Sept. 21: Saudi Arabia said to warn of serious repercussions if Israel chooses to annex West Bank

Charlie Kirk lauded at Arizona memorial as galvanizing force for conservatism

Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, speaks at the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

Tens of thousands of mourners dressed in red, white and blue have turned out to honor Charlie Kirk at a memorial service in Arizona, where his fellow conservatives praise him as an inspirational Christian leader and vow to carry on with the political movement he started.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several cabinet members are scheduled to pay tribute to the charismatic Kirk 11 days after he was assassinated during a campus event in Utah.

The memorial, organized by Kirk’s conservative youth advocacy organization Turning Point USA, has the feel of a religious revival mixed with a “Make America Great Again” political rally.

Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson credits Kirk with helping him move past an addiction to alcohol to lead a more moral, Christian life. Like many speakers, he echoes Kirk’s exhortation to young men to get married and have children.

“Did Charlie bring you closer to God?” Johnson asks, drawing a resounding “yes” from the crowd.

Stephen Miller, the powerful White House adviser, vows to use Kirk’s death as a galvanizing force to finish the work he began.

“We will carry Charlie and Erika in our heart every single day, and fight that much harder because of what you did to us,” Miller says. “You have no idea the dragon you have awakened. You have no idea how determined we will be to save this civilization, to save the West, to save the republic.”

Sa’ar speaks with Reform UK leader Farage after country’s recognition of Palestinian state

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke earlier this evening with Nigel Farage, the head of the right-wing Reform UK party, who condemned the UK government’s decision to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

“The two men mentioned in their conversation the Hamas statement praising the British government’s decision,” the Foreign Ministry says, adding that Sa’ar told Farage that Israel “knows how to distinguish between the British people and their government.”

Portugal joins UK, Canada, Australia in formally recognizing independent Palestinian state

Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel announces Lisbon’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Portugal is the fourth country to confirm its recognition of a Palestinian state today, after Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

IDF says it’s investigating after several civilians said killed in south Lebanon drone strike

The IDF says it is investigating after an airstrike targeting a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon earlier today also killed several civilians.

According to the military, the strike in Bint Jbeil killed a member of the Lebanese terror group who was “operating in the area of a civilian population and contrary to the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

As a result of the strike, “several uninvolved [civilians] were killed,” the military confirms.

Lebanese media reported that the strike had hit a motorcycle and a car. In the car, a father and his three children were killed. The motorcyclist, the apparent target, was also killed.

“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians], and works as much as possible to mitigate harm to them,” the IDF says, adding that “the incident is being investigated.”

IDF chief speaks to senior appointments committee about David Zini’s candidacy for Shin Bet director

The committee that examines and approves senior government positions heard today from IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and former IDF general David Zini regarding Zini’s candidacy for the next Shin Bet chief, the committee says in a statement.

It also heard from former general Roni Numa, who has been reported to be supportive of Zini’s appointment.

“The committee will formulate its decision, which will be issued in the coming days,” the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee adds in the statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally submitted Zini’s nomination to the committee over a week ago, four months after he first announced him as his pick for the job. The appointment, which follows the prime minister’s controversial firing of former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, has been contentious from the outset, with four former Shin Bet chiefs formally opposing Zini’s appointment by submitting letters to the appointments panel arguing that he is unfit to lead the agency.

The committee is not expected to issue any decision on Zini’s appointment before September 25, after the upcoming Rosh Hashanah holiday, according to Hebrew media reports.

Hamas gunmen execute three Gazans accused of collaborating with Israel

Social media pages affiliated with Hamas publish footage showing an execution in Gaza City this evening of three Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.

The videos show three men blindfolded and with their hands tied, surrounded by armed men and a crowd, including children.

One of the gunmen declares that they are “collaborators who betrayed their homeland and extended a hand to the occupation to kill their people.”

Graphic footage shows the gunmen opening fire on the blindfolded men, killing them, while the crowd cheers.

בעמודים המזוהים עם חמאס מפרסמים תיעוד שנטען כי הוא מהוצאה להורג הערב של שלושה עזתים ששיתפו פעולה עם ישראל. לפי הפרסום החמושים הם אנשי חמאס וזה התרחש בערב בעיר עזה. אחד החמושים מכריז שם שהם משת"פים שבגדו בעמם pic.twitter.com/LXuG12GAjL

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) September 21, 2025

Herzog says recognition of Palestinian state after Oct 7 emboldens ‘forces of darkness’

President Isaac Herzog is the latest Israeli leader to pan the UK, Australia, and Canada recognition of a Palestinian state, saying it “will only embolden the forces of darkness.”

“After the atrocities of October 7, while Hamas continues its campaign of terror, and while it continues to cruelly hold 48 hostages in the tunnels and dungeons of Gaza, the recognition of a Palestinian state by some nations today is, not surprisingly, cheered by Hamas,” he writes on X.

“It will not help one Palestinian,” Herzog continues. “It won’t help free one hostage, and it will not help us reach any settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. It will only embolden the forces of darkness.”

“This is a sad day for those who seek true peace.”

Saudi Arabia said to warn Israel that West Bank annexation is red line, as Jerusalem weighs response to Palestine statehood tsunami

File: Benjamin Netanyahu (right) during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 13, 2021; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) speaks during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90; Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP/File)

The Saudis have sent a message to Israel that there will be “major implications in all fields” if it annexes any part of the West Bank, Channel 12 reports. They did not delineate what steps they might take, but they could declare the prospect of Saudi-Israeli normalization dead or once again close their airspace to Israeli flights, which they opened in 2022, the TV report says.

Annexation could also harm the under-the-radar security and trade relations between the two countries. The report also says annexation risks endangering the Abraham Accords.

People around US President Donald Trump are indicating that they do not wish to see annexation, the report adds. “It’s the last thing they need,” especially after Israel’s September 9 strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, the report says.

Saudi officials will discuss how the war in Gaza can be brought to an end, and the scenarios for the “day after” in Gaza, with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, along with leaders from the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, according to the outlet.

Trump will also hold a separate session with Gulf leaders — from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait — who want to hear his stance on the Qatar strike.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting today to discuss possible responses to Western countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week. Potential responses include changing the classification of parts of the West Bank’s Area A to Area B, meaning from Palestinian security and civil control to Israeli security control and Palestinian civil control, and parts of Area B to become Area C, meaning under Israeli civil and security control.

Other responses could include closing the consulates of some countries that recognize an independent state of Palestine, particularly that of France.

Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir were reportedly not invited to the meeting.

In the meeting, Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer stressed that no matter what, full coordination with the US must be maintained.

As such, no decision will be made until Netanyahu returns from his meeting with Trump next week, the prime minister said in a video statement earlier this evening.

The Channel 12 report says Netanyahu told visiting US Secretary of State Mario Rubio last week that he is under coalition pressure to annex Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the West Bank.

Rubio reportedly responded that the focus right now needs to be on ending the war in Gaza and getting back the hostages, and nothing else.

Senior European officials have indicated to Israel that further states are gearing up to recognize Palestine, and have warned that Israeli annexation would be considered “collective punishment” of the Palestinians, and would endanger the Abraham Accords, the same TV channel says.

