lapid, Golan tweets, “It’s not the Arabs in Israel who are responsible for October 7. Those responsible for the massacre are Hamas and the one responsible for the failure is [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.
“The public in Israel is ready — incredibly ready — for a different government. Not a government of blood and failure, but a democratic, Zionist government that understands what needs to be done to save Israel and win,” the left-wing lawmaker continues.
“Anyone who continues to disqualify the Arabs as political partners, especially at this critical moment, is aligning with the extreme right, doesn’t understand how dangerous the current government is and how grave our reality is today,” Golan adds.
Responding to Golan, a Lapid spokesperson told The Times of Israel that the Democrats chair “and the left know that Yair Lapid is the only one who can be trusted to know how to form a new government in Israel.”
Since October 7, Lapid has repeatedly argued that forming another narrow coalition that is reliant on Arab-majority parties won’t be politically possible.
Plans are under way for President Donald Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to meet at the United Nations General Assembly next week, CBS News reports.
Canada has barred Irish rap trio Kneecap from entering the country ahead of its scheduled concerts next month, accusing the band of promoting hate and violence and supporting terrorist groups, a member of the Liberal government announces.
Belfast-based Kneecap, who regularly display pro-Palestinian messages during its gigs, has caused controversy elsewhere. At the Glastonbury Festival in southwest England in June, frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh — known by the stage name Mo Chara — accused Israel of committing war crimes. Israel has denied such accusations.
Vince Gasparro, Canada’s parliamentary secretary for combating crime, says in a video on X that the members of the group have been deemed ineligible to enter the country because of actions and statements that violate Canadian law.
He says the group has amplified political violence and has publicly displayed support for terrorist organizations, including Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza.
“Advocating for political violence, glorifying terrorist organizations and displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community are not protected forms of expression and will not be tolerated by our government,” Gasparro says.
Kneecap’s manager and international booking agent didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Canada’s immigration ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for more details.
The band has said previously that its members do not support Hamas or Hezbollah, and that it condemns “all attacks on civilians, always.”
In May, Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offense in Britain for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah during a performance in London in November 2024. He denies the offense, saying the flag was thrown on stage during its performance.
In August, Kneecap canceled its 15-date US tour scheduled for October, citing the proximity of Ó hAnnaidh’s London court hearing.
Kneecap had four Canadian concerts scheduled in October, two in Toronto and two in Vancouver, according to its website.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will use a video call or record a message to participate in a Monday United Nations General Assembly promoting a two-state solution, which is co-sponsored by Riyadh and Paris, Saudi state TV reports.
After the UN Security Council voted down a resolution aimed at preventing the reimposition of snapback sanctions against Iran, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says, “The international community’s goal must remain unchanged: to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear capabilities.”
The statement avoids explicitly welcoming the Security Council vote.
Today, the UN Security Council voted to reinstate extensive sanctions on Iran, effective September 28.
Iran’s nuclear program is not intended for peaceful purposes.
A nuclear-armed Iran would mean that the most dangerous regime possesses the most dangerous weapon, dramatically…— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 19, 2025
The United Nations Security Council has voted against a resolution that sought to block the reimposition of deep economic sanctions on Tehran over its resurgent nuclear program.
The 15-member Security Council did not adopt the draft resolution to permanently lift sanctions on Iran, but Tehran and key European powers still have eight days to try and agree to a delay.
Security Council was required to vote on the draft resolution on Friday after Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process on August 28 to reimpose “snapback” UN sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria voted in favor of the draft text on Friday. Nine members voted against it, while two abstained.
The Security Council vote has now set up a week of intense diplomacy while world leaders – including Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian – are in New York for the annual high-level U.N. General Assembly.
Britain, France and German nations are signatories to a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), intended to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had put forward a “fair and balanced” proposal to European powers to prevent the return of sanctions.
“We urge (Iran) to act now,” says British ambassador Barbara Woodward after casting a vote against a resolution that would have extended the current suspension of the sanctions.
She leaves the door open for diplomacy at the UN General Assembly next week, when heads of state and government will gather in New York.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi engage in a public war of words over the issue of potential Red Cross visits to security prisoners, after the two engaged in a bitter shouting match on the topic last night in the security cabinet meeting.
After a petition by several organizations was brought to the Supreme Court demanding that Israel give the Red Cross access to prisoners, including Hamas terrorists, the issue was brought up briefly in the meeting last night.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Ben Gvir of leaking to the media on the topic and later left the meeting. No vote was held on the matter.
The Red Cross has been pushing for access to Israeli prisons amid mounting reports of abuse, severe mistreatment of prisoners and unsanitary conditions.
According to multiple Hebrew-language reports, Hanegbi then ran the meeting and announced that Settlements Minister Orit Strock would be the last speaker. Ben Gvir demanded to speak on the prisoners issue, but when Hanegbi refused to allow him to do so, a shouting match erupted.
