Sept. 20: Anti-government protesters disrupt Likud holiday toast in Kfar Saba

Police commander in Jerusalem filmed shouting ‘you’re a loser’ at opposition MK

A police commander at the scene of a Jerusalem protest is filmed calling The Democrats MK Naama Lazimi “a loser” as she demonstrates for a hostage-ceasefire deal near the prime minister’s residence.

Lazimi joined thousands of protesters this evening in Jerusalem for a rally outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence, which later moved down the road to his private home, where police erected crowd control barricades.

After police officers refuse to allow the left-wing lawmaker to pass a barricade bisecting the road, Cdr. Yuval Reuven, who heads the Moriah police station, approaches Lazimi and shouts “you’re a loser” several times before walking off.

Lazimi, who enjoys parliamentary immunity as a Knesset lawmaker, writes on X that her immunity is seen as “conditional” by the police, and “applies only to supporters of Ben Gvir and Netanyahu — for opponents of the regime, it no longer exists.”

In a swipe at the police commander, she adds in another post that a “loser is someone detached from his duty to serve the country and has opted to serve a despot and Kahanist.”

The Democrats chairman Yair Golan calls for a probe by the Police Internal Investigations Department over the incident.

נעמה לזימי נדחפת ע״י שוטר שמונע ממנה להתקדם ברחוב עזה בירושלים, למרות החסינות.

הקצין שמצטרף לדחיפות – יובל ראובן, הוא מפקד תחנת מוריה בירושלים pic.twitter.com/Tf8w8BkS22

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) September 20, 2025

Netanyahu, coalition lawmakers slam anti-government demonstrators after Likud MK falls amid protest

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and other coalition lawmakers slam anti-government protesters after Likud MK Eli Dallal falls on the ground while passing through a demonstration at an event in Kfar Saba the ruling party held this evening.

Video shows the 70-year-old legislator fall as he makes his way through a crowd blocking the entrance to the event. Speaking with the Ynet news site, Dallal says he “really saw murder in their eyes.”

מהומה בכפר סבא: מוחים הגיעו לאירוע הרמת כוסית של הליכוד בתיעוד נראה ח״כ אלי דלל עובר בין המפגינים – ונופל קרדיט: משנים כיון
🔅זירה פוליטית‼️ pic.twitter.com/ly0qFLggkK

— 🔅 זירה פוליטית‼ (@Zira_politit) September 20, 2025

“One can argue and demonstrate, but it cannot be that a member of Knesset cannot attend a meeting due to verbal and physical violence. It feels like a lynch, what you see in the video is just the last part of what I went through,” he declares.

Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that the premier spoke with Dallal following the incident, adding that he also called “to bring the attackers to justice and warned against the wild incitement against coalition members.”

The Prime Minister’s Office warns that if “law enforcement authorities do not put an end to these dangerous phenomena, it will end with blood on their hands.”

In a separate statement, Netanyahu’s Likud declares that the “attack was carried out by extremist rioters who operate as violent and unbridled militias in order to silence and intimidate right-wing voters.”

“The next murder is just around the corner,” Likud claims, accusing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of doing “nothing against the rising tide of violent incitement.”

In a tweet, Ohana complains that “these filthy ‘democratic’ scum are throwing objects at him,” apparently referring to a man dressed like a Qatari who threw fake money on Dalal after he was helped up from the ground.

Blaming Baharav-Miara, Ohana says that she is willing “to legitimize everything just so the government falls.”

Transportation Minister Miri Regev says that “this is not a protest, this is anarchy,” recalling that several weeks ago activists torched dumpsters and tires near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, with the fires accidentally burning an IDF reservist’s car.

She calls on law enforcement to act with “an iron fist” against “rioters.”

Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal calls the incident “another proof that the next political assassination like that of Charlie Kirk is closer than ever.”

Freed hostage concerned for Israel’s future ‘if we are ready to give up on’ the captives

Freed hostage Iair Horn wipes away tears while addressing a demonstration calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of the captives held by Hamas, September 20, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Speaking at a Jerusalem rally for a hostage-ceasefire deal, former Hamas hostage Iair Horn — whose brother Eitan remains captive — breaks down into tears.

“I was in Hamas captivity for 498 days. That has already become an automatic sentence that I say whenever I start speaking, and that scares me,” he says with shaky breath.

Horn says that when walking down the street in Israel he sees the faces of hostages, alongside his neighbors from Kibbutz Nir Oz, who were murdered and kidnapped by Hamas during the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

“I don’t know what this symptom is called; I didn’t check. I just walk down the street and think I recognize Aviv Atzili, or Elad Katzir, or Chaim [Peri],” he says, naming murdered hostages from his kibbutz while wiping away tears.

He voices concern for the future of Israel if the remaining hostages are killed in captivity. “What will happen to our country if we are ready to give up on people? Because it feels to me as if it’s alright to sacrifice, and that’s what is happening,” Horn says.

He describes the horrors of being held captive in Gaza, recalling his experience of airstrikes while trapped in the enclave’s tunnels with his captors.

“You start hearing bombings, explosions, and they get louder and louder until they [the captors] get a phone call, and then you hear that you have to run. So you run inside the tunnels, and you have to trust the same terrorist who kidnapped you from your home,” he recounts.

Once, while held in a basement with several other hostages, Horn says he heard a very loud explosion “just a meter away.”

“The soldiers are doing their job, I respect and love them and we’re all human, and I understand that they want to protect us. But a millimeter to the right or to the left with the joystick and it would have meant that some eight to ten hostages would no longer be here,” he says.

“I survived this and I got out on a deal, and it’s likely that a deal is the right, and only way to bring back all of the hostages,” Horn continues, calling on the government to negotiate a hostage-ceasefire agreement.

After the speeches wrap up outside Netanyahu’s official residence, hostage families lead protesters to the premier’s private home further down the street, where the demonstration continues.

Demonstrators have set up tents in the area, in protest of the IDF’s ongoing ground operation aimed at conquering Gaza City, which hostage families have warned may put their loved ones in further danger.