“Israel will be making a mistake if it responds to our recognition [of a Palestinian state] with harsh diplomatic steps,” it quotes European officials telling Israel. “It would be unfortunate if we were dragged into a further response. We will not take annexation lying down.”

“If Netanyahu and his government are interested in destroying the stable thing we have built in the Middle East, they will bear the consequences.”

PM briefing Likud lawmakers not to publicly push for West Bank annexation, fearing fallout

Facing mounting calls from the political right to advance the process of annexing the West Bank in response to Western nations recognizing a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has in recent days sought to ease the pressure by quietly briefing select Likud lawmakers and ministers, The Times of Israel has learned.

An Israeli official confirms details first published by i24 News, which reported that the briefings came ahead of the expected announcements by countries recognizing Palestinian statehood, and urged participants not to press publicly for “sovereignty now,” with the PMO warning that “It causes damage, the prime minister said he knows when and how to act.”

The briefings were not given to the entire Likud faction, the report added, and appear to have had little effect, as many Likud MKs and ministers continue to push for annexation steps in the West Bank.

France won’t open embassy inside Palestinian territory until all hostages freed, Macron says

France’s planned recognition of a Palestinian state will not include the opening of an embassy until Hamas frees the hostages it is holding in Gaza, President Emmanuel Macron says in an interview aired today.

“It will be, for us, a requirement very clearly before opening, for instance, an embassy in Palestine,” Macron tells CBS News in an interview taped Thursday.

The interview was aired as Britain, Australia and Canada recognized a Palestinian state in a coordinated, seismic shift from decades of Western foreign policy.

Macron also speaks out strongly against any plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza — which they want to be part of a future sovereign state — when rebuilding the territory.

“But if the precondition of such a plan is to push them out, this is just a craziness,” Macron says on “Face the Nation.”

“We should not be — for the credibility of the United States, for the credibility of France — we cannot be implicitly or explicitly complacent with such a project.”

IDF says troops pushing deeper into Gaza City while still allowing civilians to evacuate south

In an English-language video statement, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says the military has moved deeper into Gaza City as it expands its offensive against Hamas.

“Our operations against Hamas have moved deeper into Gaza City, targeting their main stronghold. We are engaged in combat, facing terrorists both above and below ground,” Defrin says.

He says that “Israel continues to ensure that corridors remain open for civilians to move south, toward safer areas. Until now, 550,000 people have moved south.”

“The IDF is continuing to enhance the humanitarian area and encourage residents to leave the combat zones. At Kerem Shalom crossing, thousands of tents and supplies are waiting right now for collection by the UN and international organizations. We call on the international organizations to take this aid and deliver it directly to the Gazan people. In recent weeks alone, Israel has enabled the entry of over 24,000 tents into Gaza. Israel is ensuring civilians can keep out of harm’s way, enabling access to food, shelter, and medicine,” he says.

Defrin notes that this week, “Hamas opened fire on a UN team, and used stolen UN vehicles to block the construction of a new road for future aid trucks,” as well as “robbed four UNICEF aid trucks at gunpoint — depriving 2,700 infants of baby formula.”

“Hamas continues to violently obstruct civilians from evacuating combat zones. Hamas doesn’t protect Gazans; they sacrifice them,” he says.

“Hamas has shown the world its true strategy: to exploit its own people and prolong this war. That strategy will not succeed,” Defrin says.

He says the IDF has “no other choice but to fight for our future. Our forces are working day and night, turning over every stone, to bring our hostages home, dismantle Hamas’s terror networks, and secure a safer region for all.”

“As the Jewish New Year arrives, 48 hostages remain in the grip of Hamas. Their captivity is an unfinished chapter of this war — and we will not close it until they are home. We have no other choice,” he adds.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin issues a video statement on September 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel won’t give up buffer zones inside Syria, Netanyahu says

Israel is not about to give up buffer zones inside of Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in a video statement.

He says that Israel is in talks with the new government in Syria about “them demilitarizing southwest Syria, and we take care of the security of our Druze allies in Jabal Druze.”

More than half a million Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City since late August, IDF says

Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City by foot and vehicles, carrying their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza, September 18, 2025. (AP Photo/ Abdel Kareem Hana)

More than 550,000 Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City to the Strip’s south since late August, the military says, as the IDF expands its offensive against Hamas in the area.

Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF launched the offensive. The military ordered Palestinians in all areas of Gaza City to evacuate to an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in the Strip’s south.

The military issued the evacuation warnings by sending voice and text messages, dropping leaflets, and conducting phone calls. In southern Gaza, the IDF says the humanitarian zone has been adapted for those evacuating Gaza City, including “the expansion of field hospitals, the repair and connection of water lines and desalination facilities, alongside the continued regular supply to the area of food, tents, medicines, and medical equipment.”

“The IDF calls on the civilians in the Gaza Strip to heed the official instructions for their safety and to avoid staying in areas defined as dangerous,” the military says.

Despite the efforts, the IDF says that it has identified attempts by Hamas to prevent civilians from moving to southern Gaza, “in violation of international law, while cruelly exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for terror activities.”

Meanwhile, the IDF says three divisions, the 162nd, 98th, and 36th, completed their entry to Gaza City in recent days, and have begun “operations in the Hamas terror strongholds” in the area.

Additional suspect arrested in connection to recent arson incident near PM’s residence

Police have arrested an additional suspect this morning in connection to an arson incident near the prime minister’s home, police announce.

At the same time, police update that a Jerusalem court has extended the remand of six people arrested over their alleged involvement in the same fires, set during citywide protests against the prime minister.

The six suspects are being investigated on suspicion of causing a fire that damaged trash bins and a car in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood, forcing residents nearby to evacuate. No injuries were reported.

They will remain in detention until September 25, police say.

The fires prompted Netanyahu to hit out at protesters, saying they acted “like fascists,” though hostage families and protest organizers themselves condemned the arson.

Palestinian state ‘will not happen,’ Netanyahu vows, says Israel’s response forthcoming

A still from a video by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuting online theories that Israel was involved in the murder of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, September 18, 2025. (Screenshot via X)

Israel’s response to the recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, Australia, and Canada will come after he gets back from the US next week, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre on October 7 — you are handing a huge reward to terror,” says Netanyahu in a video statement.

“It will not happen,” he continues. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan.”

Netanyahu boasts that under his leadership, Israel “doubled Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria — and we will continue on this course.”

“The response to the recent attempt to force a terrorist state upon us in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the United States,” says Netanyahu. “Wait.”

Members of his coalition are pushing openly for Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, especially the Jordan Valley.

Iran’s foreign minister headed to Vienna to meet with E3 officials as UN poised to reimpose ‘snapback’ sanctions

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is headed to Vienna to meet with officials from Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3, Iran’s Nournews agency reports, as international sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program are set to be reimposed at the end of this month.

The E3 triggered a so-called “snapback” mechanism on August 28, following unsuccessful talks with Iran to reach a new nuclear agreement.

The mechanism launched a 30-day period for the return of all the UN sanctions that were in place on Iran before a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, including a conventional arms embargo, restrictions on ballistic missile development, asset freezes, travel bans and a ban on producing nuclear-related technology.

Then on Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted against a resolution that would have blocked the reimposition of the deep economic sanctions, paving the way for them to be reintroduced.