“That’s not your job. You’re just an adviser!” said Ben Gvir. “You’re an adviser and you have no authority to… allow the Red Cross to [visit] terrorists.”
“I recommend that you behave like an adviser and not interfere with the Prison Service,” Ben Gvir added.
“Of course, because you are the best minister — one who excels in his position,” Hanegbi said sarcastically.
On Friday afternoon, Ben Gvir took to X, saying that Hanegbi “recommends to the prime minister to allow Red Cross visits to terrorists in prisons at a time when our hostages are languishing in tunnels. Thank God, yesterday in the cabinet, he failed to secure a majority among the ministers for this disgrace, which I and the Israel Prison Service strongly oppose, but the Prime Minister has not yet completely removed this outrageous proposal from the agenda.”
In response, the National Security Council responded in a statement, explaining that the IDF, Shin Bet, National Security Council, and Defense, Justice and Foreign ministries all agree to oppose Red Cross visits to prisoners from the Gaza Strip and those in Hamas and Islamic Jihad, “as long as such visits are not allowed to our hostages.”
“The state does not oppose visits to other prisoners, subject to the position of the security agencies regarding each specific visit,” says the NSC.
The body adds that a vote on the matter was delayed in order to let Ben Gvir offer his position and that there was never a vote scheduled for last night.
“The prime minister removed the topic from the agenda last night after sharply criticizing deliberate leaks that, according to him, originated from the national security minister,” says the NSC.
“The prime minister clarified that the issue will be discussed in a forum from which there are no leaks,” says the NSC, hinting that Ben Gvir will not be present.
Police arrest a 77-year-old man on suspicion of homicide, after a 74-year-old man was found dead at a medical facility in Pardes Hanna.
Paramedics came upon the victim’s wounded body this afternoon and declared him dead at the scene. He was found in a psychiatric facility in the town, according to the Kan public broadcaster. It is unclear how exactly the elderly man was killed.
The suspect, a resident of Hadera, was located within the facility and arrested for interrogation by Menashe region police officers, law enforcement announces.
Police say they will decide whether to request to keep the suspect in custody following his interrogation, “in accordance with the needs and findings of the investigation.”
The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution allowing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to deliver his speech virtually at next week’s gathering of world leaders after the US banned him from entering the country to prevent him from attending the New York confab.
The resolution — adopted in a 145 to 5 vote with six countries abstaining — expresses concern and regret over the US decision to ban 80 top PA officials and suggests that the US may have violated the UN Headquarters Agreement — a charge Washington denies.
The Trump administration took the step in protest of Western countries’ plans to recognize a Palestinian state at a conference at the UN General Assembly on Monday, which Abbas was hoping to attend.
The #UNGA resolution allowing the President of the State of #Palestine to deliver his General Debate speech via a pre-recorded statement during High Level Week has been adopted with a huge majority of #UN member states voting in favor. https://t.co/R58cHZXn8w pic.twitter.com/qTyLLnDkti
— Rami Ayari (@Raminho) September 19, 2025
The resolution states that Abbas will be allowed to send a pre-recorded video statement to that conference, along with any sessions of the UN General Assembly’s subsequent high-level week during which leaders of countries around the world traditionally address the body.
Leaders have been allowed to address the UN General Assembly virtually in the past several years, particularly during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the general rule is that speeches are to be given in person, which is apparently why the General Assembly deemed it necessary to adopt a resolution making an exception for Abbas to speak virtually this year.
The US and Israel were among the five countries that voted against the resolution.
Hong Kong is planning to evacuate thousands of residents today as a bomb left over from World War II was discovered at a construction site.
Police say that the bomb measured approximately 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in length and weighed about 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds), adding that they believed it remained “fully functional.”
“Due to the extremely high risks involved in dismantling and disposing of the bomb, we must activate the emergency evacuation plan,” says Hong Kong Police’s district commander Andy Chan.
About 6,000 people from 18 buildings in the Quarry Bay area will be evacuated tonight, with demolition work set to begin early Saturday morning, police say.
They add that they expected the bomb disposal process to take about 12 hours.
The bomb discovered earlier today contained 500 pounds of explosives, which could have caused massive casualties if mishandled, police warn.
Hong Kong was an early target in what would become a full-blown Asian campaign for imperial Japan during the Second World War.
The city saw fierce fighting between Japanese and Allied forces during wartime, and hikers and construction workers still occasionally discover unexploded bombs in the territory nearly 100 years later.
In May 2018, a bomb was discovered in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district, which led authorities to evacuate 1,200 residents.
Police said the unexploded ordnance unearthed on Friday was of the same type as the one found in 2018.
At that time, the bomb disposal process took about 20 hours to complete.
An elderly British couple detained in Afghanistan for almost eight months has been released, Taliban authorities say, after pressure built to free the pair due to fears over their health.