Opposition chiefs jointly announce establishment of ‘permanent forum’

Following a meeting, several leaders of the so-called “change bloc” announce the establishment of a “permanent forum,” bringing together the heads of the opposition parties.

The statement by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, “Yashar! With Eisenkot” chief Gadi Eisenkot, and The Democrats head Yair Golan says the group’s next meeting will be held “immediately” after Yom Kipper, which this year falls on October 2, and that they expect Bennett 2026 and Blue and White-National Unity chairmen Naftali Bennett and Benny Gantz to attend after neither was present for the talks tonight.

The statement also announces the pending establishment of a “professional body” aimed at dealing with “the basic guidelines of the next government,” such as drawing up a national constitution, enshrining universal military conscription and “preserving the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish, democratic and Zionist state.”

The opposition chiefs are working to coordinate their efforts ahead of the next national election. Also absent from the meeting this evening was former communications minister Yoaz Hendel, who this week announced that registration of a new political party he is calling HaMiluimnikim (“The Reservists”), which will run in the next Knesset election “between the blocs.”

IDF to deploy reinforcements in West Bank for High Holidays

Ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday season, the IDF is bolstering its West Bank division with eight additional companies, according to military officials.

After their deployment tomorrow, the Judea and Samaria Division will be staffed by the equivalent of 23 battalions.

The additional forces will remain in the West Bank until after the holidays in mid-October.

The move comes amid tensions in the West Bank following a deadly attack in Jerusalem earlier this month carried out by two Palestinians. Another deadly attack took place at Allenby Crossing this week, though that area is under the responsibility of the 96th “Gilad” Division.

Outside PM’s residence, hostage’s mother says ‘there is no place hot enough in hell’ for Netanyahu

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, at a protest in Jerusalem calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of captives held by Hamas, on September 20, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The mother of Matan Zangauker says “there is no place hot enough in hell” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while speaking outside the premier’s official residence in Jerusalem.

Addressing thousands of demonstrators in the capital demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal, Einav Zangauker recounts the past few days spent outside Netanyahu’s private residence nearby, in a protest encampment set up by hostage families to oppose the IDF’s ground operation in Gaza City.

“I also shouted this week on Azza Street, for a comprehensive deal and end to the war, but Netanyahu shuts his house windows — there is no place hot enough in hell for this leader!” she tells the crowd.

Many hostage families fear that the operation to take over Gaza City may end up putting their loved ones in greater danger, with Hamas members claiming the terror group is holding captives in different neighborhoods throughout the area.

“At the same time that I heard — and also felt — the explosions on my Matan this week, [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir fantasized about building cities and real estate in Gaza!” she says, referring to the far-right government ministers.

“My son… has become a victim of the Netanyahu government; he is sacrificing him to stay in power.”

Protesters in Jerusalem unfurl a banner urging President Donald Trump to “be our savior” in securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, September 20, 2025 (Omer Tuval / Hostages Families forum)

Protesters gathered outside the premier’s residence in Paris Square hold a giant banner that is visible from above, addressed to US President Donald Trump, which reads: “President Trump, be our savior!” alongside a yellow ribbon.

Anti-government protesters disrupt Likud holiday toast in Kfar Saba

Anti-government demonstrators disrupt a celebratory Rosh Hashanah toast in Kfar Saba hosted by the ruling Likud party.

Video shows police at the scene, though there are no immediate reports of arrests.

תיעוד: מאות מפגינים פרצו לאירוע הרמת כוסית של הליכוד בכפר סבא וקראו: "מינוי זיני יהווה את השמדת שב"כ כשומר סף"@eli_zil pic.twitter.com/jlBG4Y8jve

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 20, 2025

At least 9 members of Gazan family reported killed in Israeli strike

Gazan media outlets report that nine members of the Jamil family were killed this morning in a strike on the al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.

The area is under evacuation orders. According to the reports, the dead include a couple and their underage children.

The IDF has not yet issued a response.

This morning, an Israeli airstrike wiped out the entire Jamala family in their home in Al Shawa neighborhood, Gaza City. Ten lives, parents, children, siblings, erased in an instant. Not a single member of the family survived. A whole family line, gone forever. pic.twitter.com/09wKZBol3f

— Hamza (@HowidyHamza) September 20, 2025

Iran threatens to cease cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog if sanctions reimposed

FILE - A national flag of Iran waves in front of the building of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in Vienna, Austria, December 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Gruber, File)

Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency will “effectively be suspended” if United Nations sanctions on the country are reinstated, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says in a statement.

Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose UN sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Ahead of High Holidays, hostage families call on PM to ‘atone’ for not bringing back their loved ones

Israelis rally for the release of captives held by Hamas-led terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on September 20, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, captives’ relatives speaking at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “atone” for his failure to return their loved ones from Gaza.

The High Holidays begin Monday night with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur falls on October 2.

Hanna Cohen, aunt of slain captive Inbar Hayman — the last woman still held in captivity — addresses the premier, drawing jeers at the mention of his name.

“Benjamin Netanyahu, in what world are 48 hostages, citizens, alive and dead, abducted and not returned home for nearly two years?” she says, demanding the prime minister meet with the families and provide information on the conditions of their loved ones. “Is there any atonement for this? No!”

Alon Nimrodi, father of captive soldier Tamir Nimrodi, addresses the premier by his nickname, which also draws jeers: “Bibi Netanyahu, it’s time you grew a heart [and] had some regard for human life.”

“We’re just about at the holidays… more holidays I can’t celebrate, can’t mark, can’t enjoy at the holiday table with my family without knowing what is going on with my son.”

“Bibi, at the start of the new year — a new Jewish year — show us what Jewish values are. Bring back our sons and daughter,” he says. “Not with dangerous and pointless fighting but with an immediate, comprehensive deal. We can deal with the rest later.”

“Yom Kippur is coming,” he says to Netanyahu. “Atone for your sins [and] the sins of your militant and irresponsible government.”