Recognition of Palestine undermines future peace, strengthens Hamas, Israel warns

Israel “categorically rejects” the recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Kingdom “and some other countries,” says the Foreign Ministry.

The formal declaration of recognition by the UK, Canada, and Australia “further destabilizes the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future,” says the ministry on X.

Israel says recognition “not only rewards the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust by a terror organization that is calling and acting for the annihilation of Israel, but also solidifies the support Hamas enjoys.”

Statehood must remain a final status issue and not be disconnected from peace, says the ministry, adding that the Palestinian Authority has not stopped incitement, rewarding terrorists, or fought terror adequately. “The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem and not part of the solution,” says Israel.

“Israel will not accept any detached and imaginary text that attempts to force it to accept indefensible borders,” promises the Foreign Ministry.

“Political gestures aimed at a domestic voting audience only harm the Middle East and are not helpful. Instead, if the countries that signed this declaration truly wish to stabilize the region, they should focus on pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and to disarm immediately.”

UK Tory leader decries ‘absolutely disastrous’ recognition of Palestinian state

Britain's Member of Parliament Kemi Badenoch speaks after being elected as the new leader of the opposition Conservative Party, in London, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

The United Kingdom’s Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, decries the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state as “absolutely disastrous” and a reward for Hamas terrorism.

In a post on X, Badenoch responds to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement of the decision: “Disastrous. Absolutely disastrous. We will all rue the day this decision was made.”

Disastrous.
Absolutely disastrous.
We will all rue the day this decision was made.
Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas.

It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.

It… https://t.co/7K0GH3VbQp

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) September 21, 2025

“Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas. It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war,” she laments, aligning with Israeli criticism of the move.

Man arrested on suspicion of attacking Likud MK who fell in crowd of protesters

Police say they have arrested a resident of Ramat Gan on suspicion of attacking Likud MK Eli Dallal yesterday at an anti-government protest during a Rosh Hashanah toast put on by the ruling party.

The suspect, a man in his 40s, was arrested while driving on Route 4 after being identified in footage from yesterday evening, said to show him “attacking” the 70-year-old lawmaker.

Footage from the scene shows Dallal making his way through a crowd of protesters at a mall in Kfar Saba, many of whom are shouting and blaring horns, when he suddenly falls to the ground.

One protester, dressed in a thobe in apparent reference to the Qatargate scandal, throws mock dollar bills at the MK as he is escorted out of the crowd by police officers.

Protesters have denied they touched the lawmaker; however, Dallal himself said he felt as though he was “being lynched” by the crowd.

The display drew widespread condemnation from Likud lawmakers and other Netanyahu allies. The premier himself decried “wild incitement” against members of the ruling coalition.

Police stress that there was no “break-in” at yesterday evening’s event and note that protesters gathered solely in the mall’s entrance and lobby.

Commonwealth countries’ recognition of Palestinian state is ‘reward for jihadist Hamas,’ Israel says

The recognition of a Palestinian state by Commonwealth countries is a “reward” for Hamas, says Israel.

“Recognition is nothing but a reward for jihadist Hamas,” says the Foreign Ministry, “emboldened by its Muslim Brotherhood affiliated [sic] in the UK.”

“Hamas leaders themselves openly admit: this recognition is a direct outcome, the ‘fruit’ for the October 7 massacre,” the ministry continues on X.

“Don’t let Jihadist ideology dictate your policy.”

The statements from the UK, Canada, and Australia earlier today announcing recognition of an independent Palestinian state all stressed that there would be no role for Hamas in its future governance or security.

Lebanese media says four killed, including children, in Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media reports that four people were killed in an IDF drone strike in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon earlier today.

The Lebanese Health Ministry says there were children among the dead, but it doesn’t say how many.

The IDF has not yet commented on the reports.

عاجل | مصدر لـ"شبكة قدس":

– 4 شهداء وعدد من الجرحى بينهم أطفال؛ جرّاء قصف الاحتلال في بلدة بنت جبيل، جنوب لبنان.

– الحدث بدأ بقصف مسيرة إسرائيلية لدراجة بصاروخٍ ولمركبة بصاروخ آخر في نفس المكان، داخل حي المسلخ. pic.twitter.com/mrBcPmG3OT

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 21, 2025

Haredi lawmaker tells IDF to ‘repent,’ release draft dodgers from military prison for Rosh Hashanah

Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush attends a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, May 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

United Torah Judaism calls for the release of over 100 Haredi draft dodgers from military prison ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, declaring that it is not yet too late to “repent and to prevent an explosion between brothers.”

According to the extremist Jerusalem Faction group, around 100 Haredi draft dodgers are currently being held in military prison, with dozens of evaders having been arrested and sent to prison over the past several days.

In a statement, MK Meir Porush, whose United Torah Judaism party quit the coalition this summer to protest its failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from mandatory IDF service, calls on “the judicial and military authorities to come to their senses and release the yeshiva students who are under arrest, at the very least for Rosh Hashanah.”

“The situation in which more than 100 Torah observant Jews are sitting in a military prison on Rosh Hashanah as a result of obeying the voice of their rabbis is disgraceful and shames the Jewish people,” he declares, declaring that it “is not too late” for Attorney General Gali-Baharav Miara “to repent and to prevent an explosion between brothers.”

Baharav-Miara has been a major advocate for increased enforcement and sanctions against draft evaders.

Lapid blasts PM for ‘diplomatic disaster’ that is international recognition of Palestine

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

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for the UK, Australia and Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state, insisting that a competent administration would have prevented such a development.

“The unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by Britain, Australia, and Canada is a diplomatic disaster, a harmful step, and a reward for terror,” he says in a statement.

“A functioning Israeli government could have prevented this through smart and serious work, professional diplomatic dialogue, and proper public diplomacy. The government that brought upon us the worst security disaster in our history is now also bringing upon us the most severe diplomatic crisis ever.”

Yisrael Beytenu leader Liberman received death threat, party says

Opposition politician Avigdor Liberman received a death threat today, “one day before Rosh Hashanah,” a spokesperson for his Yisrael Beytenu party announces, adding that a complaint had been filed with the Israel Police.

According to the party’s statement, Liberman received a message saying that “Spies from Russia will be executed… Liberman will be the first.”

Aside from sharing a cover page of the police complaint, the party does not provide any additional information.

PA’s Abbas welcomes UK’s recognition of Palestine as ‘important step’ toward peace

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says that Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state is a necessary step toward lasting peace in the region.

“His excellency praised the United Kingdom’s recognition of the independent State of Palestine, affirming that it constitutes an important and necessary step toward achieving a just and lasting peace in accordance with international legitimacy,” Abbas’s office says in a statement.

IDF deploys third division to Gaza City amid widening offensive against Hamas

Troops of the 36th Division are seen operating in Gaza, in a handout photo issued by the IDF on September 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has deployed a third division, the 36th, to Gaza City, as the offensive against Hamas there expands.

The ground operation, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots B,” began last Monday night with two divisions. The 36th Division was withdrawn from Khan Younis earlier this month, and its troops spent two weeks preparing for the Gaza City offensive.

The IDF says that in recent days, dozens of targets in Gaza City were struck to enable the 36th Division to enter the area.