Taliban officials have refused to detail why Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbara, 76, were arrested in February as they were returning to their home.
“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens,” says Barbara, in a red headscarf, standing next to her bearded husband, near a plane on the tarmac of Kabul airport after Qatar-facilitated negotiations for their release.
The couple were married in Kabul in 1970, and has spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan running educational programs for women and children. They also became official Afghan citizens.
Footage of Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, has been shared following the British couple's release from an Afghan jailhttps://t.co/DUKrMWvLHa
???? Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/5LdRasxZnZ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 19, 2025
When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the couple remained in Afghanistan against the advice of the British embassy.
The couple were first held in a maximum security facility, “then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred” to the intelligence services in Kabul, according to UN experts.
It comes after Washington’s special envoy on hostages, Adam Boehler, made a rare visit on Saturday to Kabul to discuss the possibility of a prisoner exchange.
At least one US citizen, Mahmood Habibi, is held in Afghanistan.
Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of the US military.
A Qatari official, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, told AFP that the couple were “safely released from detention in Afghanistan following mediation led by Qatar”.
“The Qataris had been engaged with the Afghan authorities for many months, working in close coordination with the British government,” he added.
The Lebanese daily An-Nahar reports that Iraqi intelligence passed information to Syrian authorities earlier this year that helped thwart an assassination attempt against Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
According to the report, the information was delivered about six months ago after Iraqi intelligence learned of the plot, which coincided with efforts by several extremist groups to carry out a series of explosions across Syria. Thanks to the intelligence transfer, the plot was foiled.
A senior Iraqi security source tells An-Nahar that those behind the assassination attempt were former members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — the Syrian rebel group al-Sharaa once headed — who were dissatisfied with the direction al-Sharaa took after he assumed control of Syria.
Police officers and IDF troops located several assault rifles and gun parts near Allenby Crossing, where a deadly attack took place yesterday, authorities say.
In a joint statement, the Israel Police and military say that during scans south of the crossing shortly after the attack, forces found a bag with several guns and parts in it, which were intended to be smuggled into Israel via the West Bank.
Weapon smuggling attempts over the Jordan border are frequent.
Police have cleared out a protest encampment set up by relatives of hostages outside the Prime Minister’s Residence, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum announces.
Officers evacuated the encampment at the Shin Bet’s recommendation, after the internal security agency warned that the protesters were “too close” to the premier’s home, Ynet reports.
The encampment was set up four nights ago in opposition to the IDF’s new Gaza City ground operation, aimed at taking over the area.
Many hostage families have been ringing alarm bells about the operation, saying it may cause harm to their loved ones still in Hamas captivity and squander the chances of reaching a hostage-ceasefire deal.
Protests are still taking place in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood, the Forum adds, after demonstrators simply moved up the road to the intersection between Azza and Metudela Streets — around 150 meters (492 feet) from Netanyahu’s residence.
Lebanon’s health ministry reports one dead and three injured in an Israeli strike on a car outside a hospital in the southern town of Tebnine.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
آثار استهداف مركبة أمام مستشفى تبنين جنوب لبنان. pic.twitter.com/VZmdxfbVd7
— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) September 19, 2025
A conservative party in Germany’s governing coalition says it will temporarily block aid promised to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank over concerns the cash could be used against Israel.
Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) had pledged 30 million euros ($35 million) for the Palestinian Authority after a trip to the region last month.
But Alexander Hoffmann, parliamentary leader of the conservative CSU party, tells the Bild newspaper that the party wants further “clarification.”
Hoffmann’s spokesman, confirming comments he made to Bild, tells AFP that “humanitarian help is important, but it must be clear which concrete projects the money will be used for before the funds are approved.”
“Projects that endanger Israel’s security must be excluded.”
German government sources say the money will be used to pay the salaries of healthcare and education workers and be disbursed under an EU-run mechanism.
The CSU is the Bavarian counterpart to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU and has been among Israel’s staunchest supporters in Germany, while the SPD has been somewhat more critical.
Sources within the coalition confirm to AFP that the CSU is holding up approval of the money in parliament.
Merz’s spokesman Sebastian Hille says the government has “a common position” on the issue but has to wait for parliamentary approval.
He says he is confident that “the question can be sorted out between the coalition’s MPs.”
A development ministry spokeswoman underlines that the funds are intended to ease the dire financial situation the Palestinian Authority has been in since Israel stopped transferring revenues from taxes on goods destined for Authority-controlled areas. Jerusalem took the move to protest a salary system for Palestinian prisoners and families of slain attackers, including terrorists.
“Public services such as healthcare have been seriously restricted and the school year hasn’t started on time,” she says.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The deputy intelligence chief in Hamas’s Bureij Battalion was killed in a recent airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, the military announces.
According to the IDF, the intelligence officer Mahmoud Abu al-Khir took part in advancing attacks against Israel and troops operating in Gaza.