Nimrodi, whose son is one of two captives whose lives Israeli officials have expressed grave concern for, adds that many people, including hostage families, often falsely refer to only 20 living hostages out of the remaining 48.

“There are 22 hostages still considered alive — 22,” he says. “That’s what appears in the list that has been given to the mediators. I saw it with my own eyes.”

In keeping with its custom in recent weeks, the Hostages Square rally also features a speech from a reservist calling for the end of the war. The soldier, Shahar Varon, calls on the government to leverage the army’s “impressive achievements” to reach a truce-hostage deal. Like other reservists who have spoken at Hostages Square, he stops short of calling on soldiers to refuse to take part in the operation to take over Gaza City.

The Tel Aviv rally ends with a livestream from the main hostage families’ rally as it begins near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, with attendees at both gatherings singing Hatikva, the national anthem.

IDF says Lebanon drone strike targeted Hezbollah operative gathering intel on Israeli troops

Lebanese first responders and security forces gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle on the Khardali road in south Lebanon's Marjayoun area on September 20, 2025. (Rabih Daher/AFP)

The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the Khardali area of southern Lebanon earlier today, saying it killed a Hezbollah operative who was carrying out surveillance on Israeli troops.

“The terrorist took part in attempts to gather intelligence on IDF troops in southern Lebanon,” the army says, adding that his activity “constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Since the November 2024 ceasefire, the IDF says it has killed over 300 Hezbollah operatives in strikes in Lebanon, saying they were violating the terms of the truce.

צה״ל חיסל מחבל מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה אשר עסק בניסיונות איסוף מודיעין על כוחות צה״ל

צה"ל בהובלת פיקוד הצפון, תקף באמצעות חיל האוויר וחיסל מחבל מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה מוקדם יותר היום (ש׳), במרחב ארנון שבדרום לבנון.

המחבל עסק בנסיונות איסוף מודיעין על פעילות כוחות צה״ל בדרום… pic.twitter.com/QMBRbeqpwG

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 20, 2025

Captive soldier’s brother warns continued fighting a ‘death sentence’ for hostages, urges Trump not to be ‘fooled’ by PM

Israelis rally for the release of captives held by Hamas-led terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on September 20, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Yotam Cohen, brother of captive soldier Nirmrod Cohen, accuses the government of imposing a “death sentence” on soldiers and the remaining hostages with its decision to order the military conquest of Gaza City.

He also assails Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement this week that Israel would have to develop an autarkic economy in response to the mounting international pressure amid the intense bombing of Gaza City in recent weeks.

Cohen speaks before thousands of people who have crowded into Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and adjacent streets. On the ground in front of him, rally-goers unfurl a large sign that reads: “President Trump, end the war, save them.”

“The government of Israel has chosen death for the umpteenth time,” says Cohen. “It has also chosen poverty, international isolation, boycotts and the shattering of Israel’s international relations.”

“Netanyahu has decided to deliver a death sentence,” says Cohen. He adds that Israel’s security chiefs, who have reportedly warned against the Gaza City operation and called for a truce-hostage deal, are not absolved of responsibility for the fate of the hostages and soldiers who may be endangered in the offensive.

“You won’t be able to say in the end that you were just following orders,” declares Cohen. “A day will come and those responsible will pay.”

Cohen says the hostages could have returned in a deal long ago.

“The moment Israel decides it wants a deal, there will be a deal,” he says. “Until then, they will continue to suffer.”

Cohen then addresses US President Donald Trump in English, “because no one is listening” in Israel.

He says the families were filled with hope when Trump took office in January.

“More than six months have passed. What now? Did you get bored?” he asks.

“Netanyahu is destroying your legacy, diminishing your achievements,” says Cohen, calling on Trump to “be remembered as the one president who wasn’t fooled and wasn’t manipulated by Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Likud minister: Gaza will be unviable post-war; Palestinians will ‘voluntary migrate’ from West Bank too

Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Gila Gamliel attends a Science and Technology Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, February 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel of the ruling Likud party tells Channel 12’s “Meet the Press” that Gaza will be uninhabitable following the end of Israel’s military operation against Hamas.

Gaza “will ultimately not be a source of viable habitation,” Gamliel says. “The Strip today [already] has no potential for viability.”

She goes on to promote her plan for the “voluntary migration” of Gazans, which critics have said is a euphemism for ethnically cleansing Palestinians from the Strip, arguing that Israel is intentionally making the Strip uninhabitable so that Palestinians will have no choice but to leave.

“What’s genocidal about voluntary migration. It has the word ‘voluntary’ in it,” Gamliel retorts, adding that 140,000 Palestinians have already left the Strip since the start of the war.

גילה גמליאל בפגוש את העיתונות: ״נהפוך את רצועת עזה ללא ראויה למגורי אדם עד שהאוכלוסיה תעזוב, ואותו דבר יקרה גם ביהודה ושומרון״. זו מטרת המלחמה לא רק של בן גביר אלא של הממשלה כולה ושל העומד בראשה. תזכרו את זה בפעם הבאה שמדברים על ״הגירה מרצון״. לתשומת ליבכם @IntlCrimCourt pic.twitter.com/k3v9C6YBUE

— עמית קלדרון | عميت كلدرون (@amitkalderon_) September 20, 2025

“My voluntary migration plan is feasible, and it will get underway,” she tells Channel 12.

Gamliel says Israel will build buildings for those who emigrate and claims there are countries willing to take in Gazans, without identifying any.

“There must be voluntary migration in order for us to fulfill the war aim of ensuring that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future,” she says.

“I am even optimistic that [there will be voluntary migration from] Judea and Samaria and not just from the Gaza Strip,” Gamliel says, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

“Just as we’re not interested in this Palestinian Authority being in Gaza after the war, there is no reason for it to be here in Judea and Samaria,” she says.

Liberman vows not to join any coalition with Netanyahu or Ra’am: ‘We’ll establish a Zionist government’

Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Lieberman speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv on July 15, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Ahead of a planned meeting of opposition party leaders this evening, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman tells Channel 12’s “Meet the Press” that he “will not sit with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu under any circumstances” and instead “we will establish a Zionist government.”