The IDF’s 36th Division prepares to enter Gaza City, in a video issued by the IDF on September 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Hostages forum condemns international recognition of Palestine before hostages are freed

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issues a statement condemning the UK, Canada and Australia for the “unconditional recognition of a Palestinian state while turning a blind eye to the fact that 48 hostages remain in Hamas captivity.”

“As families who deeply want peace in the region, we believe that any discussion about recognizing a Palestinian state must be contingent upon the immediate release of all hostages,” the forum says, calling it a “moral and humanitarian imperative.”

The forum urges other nations to “act responsibly and ensure that any ‘day after’ discussions occur only after our loved ones are brought home.”

“We seek an end to this war, the safe return of all hostages, and a sustainable peace that benefits both peoples,” it says, adding that any action otherwise “effectively enables terrorism while legitimizing the October 7th massacre.”

“Offering such significant political rewards without securing the return of all 48 of our loved ones represents a catastrophic failure of political, moral, and diplomatic leadership that will severely damage efforts to bring them all home,” the forum adds.

Israel-Syria security agreement 99% done, US official tells ToI

An emerging security agreement between Israel and Syria is “99%” complete, with an announcement expected within the next two weeks, a senior official in the Trump administration tells The Times of Israel.

“We’re 99% the way there. I think in the next two weeks, we’ll have an announcement, if not at the end of the week,” the official says, adding that the main issues left to resolve are the precise timing of the announcement and domestic considerations in Syria.

“It’s really a question of timing and also the Syrians communicating it to their people,” the official says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene a meeting this evening to discuss a potential security agreement with Syria, one attendee’s office told The Times of Israel, with Damascus seeking to secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

The sides held a US-brokered meeting in London on Wednesday that the Axios news site said lasted five hours, fueling anticipation that an agreement could be announced this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, which both Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be attending.

Ben Gvir says he will propose ‘immediate’ West Bank annexation in response to Western recognition of Palestine

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announces that he will raise annexing the West Bank at the next cabinet meeting in response to the UK, Canada and Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state.

“The recognition by the UK, Canada, and Australia of a ‘Palestinian’ state, as a prize for the murderous Nukhba terrorists, requires immediate countermeasures,” says Ben Gvir, calling for “the immediate application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (the biblical name for the regions known collectively as the West Bank) and the complete dismantling of the ‘Palestinian’ Authority.”

The Nukhba force is the elite Hamas unit that spearheaded the October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel.

“I intend to submit a proposal for the application of sovereignty at the upcoming cabinet meeting,” he adds.

Ben Gvir is echoed by his Otzma Yehudit party’s Yitzhak Wasserlauf, who heads the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Ministry.

“The Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the people of Israel – there is no Palestinian people and no Palestinian state,” Wasserlauf declares.

Hardline members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have been calling to annex the disputed territory in response to recognition of a Palestinian state by Western powers. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a proposal for Israel to annex 82 percent of the West Bank in a bid to prevent a Palestinian state.

Not long afterwards, while signing an agreement to push ahead with a controversial settlement expansion plan, Netanyahu declared that “there will be no Palestinian state; this place belongs to us.”

Palestinian Authority says recognition of statehood brings independence closer

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin says countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week are taking an irreversible step that preserves the two-state solution and brings Palestinian independence and sovereignty closer.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state today, joining other nations in a move aimed at reviving momentum for a two-state solution but which has been criticized by Israel and the United States.

“Now is the time. Tomorrow is a historic date we need to build on. It’s not the end,” Shahin tells reporters in Ramallah.

“It is a move bringing us closer to sovereignty and independence. It might not end the war tomorrow, but it’s a move forward, which we need to build on and amplify,” she says, referring to Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

100 Haredi draft dodgers currently held in military prison, extremist Jerusalem Faction says

Jewish men at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, September 21, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Around 100 Haredi draft dodgers are currently being held in military prison, the extremist Jerusalem Faction group announces.

In a statement, the ultra-Orthodox group, which is vociferously opposed to the military enlistment of yeshiva students, says that over the last few days, dozens of evaders have been arrested and sent to prison while some already in custody have been tried and released.

Addressing the Knesset State Control Committee last week, Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalif, the head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, told lawmakers that Haredi evaders arrested by the military police are still managing to get out of enlisting thanks to significant loopholes, which makes efforts to detain them a waste of resources.

He added that arrests are expected to ramp up as more Haredi men attempt to fly to Uman, Ukraine, for an annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Dozens of suspected draft dodgers were reportedly arrested in recent days at Ben Gurion Airport while trying to make the journey.

Gantz accuses ‘Western Leaders’ of emboldening Hamas by recognizing Palestinian statehood

Recognizing a Palestinian state after October 7 “ultimately only emboldens Hamas, extends the war, distances the prospects of a hostage deal and sends a clear message of support to Iran and its proxies,” declares Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz.

“If advancing peace & stability in the Middle East is what you seek, dear Western Leaders – and not buckling to domestic political pressure, then maximum pressure must be applied to Hamas to relinquish power and return the hostages before anything else,” the centrist politician posts on X in English following British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement of the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state and similar announcements from Canada and Australia.

The leaders of the three countries all stressed that there was no room for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana also slams Starmer, posting a photo of him with the tagline: “A Modern-day appeaser who chose dishonour,” while Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar calls on Israel to apply sovereignty in the West Bank in response to the UK’s “meaningless statement that reeks of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel.”

Starmer announces UK’s recognition of Palestinian state, ‘to revive the hope of peace’; insists it is ‘not a reward for Hamas’

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement inside No. 10 Downing Street after the UK cabinet was recalled to discuss the situation in Gaza, in London, July 29, 2025. (Toby Melville, Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state, minutes after similar announcements from Canada and Australia.

“Today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly as the prime minister of this great country that the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” he says on X.

In his statement, Starmer says the move is part of a process to bring about an end to the conflict in Gaza and help promote a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians — “a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state.”

He says that he meets regularly with British families of hostages. “I see the torture that they endure each and every day.”

“The hostages must be released immediately,” says Starmer. “We will keep on fighting to bring them home.”

“Hamas is a brutal terror organization. Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of their hateful vision,” he says.

Starmer insists that the two-state solution “is not a reward for Hamas, because it means Hamas can have no future, no role in government, no role in security.”

“We have already proscribed and sanctioned Hamas, and we will go further,” he vows. “I have directed work to sanction other Hamas figures in the coming weeks.”

Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/yrg6Lywc1s

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 21, 2025

He says the Israeli escalation in Gaza, settlement building in the West Bank, and Hamas actions are snuffing out hope for a two-state solution.

“The man-made humanitarian crisis in Gaza reaches new depths,” he says.

He says the Israeli government’s “relentless and increasing bombardment of Gaza, the offensive of recent weeks, the starvation and devastation are utterly intolerable. Tens of thousands have been killed, including thousands as they tried to collect food and water. This death and destruction horrifies all of us. It must end.”

The British prime minister says “nowhere near enough aid is getting through” to Gaza, and calls on Israel to “lift the unacceptable restrictions at the border, stop these cruel tactics, and let the aid surge in. With the actions of Hamas, the Israeli government escalating the conflict, and settlement building being accelerated in the West Bank, the hope of a two-state solution is fading. But we cannot let that light go out.