He was targeted in an Israeli Air Force drone strike directed by the 99th Division’s 990th Reserve Artillery Regiment. The IDF says it took measures to mitigate civilian harm in the strike.
Meanwhile, the military says the 162nd and 98th divisions have expanded their operations in Gaza City, and in the past day, killed more than 10 operatives and directed strikes on terror infrastructure.
In the Strip’s south, the military says the Gaza Division is operating in Khan Younis and Rafah, demolishing dozens of infrastructures used by Hamas and killing several operatives.
Iraqi counterterrorism forces say a senior Islamic State leader has been killed in a security operation in Syria carried out in coordination with the US-led international coalition, state news agency reports.
The commander, Omar Abdul Qader Bassam, known as Abdul Rahman Al-Halabi, was the group’s head of external operations and security, the service says.
He was accused of overseeing attacks in multiple countries, including the bombing of Iran’s embassy in Lebanon, and planning other operations in Europe and the United States that were ultimately foiled through intelligence work, it adds.
The US Central Command has carried out a series of strikes targeting Islamic State figures in Syria. US officials have warned that the group is hoping to stage a comeback in the country following the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last December.
Footage shows the launch of a crude rocket from the Palestinian West Bank town of Kafr Ni’ma near Ramallah last week.
The rocket is assessed to have flown several hundred meters, as part of a test carried out by a terror cell in the area, whose members were detained last night.
The military said earlier this week that it discovered the rocket, which had no warhead.
Footage shows the launch of a crude rocket from the Palestinian town of Kafr Ni’ma near Ramallah last week.
The rocket is assessed to have flown several hundred meters, as part of a test carried out by a terror cell in the area, whose members were detained last night.
The… https://t.co/WAVIELPBYC pic.twitter.com/LYNsK2wW5F
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 19, 2025
Greek anti-Israel activists have hung large banners on the Acropolis in Athens, calling on Israel to “End the genocide” and “Free Palestine” in both English and Greek.
The protesters are from Greece’s Communist Party (KKE) and its youth wing KNE, the latter says on social media.
The Acropolis and its Parthenon temple are among the country’s most famous tourist attractions, serving as a symbol of ancient Greek civilization.
????Διεθνές μήνυμα αλληλεγγύης στον παλαιστινιακό λαό εκπέμπεται αυτή τη στιγμή από τον βράχο της Ακρόπολης.
????Με μια συντονισμένη κινητοποίηση, νωρίς το πρωί, μέλη του ΚΚΕ και της ΚΝΕ ανέβηκαν στην Ακρόπολη και σήκωσαν δύο πανό προς την πλευρά της Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου, γραμμένα… pic.twitter.com/3uxvxbti8C— Οδηγητής (@odigitis) September 19, 2025
Greece has been the site of several anti-Israel protests in recent months, including a “Day of Action” against Israeli tourists in August, although it ended without major incidents.
Speaking at the scene of yesterday’s deadly attack at Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir vows to “draw lessons” from the “difficult incident.”
In the attack, a Jordanian driving a truck carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip opened fire and then stabbed two victims, both soldiers working to coordinate the entry of aid, killing them.
“This is a serious and difficult incident; we will thoroughly investigate it and draw lessons from it,” Zamir says during a visit to the scene today.
“In recent months, we have established a dedicated division on the eastern border; we are strengthening and will continue to strengthen all components of defense on this border,” he says, referring to the recently formed 96th “Gilad” Division, which is tasked with the Jordan border.
“Even after yesterday’s difficult incident, we must remember that the strategic-security cooperation with Jordan contributes greatly to the IDF and must be preserved,” he adds.
Zamir was joined by COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, Planning Directorate chief, Vice Adm. Eyal Harel, Central Command chief, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and officials from the Israeli Airports Authority — responsible for the border crossing.
The IDF chief also instructed a halt to the entry of Gaza aid from Jordan until the investigation into the attack is completed and its lessons are implemented, the military says.
Zamir later met with 96th Division chief Brig. Gen. Oren Simcha and other officers at a military post in the area, the IDF adds.
Japan does not plan to recognize a Palestinian state at UN meetings this month, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says, confirming local reports and an Israeli claim that he has made such a pledge.
But Iwaya also says that for Tokyo, which supports a two-state solution, it is not a matter of whether to recognize a Palestinian state, but when to recognize it.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says Hamas gunmen “brazenly robbed” four UNICEF aid trucks carrying baby formula in Gaza City yesterday.
“The trucks were commandeered right outside the UNICEF compound in Gaza City, a direct assault on humanitarian work,” COGAT says in a statement.
UNICEF put out their own statement saying “armed individuals” commandeered four aid trucks outside their compound at gunpoint, and diverted the contents elsewhere, before releasing the drivers and the trucks.