Liberman also states that he will not be part of a coalition that includes the Islamist Ra’am, which backed the government he was part of between 2021 and 2022.

Liberman is slated to meet this evening with “Yashar! With Eisenkot” chief Gadi Eisenkot, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and The Democrats head Yair Golan.

According to Hebrew-language reports, Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz will not be at the meeting, while Bennett 2026 leader Naftali Bennett will also not be in attendance as he is marking the 10th anniversary of his father’s death, known in Judaism as yahrzeit.

The opposition chiefs are working to coordinate their efforts ahead of the next national election.

In a statement issued in response to Liberman, Blue and White-National Unity says that “Israel needs a broad Zionist consensus government to stop the extremists” and that “by voting for Liberman, you get [Itamar] Ben Gvir,” implying that by refusing to sit with Netanyahu, Liberman will lead the premier to form another coalition with the far-right Otzma Yehudit party leader.

Gantz, who launched his political career on being a viable alternative to Netanyahu before later joining two governments led by him, has not categorically ruled out sitting in a coalition with the premier again if necessary.

Earlier this month, Gantz called for opposition leaders to form a temporary “hostage-redemption government,” insisting that Israel must negotiate for a comprehensive deal to free those remaining in captivity in Gaza.

Netanyahu to convene meeting on emerging security agreement with Syria

Left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to staff at a Shin Bet facility, June 29, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO); Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa attends the signing of an agreement for a regional energy project, in Damascus, Syria, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting Sunday to discuss an emerging security agreement with Syria, the office of one of the attendees tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting will take place at Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office in the evening.

There is anticipation that a new security agreement will be announced this coming week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, which both Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa will be attending.

Qatar said conditioning resumption of mediating role on public Israeli apology for Doha strike

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

Qatar conditions the resumption of its role as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire and hostage talks on a public Israeli apology for the recent strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, Channel 12 news reports.

Citing sources familiar with the issue, the network says that Qatar is willing to show some flexibility on the wording of the apology, noting the matter is politically sensitive for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The report adds that the matter was raised during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s talks this week in Jerusalem and Doha, as well during US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting in London with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

Egypt said assembling forces in Sinai over concerns Israel is seeking to uproot Gazans

An Egyptian source confirms to the Haaretz daily that Egypt is building up military forces in the Sinai Peninsula but denies Cairo has “offensive intentions.”

“[Egypt] sees peace with Israel as a strategic asset. Its main concern is that Palestinians will be forcibly uprooted from their territory,” the source is quoted as saying.

Additional Egyptian and diplomatic sources tell the Israeli newspaper that Cairo is concerned that Netanyahu is trying to reduce Egypt’s troop presence in the Sinai in order to coercively remove Palestinians from the area.

A Middle Eastern intelligence source, however, denies there has been any significant change in Egypt’s force posture in the Sinai and says claims to the contrary are “periodically recycled” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to create a rift with Cairo.

The source claims to The Times of Israel that the only significant change in security arrangements between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai is that the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) has ceased enforcement against alleged Israeli violations of the peace treaty due to the IDF’s force buildup in Zone D, which is also known as the Philadelphi Corridor border strip between Gaza and Egypt.

Hamas fired at UN team working on new Gaza aid corridor — Israeli military liaison

Damage caused to a UN vehicle by Hamas gunmen in southern Gaza, in a handout image issued by COGAT on September 20, 2025. (COGAT)

Hamas gunmen opened fire on United Nations teams working to set up a new humanitarian aid corridor in southern Gaza over the weekend, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says.

COGAT says it received a report over the weekend from UN representatives that during work to open a new route for aid trucks from Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in the Strip’s south, “armed Hamas terrorists threatened and deliberately fired at a UN team operating at the site and forced them out of the work area.”

“It was also reported that the terrorists took over UN vehicles and used them to place a sand barrier on the route in order to prevent future movement of aid trucks into the humanitarian area,” COGAT says.

According to COGAT, the Defense Ministry body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, the new route is part of humanitarian efforts amid the IDF’s offensive in Gaza City. It was scheduled to open in the coming days to “increase the number of aid trucks reaching the humanitarian area, including food, medical equipment, tents, and shelter supplies, in line with the population moving south from Gaza City for their protection.”

COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, in a statement, says: “Hamas proves time and again that it has no interest in the well-being of the residents of the Gaza Strip, but only in its terrorist motives.”

“Even as the State of Israel works together with the UN and international organizations to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, Hamas is desperate to thwart this, thereby once again abandoning the residents it claims to represent and enslaving them to ensure its survival,” he adds.

The shooting against the UN teams in southern Gaza comes after on Friday, COGAT said Hamas gunmen “brazenly robbed” four UNICEF aid trucks carrying baby formula in Gaza City a day prior.

Over half of Gaza City’s million residents have evacuated in recent weeks — IDF

Palestinians from Gaza City move southwards with their belongings, on the coastal road near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on September 19, 2025. (Eyad Baba/AFP)

More than half of the approximately one million Palestinians residing in Gaza City have evacuated to the Strip’s south since late August, according to fresh IDF estimates.

Ahead of an ongoing offensive against Hamas, the IDF ordered Palestinians in all areas of Gaza City to evacuate immediately to an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.

IDF says sirens were activated in Ashkelon due to false identification

The sirens that sounded in Ashkelon’s southern industrial zone a short while ago were false alarms, the IDF says.

The alerts were likely triggered by military activity in the northern Gaza Strip area.

Rocket sirens sound in Ashkelon industrial zone; IDF probing what triggered alerts

Rocket sirens are sounding in Ashkelon’s southern industrial zone, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says it is looking into the details.

Hostage moms slam PM over Gaza City op: ‘Sending Jews to kill Jews to preserve his rule’

Anat Angrest, the mother hostage soldier Matan Angrest, and other relatives of captives held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza speak to the press near the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, September 20, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The mothers of hostages held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza tear into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not securing the release of their loved ones from Hamas captivity.