“That is why we are building consensus with leaders in the region and beyond, around our framework for peace,” he says. “This is a practical plan to bring people together behind a common vision and a series of steps, including the reform of the Palestinian Authority, that takes us from a ceasefire in Gaza to negotiations on a two-state solution. We will keep driving this forward.”

He recalls that he set out in July “the terms upon which we would act in line with our manifesto to recognise Palestinian statehood. That moment has now arrived. So today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly, as prime minister of this great country, that the United Kingdom formally recognises the state of Palestine.”

“We recognised the State of Israel, more than 75 years ago, as a homeland for the Jewish people,” he says. “Today, we join over 150 countries who recognise a Palestinian state also — a pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”

“I know the strength of feeling that this conflict provokes.” He says it’s seen on the streets, in schools, in conversations. “Some have used it to stoke hatred and fear, but that solves nothing.” Rather, he concludes, “we must channel our efforts… behind the peaceful future that we want to see: the release of the hostages, an end to the violence, an end to the suffering, and a shift back to a two-state solution as the best hope for peace and security for all sides.”

Canada, Australia announce recognition of ‘independent and sovereign State of Palestine’

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (L) speaks at a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on September 18, 2025. (Yuri Cortez/AFP); Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends a flag-raising ceremony marking Papua New Guinea's 50th independence anniversary in Port Moresby on September 16, 2025. (Andrew Kutan/AFP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announce their countries’ recognition of an independent Palestinian state, ahead of the UN General Assembly.

Carney, in his announcement, says that the “current Israeli government is working methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established.”

“Canada recognizes the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Carney says.

Today, Canada recognises the State of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/zhumVJRBfe

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) September 21, 2025

Albanese says that his country’s recognition of the “independent and sovereign State of Palestine” reflects Australia’s “longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, which has always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples.”

He stresses that “the terrorist organization Hamas must have no role in Palestine.”

https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1969748666937459069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1969748666937459069%7Ctwgr%5E398163e63deb8186d1755b795b9a70305bd15a1c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2Flive%2F2025%2Fsep%2F21%2Fkeir-starmer-palestine-recognition-announcement-gaza-uk-politics-live

Peace orgs, Arab lawmakers fume after Yair Golan says recognizing Palestinian statehood ‘destructive’ to Israel

Arab parties and peace organizations condemn Democrats chairman Yair Golan after he calls recognition of a Palestinian state “destructive” and “extremely damaging” to Israel, ahead of the vote to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN tomorrow.

Arab-Jewish left-wing party Hadash says the Democrats “have become Likud prior to its partnership with Kahanists” and insists that peace and shared prosperity can only come through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“I have great respect for Yair Golan on many of his positions, but on this issue I am in complete disagreement,” says Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ayman Odeh. “Why ‘separation’ and not a peace agreement? Another unilateral disengagement? The only way is full recognition of the national rights of both peoples, including their right to self-determination.”

Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman says Golan’s remarks show “there is no ‘left’ left in the Knesset beyond Hadash. Precisely when many of Golan’s own supporters back the establishment of a Palestinian state and the advancement of peace, he himself lacks the vision and leadership to clearly declare the only path to end occupation, oppression, and destruction.”

Golan’s comments “illustrate exactly the root of the problem: denial of the Palestinian people’s right to independence and freedom does not bring security – it deepens the conflict,” says Peace Partnership, a coalition of Israeli and Palestinian groups.

Democrats chair Yair Golan: International recognition of Palestine ‘extremely damaging’ to Israel ‘at this time’

Democrats party leader Yair Golan attends a rally outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Democrats chairman Yair Golan says that recognizing a Palestinian state is “destructive” and “extremely damaging” to Israel, ahead of the UN summit tomorrow in New York, in which numerous countries are expected to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.

The leader of the left-wing party has long supported a two-state solution, but “not at this time.”

“After October 7 and Hamas’s heinous attack, talking about a Palestinian state is destructive,” Golan says in an interview with 103FM radio. “We should now be talking about a process centered on separation, with security responsibility in Israel’s hands, a significant and thorough period during which Israel ensures that the other side is capable of upholding a future agreement.”

“I spoke with the French Foreign Ministry and tried to explain how harmful this is to the issues they want to promote, including solving the Palestinian problem,” he says.

In July, France, which is co-chairing the summit alongside Saudi Arabia, was among the first in a series of European states to announce that it would recognize a Palestinian state.

Golan blames the recognition on the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, accusing him of “ignoring the world” and “creating a modern Sparta,” referring to highly criticized remarks the premier made last week in which he admitted that Israel was facing increasing isolation.

“If we had managed this correctly, it could have been handled in a way that protects Israel and avoids unnecessary risks to national security,” says Golan.

He adds, at the same time, that annexing Gaza and its Palestinian population, as has been floated by the current government, is impossible: “No country in the world is ready, willing, or interested in absorbing two million Palestinians.”

He insists that “solving the Palestinian problem” must be led by Israelis and Palestinians, with “strong support from regional countries.”

Pope pans Israeli moves in Gaza

Pope Leo is speaking out against the forced displacement of Gaza civilians amid the Israeli military’s campaign in the Palestinian enclave’s main city.

“Together with the pastors of the churches in the Holy Land, I repeat that there is no future based on violence, forced exile, and revenge,” the pope says during his weekly Angelus prayer.

Leo’s role in advocating for peace in Gaza has become starker since Israel struck the territory’s only Catholic church in July.

“The peoples need peace. Those who truly love them work for peace,” the first pope from the United States adds.

Netanyahu: Israel will respond to Palestinian statehood moves within days; Palestine ‘would endanger our existence’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, third from left, convenes a cabinet meeting on September 21, 2025. (Maayan Taof/GPO)

Ahead of his scheduled speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says at his weekly cabinet meeting that Israel will respond to calls to establish a Palestinian state at the conference of world leaders in the coming days, calling for a “fight” against the move, which he says would “endanger [Israel’s] existence.”

“At the UN, I will present the truth. This is Israel’s truth, but it is also the objective truth in our just struggle against the forces of evil, and our vision for real peace — peace through strength,” Netanyahu says in his opening remarks, reminding cabinet ministers that he will meet with US President Donald Trump following his UN speech.

“We will also have to fight at the UN and in all other arenas against the false propaganda directed at us and the calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state — which would endanger our existence and constitute an absurd reward for terror,” he continues, repeating past remarks that nations recognizing a Palestinian state at the General Assembly are rewarding Hamas’s acts of terror against Israel.

“The international community will hear from us about this in the coming days,” the premier says.

“After the UN General Assembly, I will meet with my friend, President Trump. This will be the fourth time I meet with him since the beginning of his second term — more than any other world leader. And we have a great deal to discuss,” Netanyahu says.

Likud spokesman says bill exempting ultra-Orthodox from IDF draft long overdue

A bill regulating Haredi conscription “should have been passed a long time ago,” Likud spokesman Guy Levy tells ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Berama, backing controversial legislation that would exempt yeshiva students from military service.

“I am among those who greatly revere the world of Torah; yeshivas must be given their place and status, and those Torah scholars who study should receive even more. On the other hand, I also greatly sanctify the army,” he says.