“This theft has denied at least 2,700 severely and acutely malnourished children of life-saving RUTF (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food) — vital supplies at a time when famine has been declared in the north of Gaza and the ongoing military operation is creating further displacement and adding to the devastating impact on children,” UNICEF says.
COGAT says that “while Israel allows the entry of vital baby food into Gaza, Hamas steals it to profit from the public.”
“This formula was meant to be distributed for free by UNICEF. Once again, Hamas proves that it has no interest in the well-being of the people, only in its own terror motives,” COGAT adds.
Palestinian authorities have arrested a key suspect in a 1982 antisemitic attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris that left six people dead, French prosecutors say.
The office of the French anti-terror prosecutor says it has been informed by Interpol of the arrest of Hicham Harb, welcoming “this major procedural breakthrough” and thanking the Palestinian authorities for their cooperation.
Harb, now 70, who is suspected of leading the attackers in the gun assault on the Jo Goldenberg restaurant in the heart of Paris, has been arrested in the Palestinian Authority-run part of the West Bank, according to the Le Parisien daily, which first reported the arrest.
Japan has decided not to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next week, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya informed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar over the phone a short while ago, according to a readout from Sa’ar’s office.
“The Japanese foreign minister informed Minister Sa’ar during the conversation that Japan has decided not to support recognition of a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly,” the readout reads.
During the call, which follows a previous conversation between the ministers two weeks ago, Sa’ar “presented Israel’s position” on its strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar last week, and discussed the IDF’s operation in Gaza City, the military’s recent arrest of a terror cell producing rockets to attack Israeli targets, and other issues, Sa’ar’s office adds.
There is no immediate Japanese readout of the call or confirmation of the decision not to recognize a Palestinian state.
Earlier this week, the Asahi newspaper cited unnamed government sources as saying that Japan will not recognize a Palestinian state for now, likely in order to maintain relations with the United States and to avoid a hardening of Israel’s attitude.
The IDF announces the closure of a second evacuation route for residents of Gaza City to the southern Gaza Strip that was opened earlier this week.
In its announcement on Wednesday, the military stated that the route, along the Salah a-Din road, would remain open for movement until noon on Friday.
“From this moment, Salah al-Din Road is closed for moving southward,” says Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.
Palestinians evacuating Gaza City can now only do so via the Rashid coastal road, which has been open for movement for several months.
“The IDF will continue to act with great and unprecedented force against Hamas and the other terror organizations,” Adraee says.
“For your safety, take the opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands of [Gaza] City residents who have moved south to the humanitarian area, and do not allow Hamas to exploit you as human shields,” he adds.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warns against the “enormous danger” in establishing a Palestinian state following the IDF’s announcement that it had dismantled a Palestinian terror cell in the Ramallah area of the West Bank that was producing rockets to be fired at Israel.
As several Western states prepare to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state in the coming days at the United Nations General Assembly, Sa’ar writes on X that the busted cell — along with what he calls the Palestinian Authority’s failure to act — is “further proof of the enormous danger in establishing a ‘Palestinian state.’”
He says the rockets were made “to launch at communities in Judea and Samaria,” using the biblical name for the West Bank, and repeats his accusation that the Palestinian Authority is failing to combat terror.
“Despite its commitments, the PA is not fighting terrorism and continues its ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy,” he says.
“If Israel does not maintain security control over Judea and Samaria — the entire State of Israel will be in danger,” he writes.
Though Israeli and American officials continue to condemn the practice, the PA signed a decree in February canceling legislation that established an old welfare system that included payments to the families of slain terrorists and the families of security prisoners held in Israeli jails, dubbed “Pay-for-Slay” by critics, and has since appeared to move forward with the reform.
The mother of Social Equality Minister May Golan appears once again for questioning by police investigators, Hebrew media outlets report, after the minister was said to have smuggled her out of an interrogation at a Tel Aviv police station yesterday.
Police suspect Golan and her close circle of having committed a string of financial crimes, including fraud, misuse of public funds and creating fictitious positions in the Social Equality Ministry.
Outlets report that Golan’s mother, Rimona, avoided police attempts to question her for three days before showing up at the station yesterday. Police sought to question her since several documents and assets at the center of the corruption investigation are in her name, according to Ynet.
The elderly woman was said to have refused to cooperate with police during the questioning, then requested to go to the bathroom, where she met up with her daughter. The minister escorted her mother off the premises while shouting at police officers, per Hebrew media outlets. The police did not issue a statement on the incident.
The investigation into Golan’s circle cracked wide open on Monday after police arrested her close associate, the lawyer Ehud Gabay, and detained five other suspects for questioning.
After yesterday’s drone and missile attacks by the Houthis in Yemen, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens to kill the Iran-backed group’s leader.
“Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, your time will come. You will be sent to meet your government plenary and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil who are waiting in the depths of hell,” he says on X.
“The slogan ‘Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews’ written on the Houthi flag will be replaced by the Israeli blue-and-white flag that will fly over the capital of a united Yemen,” Katz adds.