The mother of Matan Zangauker charges that though Netanyahu knows the Gaza City offensive puts the hostages’ lives at risk, he “intentionally decided to condemn his citizens to death.”

“Netanyahu will forever be remembered as a murderer in order to remain in power,” says Einav Zangauker in remarks to the press by the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.

The mother of hostage soldier Matan Angrest claims Netanyahu “will kill him as a human shield for his rule.”

“Netanyahu is sending soldiers to kill their brothers in captivity. He is sending Jews to kill Jews to preserve his rule,” says Anat Angrest.

Turning to IDF chief Eyal Zamir, Angrest says he knows that the operation in Gaza City could lead to captives’ deaths and that it’s possible to reach a deal securing the release of all the hostages.

“What type of commander are you? A soldier for Netanyahu who sends his subordinates to death traps?” she says.

Lebanese media reports 1 killed in Israeli drone strike on car in southern Lebanon

A Lebanese army humvee vehicle is pictured at the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle on the Khardali road in southern Lebanon's Marjayoun area on September 20, 2025. (Rabih Daher/AFP)

Lebanese media reports one dead in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the Khardali area in southern Lebanon.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

🚨غارة من مسيرة اسرائيلية استهدفت مركبة على طريق النبطية – مرجعيون في منطقة الخردلي جنوب لبنان#إسرائيل #لبنان #مرجعيون pic.twitter.com/8BPJTCobNR

— مدفعجي (@madfajy) September 20, 2025

Israeli-made rocket launcher displayed at Serbian military parade catches eye of experts

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik attend a military parade in Belgrade, Serbia, September 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia stages a large-scale military parade in the capital Belgrade, showcasing tanks, missile systems and fighter jets in what officials describe as the country’s biggest display of army strength in its history.

President Aleksandar Vucic reviews the parade, which includes about 10,000 troops, saying the show of force underscores Serbia’s ability to defend its independence and sovereignty and act as a deterrent against any foreign aggressor. Serbia is mostly surrounded by NATO-member states.

Columns of troops march through the New Belgrade district of the capital as crowds wave national flags, while aircraft roar overhead.

The event features both domestically produced weapons as well as rocket launchers from Israel, drones purchased from the United Arab Emirates, as well as tanks supplied by Russia and anti-aircraft systems from China, reflecting Belgrade’s close ties with Moscow and Beijing despite its declared goal of joining the European Union.

What catches most of the attention of military experts is the Israeli PULS system, a versatile rocket artillery platform capable of launching a range of munitions with varying ranges and payloads. Its range is up to 300 kilometers (185 miles), meaning it can reach most of the Balkan capitals.

Another surprise appearance is a couple of the French Air Force’s Rafale fighter jets. Serbia has ordered 12 such multi-purpose aircraft that are due for delivery in the coming years.

Jewish UK Labour parliamentarian rails at Israel after being denied entry to West Bank

A Jewish member of the UK’s ruling Labour party hits out at Israel days after he and a fellow Jewish Labour MP were blocked by Israel from visiting the West Bank.

In an op-ed published in the Guardian, MP Peter Prinsley states the experience demonstrated “how low Israel has been brought by its current government and how much it has changed, almost beyond recognition.”

Israel hasn’t publicly commented on the decision to block Prinsley and MP Simon Opher from the West Bank.

“It represents the extent to which the Israeli government has isolated itself. It saddens me to say that Israel today seems to be a world away from the inclusive, pluralistic, open and democratic principles on which it was founded in 1948,” Prinsley writes. “I am Jewish, one of just a dozen or so Jewish members of the House of Commons. I visited Israel for the first time as an idealistic medical student and have since returned for happy holidays, visiting family who live there. I am a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and a committed supporter of my local synagogue.”

He adds that he was denied entry on grounds of “public security or public safety or public order considerations,” but says he wasn’t given an explanation as to why he and the group he was traveling with were blocked from visiting hospitals in the West Bank.

“Israel once represented hope for a generation of Jews. It pains me greatly to say that the friendships that we in the Jewish community once thought eternal are now being undermined by the present Israeli government,” Prinsley says.

Pezeshkian vows Iran ‘will never surrender’ as nuclear sanctions reimposed

A handout picture provided by the Iranian president's office on August 30, 2025, shows President Masoud Pezeshkian speaking during a televised interview in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/AFP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vows that Iran will overcome any reimposition of sanctions on it through a so-called snapback process, after the UN Security Council voted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran.

“Through the ‘snapback’ they block the road, but it is the brains and the thoughts that open or build the road,” Pezeshkian says in remarks carried by state television.

“They cannot stop us. They can strike our Natanz or Fordo (nuclear installations attacked by the US and Israel in June), but they are unaware that it is humans who built and will rebuild Natanz,” Pezeshkian says.

The Security Council move came on Friday after Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose sanctions, 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.

“We will never surrender in the face of excessive demands because we have the power to change the situation,” Pezeshkian is quoted as saying by state media.

Israel said to request US pressure on Egypt over military buildup in Sinai Peninsula

In this August 9, 2012 file photo, army trucks carry Egyptian military tanks in El Arish, Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula. (AP, File)

Israel has asked the United States to pressure Egypt over its military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula, according to Channel 12 news, as Jerusalem alleges Cairo is accumulating forces there in violation of the peace treaty between the countries.

Citing US and Israeli officials, the report says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the matter with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and that the alleged violations include the construction of runways for fighter jets and underground sites that appear to be designed for storing missiles.

The Israeli sources are quoted as saying that, though there is no evidence that missiles are indeed being stored in the underground sites, Egypt has not provided sufficient answers when asked.

“What the Egyptians are doing in the Sinai is very grave and we’re very worried,” one of the sources says.

IDF soldier moderately hurt by sniper fire in Gaza this morning

An IDF soldier was moderately wounded by sniper fire on the outskirts of Gaza City this morning, the military says.