The controversial legislation, which critics have dubbed the “evasion bill,” is currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The committee’s chairman, Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, has insisted that Israelis must “find the balance” between tradition and Torah study, on the one hand, and military service, on the other, “to reach a historic solution.”

Earlier this month, i24 News released a clip of Bismuth telling a senior Haredi rabbi that members of the ultra-Orthodox community who study full-time in yeshiva ought to be allowed to continue their studies, while those who do not should be conscripted.

He has reportedly pushed for the approval of a wartime “emergency regulation” that would allow for the immediate drafting of enough soldiers to fill the military’s manpower shortage while also lifting sanctions on ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.

In a separate interview with Kol Berama, Rabbi Moshe Maya, a member of Shas’s ruling Council of Torah Sages, insists that yeshiva students not be conscripted at all, but he is open to discuss conscription for those not enrolled in yeshivas.

Palestinian says villagers fired on during incursion by settlers and soldiers, as sheep are stolen

A Palestinian man says settlers and soldiers who entered his village opened fire, wounding two people, and beat him up while stealing his sheep.

Jihad Abu Mahwa tells the Times of Israel that that dozens of settlers arrived accompanied by several soldiers and attacked his village of Deir Jarir, near Ramallah.

During the incident, soldiers shot toward him. Two other villagers were wounded by gunfire during the incident, he says, but does not specify who fired the shots.

He says settlers beat him with sticks before opening the pens where his sheep were kept and stealing 230 head of livestock.

Footage shared on social media shows settlers arriving in the village and later leaving with sheep.

#2 עדכון, טרור מתנחלים דיר ג׳ריר:
כ20 מתנחלים פלשו לעיירה, המתנחלים תקפו באלימות את משפחתו של ג'יהאד אבו מחווה, וגנבו כ70 ראשי צאן. https://t.co/JCTGTVN0r5 pic.twitter.com/56ZKhrXk8b

— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) September 21, 2025

There is no comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

According to Rescuers without Borders, an Israeli emergency response group, Arabs threw stones at Jewish shepherds in the area and stole some of their flock.

“Two Jews were lightly injured and hospitalized and the flock was returned,” the group says.

Netanyahu says Syria talks progressing, peace with northern neighbors possible

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers during a cabinet meeting that Israel had made progress in talks with Syria that could lead to peace agreements with Damascus and Beirut, according to a readout from his office.

“Our victories against Hezbollah opened a window to unimaginable possibilities, that’s the possibility of peace with our neighbors to the north,” he is quoted saying. “We’re conducting contacts and there has been certain progress with the Syrians,  but that’s still a vision for the future.”

Netanyahu is set to convene a meeting this evening to discuss an emerging security agreement with Syria, the office of one of the attendees told The Times of Israel on Saturday, with Damascus seeking to secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

UK’s Starmer set to announce Palestine recognition in two hours

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to release a video statement announcing British recognition of a Palestinian state at 4 p.m. Israel time, 10 Downing Street tells The Times of Israel.

Starmer is planning to announce new sanctions on the Hamas terror group at the same time, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

British media reported on Saturday that Starmer will publish a statement on Sunday confirming the UK’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state, following the France-led push for coordinated recognition at the UN General Assembly.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy confirmed that Starmer would announce a decision on whether to go ahead with the move, noting that it was aimed at bolstering support for a two-state solution and would not create a Palestinian state “overnight.”

Lammy later met Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian envoy to the United Kingdom, according to social media posts from both.

H.E. Ambassador @hzomlot with @DavidLammy MP ahead of a historic day. pic.twitter.com/5iEM3YXKk4

— Palestine in the UK (@PalMissionUK) September 21, 2025

Zomlot tells the BBC that the decision will act as a corrective to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which announced the British support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

“The issue today is ending the denial of our existence that started 108 years ago,” Zomlot says. “And I think today, the British people should celebrate a day when history is being corrected, when wrongs are being righted, when recognition of the wrongs of the past are beginning to be corrected, and when taking responsibility of that colonial era, because that era has led us directly to the genocide in Gaza today, and that era has led to the ethnic cleansing of two-thirds of the Palestinian people during the Nakba and during the British mandate.”

One year on, IDF publishes new footage of Lebanon fight

IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon between September and November 2024, in an image released by the IDF on September 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Marking a year since the military’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the IDF releases new footage from the ground operations in the south of the country.

According to the IDF, five divisions operated in over 30 villages in southern Lebanon, killing Hezbollah operatives and dismantling the terror group’s infrastructure.

The offensive ended with a ceasefire agreement in November 2024, which has been in effect since, despite continued IDF presence at five posts in southern Lebanon and attacks on Hezbollah operatives accused of violating the terms of the truce by trying to rebuild the terror group’s infrastructure.

Since the ceasefire, the IDF says it has killed over 300 Hezbollah operatives in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,000 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.

IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon between September and November 2024, in footage released by the IDF on September 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Netanyahu chief of staff Braverman okayed as next envoy to UK

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 29, 2017. (Ohad Zwigenberg/POOL)

The cabinet unanimously approves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman as Israel’s next ambassador in London, the Foreign Ministry says.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanks outgoing ambassador Tzipi Hotovely for her work, according to the ministry.

Braverman has been the prime minister’s chief of staff since April 2022, when Netanyahu was the opposition leader. Braverman kept the job when Likud won an election later that year and Netanyahu became prime minister. He and his wife are close friends and allies of the Netanyahu family,

Braverman is under investigation for suspected forgery and fraud over alleged record tampering in the Prime Minister’s Office, and has been questioned by police. He is suspected of having altered the stated time at which Netanyahu first gave instructions on how to deal with the Hamas invasion on the morning of October 7, 2023.

Holding a law degree from Bar-Ilan University, Braverman began his career as the spokesman of the Ness Ziona municipality and director general of its educational and cultural institutions before moving to national politics, heading up Likud’s election campaign in 2013.

The announcement comes hours before London is expected to announce recognition of a Palestinian state, a move with the potential to significantly impact ties.

Hamas says over 70 killed in Gaza in past day

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 75 Palestinians were confirmed killed over the past 24 hours, and more than 300 wounded by Israeli fire in the Strip were brought to hospitals. The toll includes four people previously killed whose bodies were recovered from rubble.

Gaza authorities do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The numbers bring the tally of war dead claimed by Gazan health officials to 65,283.

The ministry also says that four more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the enclave, raising deaths from such causes to 440 people, including 147 children, since the war started.

Israel has disputed claims of widespread famine in Gaza, but has admitted “there are issues of access to food” in some areas.

Shifa hospital head rejects IDF claim that brother was Hamas sniper

The director of Gaza’s Shifa’s hospital dismisses the Israeli claim that his brother was a Hamas sharpshooter as “a lie, slander and an unacceptable justification for targeting civilians with direct missile strikes.”

The IDF said this morning that it had killed Majed Abu Salmiya in a strike a day earlier, describing him as “a sniper for Hamas [who] was preparing to carry out an imminent terror attack against IDF troops in the Gaza City area.”

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, tells AFP that he had been working in the emergency department on Saturday when his brother and sister-in-law’s bodies were brought in, leaving him “shocked and devastated.”