An Israeli strike in Yemen on August 28 killed the prime minister of the Houthi government and at least 11 other ministers.
Yesterday, a Houthi explosive drone struck a hotel in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat. Two other drones were intercepted, along with a ballistic missile.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 87 ballistic missiles and at least 40 drones at Israel.
France’s interior ministry has ordered prefects to oppose the display of Palestinian flags on town halls and other public buildings next week, when Paris is set to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
“The principle of neutrality in public service prohibits such displays,” the interior ministry says in a telegram, a copy of which has been seen by AFP.
Any decisions by mayors to fly the Palestinian flag should be referred to courts, the ministry says.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is a hot-button issue in France, and several French mayors have already announced their intention to display the Palestinian flag on their town halls next week.
On Monday, France is set to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly.
The warning comes after Socialist leader Olivier Faure called for the Palestinian flag to be flown on town halls on Monday, when Jewish worshipers also celebrate the Rosh Hashanah holiday, the Jewish New Year.
However, the telegram says any such display would amount to “taking sides in an international conflict.”
“It is therefore appropriate,” the telegram says, “to ask mayors who display such flags on their public buildings to cease doing so and, in the event of refusal or non-compliance,” to refer those mayors’ decisions to administrative courts.
The Israeli military says it busted a Palestinian terror cell in the Ramallah area of the West Bank that had been building rockets intended to be launched at Israeli targets.
The raid comes after the military said troops last week found a crude rocket that a terror cell had attempted to launch from the Palestinian town of Kafr Ni’ma.
Overnight, IDF soldiers, Shin Bet officers and members of the police’s Yamam unit reached a building in the area to detain members of the cell, the military says.
The IDF says the forces opened fire on the building, and three suspects emerged who were then detained and handed over to the Shin Bet for questioning.
Inside the building, the military says troops found dozens of rocket parts, including two completed rockets that did not have a warhead. The soldiers also found dozens of explosive devices and explosive material, alongside other evidence tying them to the efforts to build and launch rockets.
The rockets and explosive material were destroyed, the IDF says.
At another location in the Ramallah area, the military says soldiers found a lathe used to build the rocket parts.
In recent years, there have been several attempts by Palestinian terror groups to launch crude rockets from the West Bank at Israeli settlements and at Israel, though with little to no success.
Some 480,000 Palestinians have so far evacuated Gaza City to the Strip’s south, according to fresh IDF estimates.
Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF launched a major offensive against Hamas in the area.
Ahead of the offensive, the IDF ordered Palestinians in all areas of Gaza City to evacuate immediately to an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.
Police detained a protester this morning after he blew a shofar near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, as part of non-stop demonstrations in the area demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal.
The protester, Rabbi Avidan Freedman, is seen in footage being detained by two police officers after he blows a shofar on the opposite side of the road to Netanyahu’s home.
He is seen past the crowd control barriers erected by police to distance protesters from the premier’s residence.
Freedman, who is well-known in Jerusalem’s protest scene, was put in handcuffs upon his arrest, was questioned at the police station and is set to be released under restrictive conditions, according to a lawyers’ network representing detained anti-government protesters.
הרב אבידן פרידמן, פעיל למען החטופים, נעצר לאחר ש*תקע בשופר* מחוץ לבית משפחת נתניהו בשש וחצי בבוקר
Rabbi Avidan Friedman, an activist for the hostages, was arrested after blowing a shofar outside the Netanyahu residence at 6:30 a.m pic.twitter.com/gDUG3N5kln
— Yael Freidson יעל פרידסון (@YaelFreidson) September 19, 2025
Last night, Zahiro Shahar Mor, the nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, was arrested in Jerusalem during a protest encampment outside Netanyahu’s home.
He was held overnight at the station and questioned on suspicion of behavior liable to disturb public peace, simple assault and interfering with a police officer.
Police are requesting to extend Mor’s detention in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court this morning, according to his lawyer Yoni Nussbaum.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister criticizes a move by European powers to impose international sanctions by the end of the month if Tehran does not meet conditions, including access for UN nuclear inspectors.
“What Europeans are doing is politically biased and politically motivated… They are wrong on different levels by trying to misuse the mechanism embedded in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh tells reporters in Geneva.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he has put forward a “fair and balanced” nuclear proposal to European powers to prevent the return of UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran is “introducing a creative, fair, and balanced proposal which addresses genuine concerns and is mutually beneficial,” Araghchi says on X.
During a security cabinet meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly blamed Jordan for the deadly attack at the Allenby Crossing committed by a Jordanian truck driver ferrying aid bound for Gaza.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, the premier told ministers that he wants new security protocols to be introduced for aid trucks arriving from Jordan.
“I demand that the drivers pass through metal detectors from now on, and that the trucks be thoroughly inspected,” Netanyahu is quoted as saying. “It was Jordan’s responsibility to prevent the attack, and it didn’t.”