The soldier was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Russia says UN sanctions snapback on Iran risks ‘escalation of tensions’

The United Nations Security Council holds a meeting on Iran at UN headquarters on September 19, 2025, in New York. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

MOSCOW, Russia  — Russia slams the UN Security Council vote to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and warns of a risk of an “escalation of tensions.”

“The Russian side has repeatedly pointed out the provocative and illegal nature of the actions of the European countries participating in the JCPOA,” the Russian Foreign Ministry says in a statement referring to the 2015 accord intended to persuade Iran to restrict its uranium enrichment.

“These actions have nothing to do with diplomacy and lead exclusively to a further escalation of tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear program,” it adds.

Austrian FM urges countries not to boycott Eurovision over Israel’s participation

Yuval Raphael representing Israel with the song "New Day Will Rise" parades with Israeli flag during the dress rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel on May 16, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

ZURICH, Switzerland – Austria’s foreign minister has appealed to countries not to boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest — due to be held in Vienna — over Israel’s participation and concerns about the war in Gaza.

The Spanish state broadcaster RTVE’s board voted on Tuesday to withdraw from the 2026 event if Israel participates, becoming the fifth country to make such a pledge.

The Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland, and Ireland have made similar pledges, while the Belgian broadcaster VRT has said it supports their stance.

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger writes to colleagues in the six countries, saying she was concerned about boycotts creating division and not improving the situation in Gaza.

“As foreign minister of the host country, I am deeply concerned about the risk of a rift between the members of the European Broadcasting Union on this issue,” she writes in the letter that has been seen by Reuters.

“Such a rift would only deepen the discord and preclude opportunities for important dialogue between artists and the public — without improving the situation on the ground in Israel and Gaza,” Meinl-Reisinger adds.

Although conflict and humanitarian suffering could not be ignored, Eurovision was not a suitable arena for sanctions, she writes.

“Excluding Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest or boycotting the event would neither alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza nor contribute to a sustainable political solution,” Meinl-Reisinger writes.

IDF hits some 100 terror sites in Gaza over past day, kills several Hamas operatives

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image published on September 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force struck some 100 targets in the Gaza Strip, the military says.

The targets included tunnels, weapon depots, cells of operatives, and other infrastructure used by terror groups.

Hamas authorities report that at least 34 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza over the previous 24 hours.

In Gaza City, the military says the 98th Division continues to expand its operations and, in the past day, destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including tunnel shafts, booby-trapped buildings, and positions used by terror operatives. Several Hamas operatives, including field commanders, were also killed, the army says.

The 162nd Division, which is also operating in Gaza City and the Kafr Jabalia area, killed several more operatives — including by directing a drone strike — and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, the IDF says.

Elsewhere in northern Gaza, the IDF says the 99th Division’s forces directed strikes on several Hamas infrastructures and killed operatives

In the Strip’s south, the Gaza Division destroyed additional Hamas sites, including tunnels, and killed several operatives in Khan Younis and Rafah.

At least 14 killed in overnight strikes in Gaza City, health officials in Strip say

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations are engulfed by smoke following an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, September 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

CAIRO, Egypt — Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people overnight in Gaza City, say health officials, as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to leave.

Dr. Rami Mhanna, the managing director of Shifa Hospital, where some of the bodies were brought, says the dead included six people from the same family after a strike hit their home early this morning. They were relatives of the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he says.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says five other people were killed in another strike close to Shawa Square.

The figures cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Israel’s military didn’t immediately respond to questions about the strikes.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Hamas propaganda image labels 48 remaining hostages as missing navigator Ron Arad

A propaganda image with the faces of 48 hostages that remain held by Hamas in Gaza, all of them named Ron Arad, referencing an Israeli Air Force pilot missing since 1988, published by Hamas on September 20, 2025. The image reads: "Because of Netanyahu's refusal, and Zamir's capitulation, a parting image as the military operation in Gaza City begins." (Hamas)

Hamas publishes a propaganda image of the remaining 48 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, naming them all Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who has been classified as missing since 1988.

The image’s text reads: “Because of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s refusal, and [IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal] Zamir’s capitulation, a parting image as the military operation in Gaza City begins.”

The text appears to accuse Netanyahu of refusing to reach a ceasefire-hostage release deal, while charging that Zamir is carrying out the order to conquer Gaza City despite his reported opposition to the plan.

Hostage families have expressed fear that their loved ones would share the fate of Arad without a deal for their release.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Among the bodies held by Hamas is an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.

Hamas released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March 2024, and one additional hostage, a dual American-Israeli citizen, in May 2024 as a “gesture” to the United States. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.

Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 51 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.

Cyberattack on check-in, boarding systems causes delays at some of Europe’s airports

BRUSSELS — A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems has snarled air traffic and caused delays at some of Europe’s top airports, officials say.

The Brussels airport says the attack means that only manual check-in and boarding were possible there, and the incident was having a “large impact” on flight schedules.

“There was a cyberattack on Friday night 19 September against the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems affecting several European airports including Brussels Airport,” it says in a statement.

Authorities at Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport say a service provider for passenger handling systems was attacked yesterday evening, prompting airport operators to cut off connections to the systems.

London Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest, says “a technical issue” affected a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.

“Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally, is experiencing a technical issue that may cause delays for departing passengers,” Heathrow says in a statement.

The airports advise travelers to check their flight status and apologized for any inconvenience.

Jordan says Allenby Crossing to reopen tomorrow after deadly attack, but only for pedestrian traffic

Israeli security forces near the scene of a deadly attack at the Allenby Border Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, September 18, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Jordanian authorities say that the Allenby Bridge Border Crossing will open to pedestrian traffic tomorrow, Jordan’s AlMamlaka TV reports, after the crossing was closed following an attack in which two IDF soldiers were killed on Thursday.

The crossing will remain closed to commercial traffic, the report adds.

A Jordanian man arrived at the crossing from the Jordanian side on Thursday in a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid truck, then opened fire at two IDF soldiers.

He then got out of the truck and, after his gun apparently jammed, stabbed the two soldiers repeatedly until security guards at the crossing opened fire at him, killing him on the spot.