“My brother is a 57-year-old man who suffers from several illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and he has severe vision impairment — and they claim he was a sniper? This is pure fabrication,” he says.

Alleged shooter, 23, charged in New Hampshire killing

Authorities in New Hampshire say they have charged Hunter Nadeau, 23, with carrying out a deadly shooting at a country club where a wedding was taking place.

According to a press release from the state’s attorney general, Nadeau is accused of killing Robert Steven DeCesare, 59.

“There is no known connection between Hunter Nadeau and Mr. DeCesare,” the statement reads.

No motive is announced, including whether the killing may have been politically motivated. A witness at the scene claimed that the shooter, dressed in all black, yelled “free Palestine” during the attack.

Additional charges are expected against Nadeau, including for shooting and wounding two other adults. He is set to be arraigned tomorrow.

IDF details strikes on alleged Gaza fighters

Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo dated September 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF claims to have killed “many” armed operatives who were planning to carry out attacks on troops during operations in Gaza City in the past day.

According to the military, troops of the 98th Division spotted a cell of armed fighters near the forces and directed an airstrike against them. In another incident in the area, the IDF says several operatives and weapons were identified at a site, which was then struck from the air.

Additionally, the IDF says the 162nd Division, which is also operating in Gaza City, killed several more operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including booby traps.

Also, as part of the offensive in northern Gaza, the Israeli Navy’s 916th Patrol Squadron killed an operative who “posed a threat to the ground troops,” the military says.

Meanwhile, the IDF says the 99th Division, operating elsewhere in northern Gaza, struck several buildings used by Hamas, along with operatives; and the Gaza Division, operating in the Strip’s south, located a Hamas surveillance command center, which was targeted in a drone strike, killing the operatives inside.

Hostage relatives, former captives seen at Western Wall selichot service

Former hostage Noga Weiss, left, and her sister Meital join a selichot service at the Western Wall on September 21, 2025. (Adar Eyal/Hostage Families Forum)

Several former hostages and family members of remaining hostages joined a “selichot” prayer event at the Western Wall ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which begins on Monday at sunset, The Hostage and Missing Families Forum says.

The group reveals the contents of a note left in the Western Wall by Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza,

“My God, I have one prayer to You: For the return of the 48 hostages to the land of Israel
and for the return of the IDF soldiers to the safety of their homes. Am Yisrael Chai [The people of Israel live],” the note reads.

The “selichot” service consists of a litany of penitential and supplicant prayers. The service is held nightly between midnight and dawn in the period before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement (which falls on October 1-2). Sephardi Jews recite it beginning a month before Rosh Hashanah, while Ashkenazi Jews start the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.

Captivity survivors Ilana Gritzewsky and Noga Weiss, who were released in November 2023, and Dani Miran, father of hostage Omri Miran, also joined the service, according to the Hostage Family Forum.

A selichot service was also held at the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.

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. Also held is the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014.

Eight Palestinians killed in Israeli strike, Gaza authorities say

Eight Palestinians, including children, were killed and dozens were wounded in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood this morning, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense agency.

Gaza authorities do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Gaza City has been under evacuation orders amid an ongoing offensive in the area against Hamas.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the specific strike.

Police say ex-MK Zoabi was under investigation for months

Following the detention of former MK Hanin Zoabi this morning, the head of police investigations in the Northern District indicates that she had been under probe for months as part of a covert investigation.

Without naming Zoabi, Avi Ayash says the investigation was underway for several months in the Northern District police’s investigations and intelligence unit before it became public with her detention this morning.

“It is a serious incident, in which this Nazareth resident delivered extremely problematic remarks and statements that testify to incitement and to this detainee’s desire to identify with a terrorist organization,” he says.

Zoabi is suspected of incitement and identifying with a terrorist organization after speaking to the Palestina Kongress in Vienna last year, where she told the crowd that “it is not Hamas who resisted, it is the Palestinian people, and yes — you cannot differentiate between Hamas and the Palestinian people.”

She went on to say that “those who entered on October 7, they didn’t enter the Israeli borders, they entered their own land.”

Australia to announce recognition of Palestinian state at UN today — US official

Australia will announce its unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in New York today, a senior official in the Trump administration tells The Times of Israel.

Canberra would be the third Western country expected to take such a step today, alongside the United Kingdom and Portugal, which are expected to declare recognition before or during the UN session as well.

Australia’s step is proceeding despite US objections, the official adds.

“We told them it’s not helpful,” the official says, adding that Australia justified the move on “transparently domestic considerations.”

The Australian Embassy in Jerusalem does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US President Donald Trump has voiced opposition to countries pursuing recognition of Palestinian statehood, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that Israel could respond “reciprocally” through annexation of the West Bank.

Asked about Washington’s own response to countries announcing recognition, the senior official says, “Planned measures are under consideration.”

Bennett warns officials they will pay for bending rules under political pressure

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks during the Israel Information Technology Conference in Ness Ziona, May 5, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warns public servants against breaking or bending laws due to political pressure, saying they will face consequences when the current government is removed from power.

In a Facebook post addressing public servants, judges, police officers and election officials, Bennett says that he is “aware of the massive pressure being placed on you.”

“Do not agree to break the law or bend the rules because of political pressure,” he warns. “You will not forgive yourselves for straying from the law; you bear responsibility for your actions. There is a tomorrow. Do not be afraid. Soon the current government will be replaced.”

Bennett, who is planning a political comeback, pledges a return to “professional governance, renewal, and growth.”

He further vows to uproot what he calls “harmful norms” — such as “enemy agents operating from the Prime Minister’s Office” and ministers taking bribes — pointedly referencing the Qatargate scandal and the ongoing police investigation into Social Equality Minister May Golan.

In the post, Bennett discounts the possibility that elections scheduled for next fall could be postponed, as some have alleged the current government could try to do by citing fighting in Gaza as justification.

While currently not serving in the Knesset, the former prime minister has launched a new faction, Bennett 2026, which has quickly risen to the top of opinion polls, often finishing alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.

Israel keeps Allenby Crossing shut after Jordan says terminal reopening

Israel’s Airports Authority says the Allenby Crossing is remaining closed, after Amman had announced that the sole gateway between the West Bank and Jordan was being opened to non-cargo traffic three days after a deadly attack there.

Israel says the closure is being made in coordination with Jordanian and Palestinian authorities.

Jordan, which earlier said the crossing was reopening to passenger traffic, says the terminal was suddenly closed by Israeli authorities, with those there being forced to turn back.

Israel shut the crossing on Friday, a day after a truck driver carrying Gaza-bound humanitarian aid opened fire and killed two Israeli military personnel there.

Two East Jerusalem men arrested over allegations of support for Hamas

Police arrested two Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem suspected of incitement and identifying with Hamas in recent days, law enforcement announces.

One of the suspects, a hotel maintenance worker in his 30s, was arrested over allegations that he created several incendiary social media posts, including one quoting a speech given by slain Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

“Hamas dedicates our souls, our blood, our family and our sons for the sake of Jerusalem. There is no such thing as the State of Israel whose capital is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not for sale,” the post reads, per police.