Iran’s authorities were “stunned” and “in shock” following Israel’s June 13 strikes that dealt significant blows to Tehran’s nuclear program and launched a 12-day war between the countries, an Iranian general says, according to local media.
Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the head of the Iranian army’s Strategic Studies and Research Center, is quoted by the pro-regime Jahan News outlet as saying at an academic conference: “I can honestly say that we were stunned during the 12-day war and were in shock.”
He then adds that “the leader of the revolution woke us up,” apparently referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
A Qatari minister pens a Washington Post op-ed blasting Israel’s recent strike on Hamas leaders in the Gulf state, calling it “an attack on diplomacy itself” and declaring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a major threat to peace and security in the Middle East — and to the international legal order.”
Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Doha’s minister of state in the Foreign Ministry, argues that “never before in modern memory has a negotiating party attacked a mediating country,” and that the strike therefore “violated the most basic principles of sovereignty and nonintervention enshrined in international law,” and was “an assault on the very practice of mediation.”
Dismissing Netanyahu’s reasoning for the strike, the minister writes: “The justifications his government has offered — comparing the attack on Qatar to America’s pursuit of Osama bin Laden, French insurgency operations in Africa and Britain’s role in the fight against the Islamic State — are distortions and deflections. To address but one example, the United States never targeted the Taliban office in Doha while it was negotiating an agreement with the group, with Qatar as mediator.”
Al-Khulaifi hails Qatar’s mediation role with Hamas to prevent conflict over the years, and to reach hostage deals during the current war, adding: “For Netanyahu to now criticize Qatar for hosting Hamas officials is to insult the intelligence of the international community, the media and even the Israeli public.”
“If mediators can be bombed with impunity, then who will host peace talks? Without safe channels for diplomacy, war becomes the only option, civilization recedes, and the rule of law is replaced with brute force.”
The Israel Airports Authority declares the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan closed until further notice following yesterday’s attack in which two Israeli soldiers were killed.
The perpetrator of the shooting and stabbing attack was a Jordanian who had been driving a humanitarian aid truck heading from Jordan to the Gaza Strip.
The northern Jordan River Crossing has also been closed until further notice. The Israel-Jordan Rabin Crossing near Eilat is only open to workers, while the Taba Crossing with Egypt is operating normally, according to the IAA statement.
A group of US senators has introduced the first Senate resolution to urge recognition of a Palestinian state, further signaling a shift in American sentiment toward Israel nearly two years into its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Democratic-led measure is unlikely to pass the chamber where President Donald Trump’s Republicans have a 53-47 majority. Trump said yesterday that he disagrees with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over whether to recognize a Palestinian state, and no Republicans have joined efforts to do so.
Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who is leading the effort, says in a statement: “America has a responsibility to lead, and the time to act is now.”
The resolution urges US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel and would offer both sides hope while boosting prospects for peace, Merkley said.
In the House of Representatives, Ro Khanna of California is circulating a letter hoping to rally support for recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The actions reflect a shift among lawmakers toward pressuring Israel to end the war and ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the conflict approaches the two-year mark.
The Israeli embassy in Washington does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Senate resolution’s other co-sponsors are Democrats Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Peter Welch of Vermont, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, as well as Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while the premier is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Adams holds a press conference about security for the General Assembly, which starts next week. The UN Headquarters is in Manhattan.
Adams is asked if the NYPD is “preparing any arrests warrants” for foreign heads of state, in an apparent reference to Netanyahu.
Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, the heavy favorite to win the general election in November and become the next mayor, has said that, if elected, he will arrest Netanyahu if the premier visits New York.
“There are several heads of state I’m going to meet with, and I’m looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he arrives in the city as well. He will be welcomed like our other dignitaries,” Adams says, according to a readout from his press office.
Mamdani has said he will arrest Netanyahu based on the International Criminal Court warrant for Netanyahu, although the New York City mayor does not have the authority to make such an arrest.
The court does not have jurisdiction in the US and federal law bars US entities, including local governments, from cooperating with the court. Mamdani has not explained how he would carry out such an arrest.
“It’s extremely significant to know that the United Nations is here for a reason. And there’s something called diplomatic immunity. And anyone that understands when you invite so many heads of state here, you want to do it [with] a level of security and with a level of understanding,” Adams says.
“You have a right to come here and voice the positions from your country. And we respect the rule of law here. We don’t react in a reckless manner [by] stating that we were going to arrest a dignitary that’s here. There are processes that are in place, and we will respect and we will carry them out accordingly,” he says.
Adams is close to New York Jewish communities and a firm supporter of Israel. He is polling in third place, far behind Mamdani, ahead of November’s general election.
Mamdani is a harsh critic of Israel who has alarmed many New York Jews with his anti-Israel rhetoric.