Egypt said to warn Israel it will boost forces in Sinai — violating treaty — if Gazans forced across border

Egyptian army soldiers guard their side of the Rafah crossing, closed since early May, on July 4, 2024. (Giuseppe Cacace / AFP)

Egypt warns Israel that it will increase its forces along the border with Gaza if there is a mass wave of Palestinians that migrate from the Strip, the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper reports, citing unnamed sources.

Within 72 hours of such an event, Egypt would double the number of troops on the border and bring in heavy weaponry and helicopters into the Sinai, the report says.

According to the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, Israel must approve the transfer of heavy weaponry and increases in troops into the peninsula.

An Egyptian military source tells the newspaper that the increase in military forces in the Sinai would deter Israel from forcing Gazans across the border.

Sa’ar says Israel ‘concerned’ by Estonian airspace violation by Russia

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expresses concern over the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian warplanes amid the war in Ukraine, in a post on X.

“Israel is concerned [about the] Russian airplanes’ violation of Estonia airspace. These violation[s] together with recent event[s] in Poland might threaten stability and peace in the region and should be avoided,” he writes.

The need to balance security interests at home and policy abroad, while maintaining relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, has produced a relatively restrained response from successive Israeli governments to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Israel is concerned of Russian airplanes violation of Estonia airspace.
These violation together with recent event in Poland might threaten stability and peace in the region and should be avoided.

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 20, 2025

Poland scrambles aircraft after Russia launches strikes on western Ukraine

Polish and allied aircraft were deployed early this morning to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched airstrikes targeting western Ukraine near the border with Poland, the armed forces of the NATO-member country says.

“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” the operational command says in a post on X.

Early this morning, nearly all of Ukraine was under air raid alerts following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.

Shortly after 7 a.m. local time, Polish and allied air forces ended the operation as airstrikes by the Russian Federation against Ukraine were ceased, the Polish command says, adding that the actions were “preventative and aimed at securing airspace in areas adjacent to the threatened area.”

Israel reportedly carrying out heavy bombardment of Gaza City

Israel is carrying out a heavy bombardment of Gaza City, according to Palestinian reports.

Several are killed and wounded in the explosions, according to reports.

لحظة شن طائرات الاحتلال غارات جوية على مدينة غزة قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/xBwQp8cRYj

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 20, 2025

Three Russian fighter jets enter Estonian airspace in ‘brazen’ incursion

Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets take off taking part in a training mission in Krasnodar Region, Russia, Jan. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)

Estonia summons a Russian diplomat to protest after three Russian fighter aircraft entered its airspace without permission and stayed there for 12 minutes, Estonia’s Foreign Ministry says. It happened just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna says Russia violated Estonian airspace four times this year, “but today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.”

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also says the government had decided “to start consultations among the allies” under NATO’s Article 4, he writes on X, after Russian jets “violated our airspace yet again.”

The North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principal political decision-making body, is due to convene early next week to discuss the incident in more detail, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart says.

UN chief calls for world nations to not be ‘intimidated’ by Israel

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday that the world should not be “intimidated” by Israel as it presses its devastating Gaza war and pursues “creeping” annexation of the West Bank.

Israel has reportedly threatened to annex the West Bank if Western nations press ahead with recognizing a Palestinian state at next week’s UN high-level gathering in New York.

“We should not feel intimidated by the risk of retaliation, because with or without doing what we are doing, these actions would go on and at least there is a chance to mobilize international community to put pressure for them not to happen,” Guterres says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

US National Counterterrorism Center warns of al-Qaeda attack threats

WASHINGTON — The US National Counterterrorism Center says that recent calls by al-Qaeda for attacks against the United States shows the terrorist group’s enduring threat to the country.

Al-Qaeda and its Yemen-based affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) “are likely seeking to leverage their media publications and global conflicts, particularly where there is US support or military involvement, to inspire potential attackers,” it says in a memo to law enforcement.

The memo urges government officials to avoid surveillance, to not post or publicly share details about travel plans, schedules and locations, and to remove badges and other forms of identification outside of work.

It also warns of potential threats to targets that draw large crowds including sport and music events and urges law enforcement presence at those events along with organizing pre-event briefings on security measures.

The NCTC, under the control of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, was created in 2004. It says information it’s sharing with law enforcement will give them tools to combat targeting attempts by al-Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Spain launch global fundraising campaign for PA

France, Norway, Spain and Saudi Arabia are working to rally countries around an emergency aid package to prevent the Palestinian Authority’s collapse while Israel withholds hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to Ramallah, according to a letter to potential donor states obtained by The Times of Israel.

For four consecutive months, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been refusing to transfer clearance revenues that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf. These funds make up the majority of Ramallah’s budget and their withholding has brought the PA to brink of collapse.

The letter to potential donor countries who will be attending a French-Saudi two-state solution conference at the UN on Monday says that participants are expected to demand Israel release the Palestinian funds.

However, organizers appear resigned to the possibility that Jerusalem will not budge on the issue and therefore have set a fundraising goal of $200 million for each of the next six months to cover the PA’s operating expenses.

“Support to the recovery of the private sector and the functioning of essential commercial actors, including Palestinian banks, is also needed,” the letter says.

A European diplomat tells The Times of Israel that the four participating countries have already agreed to donate $200 million a month to the PA for six months, but are hoping that other countries help share the burden.

“The Palestinian Authority is engaged in implementing an ambitious reform agenda, aiming at structural transformations that lay the foundation for a modern, transparent, and accountable State,” say the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Spain, as they seek to justify another international fundraising campaign for Ramallah.

Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the effort is particularly noteworthy, as Riyadh previously was one of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s biggest critics, accusing him of corruption.

The leading Arab country’s inclusion in the effort gives Ramallah’s recent reform efforts a boost of legitimacy.

The letter says the PA is facing an “existential threat” due to the withholding of clearance revenues on top of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, settler violence in the West Bank and blocks on transfers to Palestinian banks.

“A viable Palestinian state capable of fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian people will be essential for a future of peace and
security in the Middle East,” the four countries say.