Second to Mamdani in polls is former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo is also a longtime supporter of Israel, but has voiced some criticism of the Gaza war in recent weeks. Adams has held to his pro-Israel line.
VIENNA — Iran decides at the last minute to withdraw a resolution prohibiting attacks on nuclear facilities that it had put forward along with China, Russia and other countries for a vote before an annual gathering of the UN nuclear watchdog’s member nations.
Western diplomats, who speak on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, say the US has been heavily lobbying behind the scenes to prevent the resolution from being adopted. The US has raised the possibility of reducing funding to the International Atomic Energy Agency if the resolution was adopted and if the body moved to curtail Israel’s rights within the agency, the diplomats say.
In 1981, the provision of assistance to Israel under the IAEA’s technical assistance program was suspended as a result of an Israeli strike on a nuclear reactor in Iraq. At the time, the attack was strongly condemned in resolutions by the UN Security Council, the IAEA General Conference and the IAEA Board of Governors.
The resolution withdrawal comes as US allies have started the clock on reimposing UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
Addressing the IAEA’s General Conference, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Reza Najafi announces that “guided by the spirit of goodwill and constructive engagement, and at the request of several member states,” it deferred action on the draft until next year’s conference.
The IDF confirms intercepting another drone that was launched at Israel earlier tonight by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“No sirens were activated in accordance with protocol,” says a statement from the military.
The IDF also says it’s investigating the Houthi explosive drone that struck a hotel in Eilat, resulting in damage but no injuries.
National Unity party leader Benny Gantz launches a scathing attack on fellow opposition members and former partners in a governing coalition led by Naftali Bennett four years ago, saying its focus on opposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been a failure.
The change government failed at its basic task, to bring change,” Gantz says at a party meeting, referring to the wide-tent 2021-2022 government he was a senior partner in. “It proved that it is impossible to build a narrow government based on opposition to a single person, without a shared vision.”
He says the “clear takeaway” from that experience is that basing political maneuverings on blocs “jams up Israel and is only good for extremists.”
He lashes out at others in the opposition who refused to follow him into the government following October 7, saying they were pushed away by the bloc mentality, which he charges is “the biggest thing preventing Israel from progressing.”
“It seems the heads of the opposition forgot that they were voted in not just to appear in TV studios and go out afterward to drink espresso, but to have an influence on the situation and represent a public,” he says.
According to Gantz, the strategy led to the current situation, in which “Israel is on the cusp of civil war,” and “Extremists have moved from the fringes to running the country.”
He also attacks erstwhile political partner Gadi Eisenkot, who split off to form his own party two months ago, saying “we are here for the long term, we don’t zig-zag in response to polls.”
His comments come as a poll of 505 respondents published by Channel 12 news shows his party largely failing to make it back into the Knesset, though a Bennett-led party garners 24 Knesset seats and one led by Eisenkot snags 10.
Using his derided bloc math, the channel predicts that were elections held today — they are currently only scheduled for next year — a Bennett-led government would have enough seats to form a thin coalition, pushing Netanyahu back into the opposition.
A former member of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in Gaza says he has formed a group operating against Hamas in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, and urges Palestinians in the area to seek safety with him.
Hossam al-Astal tells The Times of Israel that his group will take in “whoever lives under Hamas’s oppression,” and that there is enough food, water and shelter for all.
“In the coming days, we will bring in another 300-400 people,” he says, adding that the group carries out security screenings to make sure those joining have no ties to Hamas.
Al-Astal’s group has established itself around the village of Kizan al-Najjar, just south of Khan Younis, which was emptied of its residents during the war. The location is about a kilometer from al-Mawasi, where Israel has directed Palestinians displaced from Gaza City.
“I am responsible for the (new) humanitarian zone in Khan Younis,” he explains, comparing his efforts to those of Yasser Abu Shabab, whose armed gang has set up security structures and civilian infrastructure as an alternative to Hamas rule in Israeli-controlled parts of Rafah in recent months.
The two men and their respective groups are in contact, al-Astal says, “but each of us operates independently.”
Hailing from a Bedouin family in the Khan Younis area, 50-year-old al-Astal says he worked in Israel for many years, and later for the PA’s security forces when they still controlled Gaza. He was jailed by Hamas several times. Hamas-linked social media accounts have shared images of al-Astal in recent days, accusing him of collaborating with Israel.
He says there is “coordination” between his group and Israel, and that soon “we will rely on Israel to bring us electricity and water.”
Al-Astal says the group has weapons to defend themselves and that they received funding from multiple sources, including the US, Europe, and unspecified Arab states.
“People here don’t want Hamas, they want peace with Israel,” he says. “I’m 50 years old; I remember when the army and Israel were in Gaza, and we lived in peace,” he reflects. “Children played, children went to school, and there were no problems. But today, Hamas’s terror has destroyed Gaza and its people.”
The IDF has refused to comment.