“We therefore need to urgently mobilize to prevent a financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority, with severe implications for Palestinian society, regional stability, and international security,” the letter continues. “Financial shortcoming cannot be the cause of the failure of the Palestinian State and destabilization of the Middle East.”

“We need to act now, and with this objective, we propose to swiftly coordinate in the coming days an emergency coalition for Palestine,” the letter states.

Trump administration imposes new restrictions on Harvard’s access to federal funds

The Trump administration imposes fresh restrictions on Harvard’s access to federal funds, opening a new front in its unprecedented crackdown on the prestigious US university.

The Department of Education announces in a statement that it has placed Harvard under “heightened cash monitoring (HCM) status” saying there were “growing concerns regarding the university’s financial position.”

It cites the administration’s own accusations of civil rights violations at the university as creating uncertainty over future funding, as well as Harvard’s move to issue bonds and layoff employees.

The status shift requires the university to use its own funds to pay out student financial aid packages that federal officials have promised, with the school later able to seek reimbursement from the government.

“Students will continue to have access to federal funding, but Harvard will be required to cover the initial disbursements as a guardrail to ensure Harvard is spending taxpayer funds responsibly,” the department writes.

Additionally, federal officials are requiring Harvard to “post an irrevocable letter of credit for $36 million” to “cover potential liabilities and ensure that Harvard meets its financial obligations to both students and the Department.”

This latest jab in the Trump administration’s ongoing fight with academia comes after a judicial victory for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school in the northeastern United States.

Trump officials accuse the university, and other schools around the country, of promoting so-called “woke” ideology, while failing to sufficiently protect its Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests.

Harvard has denied those claims, saying the federal government is instead focused on controlling the school’s hiring, admissions and curriculum.

Earlier in September, a Boston judge ordered the administration to lift its freeze on approximately $2.6 billion in federal funds for Harvard, writing that Trump’s Department of Education “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”

Trump: Hostages might face greater risk due to Gaza City op but ‘they also may be freed because of that’

Smoke billows amid Israeli strikes on the al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City, on September 18, 2025. (Omar ak-Qattaa/AFP)

While fielding questions from reporters, US President Donald Trump is also asked about freed hostages’ concerns that Israel’s offensive in Gaza City could endanger the lives of captives still held by Palestinian terrorists in the enclave.

“They might be [at greater risk]. They also may be freed because of that,” he says. “War, a lot of strange things happen. A lot of results take place that you never think were going to happen.”

🚨BREAKING 🚨WATCH: President Trump asked about Gaza and the hostages and responds with a very cryptic answer: “A lot of strange things happen in war – maybe they will be freed” pic.twitter.com/m5HyML0WlR

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) September 19, 2025

Trump on hostages: Young people can take a lot, ‘but a lot of people died in these horrible tunnels’

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, September 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump again tells reporters that fewer than 20 hostages may be alive in Gaza.

“Look, young people don’t die, they just don’t die. They can take a lot, but a lot of people died in these horrible tunnels. They’re mostly in the tunnels,” he says while speaking in the Oval Office of the White House.

Trump on the hostages in Gaza:

Young people don't die. You know they just don't die. They can take a lot.

A lot of people died in these horrible tunnels. They're mostly in the tunnels. pic.twitter.com/dtV9JhuVol

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) September 19, 2025

Asked about UN report on Gaza, Trump says Oct. 7 ‘was genocide at the highest level’

US President Donald Trump is asked by a reporter at the White House about a UN report released this week claiming Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

“Did anyone commit genocide on October 7?” he says, referring to the Hamas-led terror onslaught that started the ongoing war. “That was genocide at the highest level. That was murder, genocide, you can call it whatever you want. But little babies were chopped in half. Arms were cut off people, heads were cut off people. That’s genocide also I guess.”

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇵🇸 President Trump gets asked about the UN Commission of Inquiry concluding that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip:

“October 7th was a genocide. That was genocide at the highest level. That was murder, genocide. You can call it whatever you want…little babies… pic.twitter.com/JjLv1B6mgT

— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) September 19, 2025

Portugal says it will recognize Palestinian state on Sunday, ahead of UN assembly

A man holds up a Palestinian flag postcard during a protest calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state outside the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

LISBON, Portugal — Portugal will officially recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, Lisbon’s foreign ministry says, ahead of a UN General Assembly where around 10 other countries are set to follow suit.

“The ministry of foreign affairs confirms that Portugal will recognize the State of Palestine… the official declaration of recognition will be made on Sunday, September 21,” a statement on the ministry’s website says.

Foreign Ministry says Dutch cops arrested suspect for attempted arson of Israeli embassy

The Foreign Ministry says an assailant who tried to break into the Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands and set it ablaze has been arrested by Dutch authorities.

No Israeli staffers at the diplomatic mission in The Hague were hurt.

Israeli envoy to the UN Danny Danon decries “the abhorrent attempt to set fire to the Israeli embassy.”

“Hatred and violence will not deter us — the Israeli flag will continue to fly proudly around the world,” he adds.

Anarchists say they projected video of soccer game using mock Netanyahu head as ball onto UN

An anarchist US activist group says it projected a video of a soccer game, using a mock severed head of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, onto the side of the UN Headquarters in New York City.

The INDECLINE group held the game earlier this month at a field near the UN in protest of the Gaza war.

Footage from the game showed the activists kicking Netanyahu’s head around a field, set to a punk rock soundtrack.

The group releases a follow-up video showing the footage projected onto the UN Headquarters. The footage couldn’t immediately be verified.

The head was made of silicone.

INDECLINE has pulled similar stunts using mock-ups of other figures’ heads, such as US President Donald Trump.

This is not the first time that guerrilla activists have projected an anti-Netanyahu message onto the UN Headquarters.

In September 2023, Israeli activists opposed to the government’s judicial overhaul projected a message onto the building that said, “Don’t believe crime minister Netanyahu.”

Weeks later, after the October 2023 invasion of Israel, the same activist group projected images of the Israeli hostages onto the building to demand the release of the captives.