The other detainee, a 46-year-old man also from East Jerusalem, had been keeping Hamas flags in his house, police say. They seized the flags during a raid on his home.

The two suspects are in detention and police expect prosecutors to file incitement charges against both in the coming days.

Touting dozens of arrests they have carried out in Jerusalem on terror-related incitement suspicions, police say that most suspects are tracked down online by officers in the district police’s “Special Awareness Operations Center” — launched ahead of Ramadan earlier this year to monitor online incitement.

Jordan reopens Allenby Crossing to travelers but not cargo

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)

Jordan says it has partially reopened its border crossing with the West Bank, three days after closing it following an attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.

“The crossing reopened Sunday for travelers only, while the movement of cargo trucks remains suspended until further notice,” an official statement says.

State broadcaster Al-Mamlaka reports heavy traffic at the Allenby Crossing in both directions from early in the morning.

On Thursday, a Jordanian truck driver carrying aid bound for Gaza opened fire at the crossing, killing an Israeli soldier and a reserve officer with the civil administration before being himself shot to death.

Following the attack, the Israeli military asked Jordan and the leadership in Jerusalem to suspend the transfer of aid through the terminal.

Allenby is primarily used by Palestinians in the West Bank to travel abroad without passing through Israel.

Balad party accuses police of trying to intimidate Arabs by detaining former lawmaker

Head of the Balad party MK Sami Abou Shahadeh arrives to cast his vote a voting station in Jaffa on November 1, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The Palestinian nationalist Balad party issues a statement condemning the detention of its former lawmaker Hanin Zoabi, after police took her in for interrogation this morning on suspicion of membership in a terror group and incitement to terror.

The party says that the detention is a “message of intimidation” targeting not only Zoabi but “all of our populace and national forces who insist on rejecting war crimes and Israelization.”

They label police claims of incitement to terrorism a pretext to crack down on “national-political activity.”

“This is a political move par excellence, that fits into the context of the systematic persecution of national-political activity and the blatant attack on freedom of expression and political organizing among the Arab populace,” the party statement reads.

She was detained from her home in Nazareth regarding comments she made to an anti-Israel conference abroad several months ago, police say. In a video from a speech to a Vienna conference in October 2024, Zoabi makes comments that seem to indicate support for Hamas and the terror group’s October 7 attack.

Zoabi, who served as a Balad MK from 2009 to 2019, including when the party was part of the Joint List confederation, is known for her outspoken criticism of Israel.

UK’s Lammy says Palestine recognition aimed at keeping distant two-state vision ‘alive’

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivers opening remarks during the London Sudan conference at Lancaster House in London, April 15, 2025. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain’s deputy prime minister David Lammy says the UK’s imminent recognition of a Palestinian state will not bring one into existence “overnight,” stressing that recognition must be part of a broader peace process.

“Any step to recognize it is because we wish to keep alive the prospects of a two-state solution,” David Lammy tells Sky News, confirming plans for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce a decision on recognizing a Palestinian state later today.

“We are some significant distance from two states,” he admits.

He also calls for the release of hostages in Gaza and says Hamas cannot play any role in governing, adding that the Palestinian Authority must also make reforms.

Lammy, who was recently removed as foreign secretary, also says the chance for a ceasefire in Gaza anytime soon “lies in tatters.”

After Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar earlier this month, it’s “very hard to see a ceasefire in the coming weeks,” he says.

10 troops lightly hurt when vehicle flips in Gaza

Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo dated September 20, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

Ten IDF soldiers were lightly injured when a military vehicle they were in overturned during operations in northern Gaza this morning, the military says.

The troops were taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.

Erdogan says he’ll discuss Israeli ‘massacres’ at UN

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says he will raise the subject of Israel’s “massacres” in Gaza at the UN General Assembly and expresses hope that wider recognition of Palestine will speed efforts for a two-state solution, in comments before departing for New York.

Speaking to reporters, Erdogan also says he will discuss cooperation on trade and the defense industry with US President Donald Trump. He says he will meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his trip.

Two rockets fired from Gaza at Ashdod, no injuries

Two rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the southern coastal city of Ashdod a short while ago, the military says.

One rocket was intercepted by air defenses, while the second struck an open area, according to the IDF.

חזרת הטפטופים?
יירוט שיגור הטילים החריג מעל אשדוד https://t.co/qieVh8kkRx pic.twitter.com/3hfCofJYCN

— אלי וינברג-מחזיר עוקב (@eli_live1) September 21, 2025

There are no immediate reports of injuries or major damage in the attack, which triggered sirens in Ashdod’s eastern neighborhoods and nearby towns.

Rocket fire from Gaza, especially long-range attacks with multiple projectiles, has been increasingly rare as the war has progressed, with terror group’s launching capabilities hindered by the IDF’s ground offensive.

The last time rockets were fired at Ashdod was on April 6.

Press group accuses Israel of killing 31 journalists in attack on Houthis

Flames and smoke rise following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen on September 10, 2025. (AP Photo)

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists accuses Israel of murdering 31 journalists who worked for Houthi-run news outlets during a strike on Yemen earlier this month.

CPJ says it marks the second deadliest single attack on the press ever recorded, and although the dead were apparently members of the Houthis’ military wing, it says they should have been protected as civilians under international law.

The strikes came on September 10 after a drone launched by the Iran-backed Houthis breached Israel’s multilayered air defenses and slammed into the Ramon Airport in the south, injuring one person, the latest of dozens of Houthi missile and drone attacks to target the country over the last year.

The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes in Sanaa and in the al-Jawf area north of the capital hit Houthi military camps where operatives were gathered, the headquarters of the terror group’s propaganda division, and a fuel depot. The Houthis reported that a total of 35 people were killed in the strikes.

The propaganda division, officially known as the Moral Guidance Department in the Yemeni Armed Forces, is under complete Houthi control and is headed by Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree.

Brigadier Yahya Saree Qasim, spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi group, speaks during a rally denouncing Israel in Sanaa on January 3, 2025.(Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)

Yemen’s September 26 newspaper, which describes itself as the official Houthi military outlet, named 31 journalists killed in the strikes, which it said hit its newsroom and another Houthi-controlled outlet, Yemen, both located in the Houthi military’s Moral Guidance Department headquarters in Sanaa.

“It is a brutal and unjustified attack that targeted innocent people whose only crime was working in the media field, armed with nothing but their pens and words,” September 26 editor Nasser al-Khadri is quoted by CPJ as saying.

CPJ says that it is classifying the killing of the 31 journalists in Yemen as “murders — deliberate targeting of journalists for their work.” Still, CPJ says it can so far only confirm that nine of the 31 are actually journalists, as it continues to investigate.

At the time of the strike, the IDF said the Houthis’ military propaganda division “is responsible for spreading incitement and propaganda messages in the media” and “spearheaded the regime’s propaganda and psychological terror efforts.”

CPJ has accused the IDF of being responsible for the murders of one in six journalists globally since 2016, many of them in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war. The IDF has insisted that it does not intentionally target journalists, while noting that many on CPJ’s list are members of Palestinian terror groups.

Rocket sirens sound in Ashdod

Rocket sirens are sounding in the southern coastal city of Ashdod and nearby towns.

The IDF says it is looking into the details.

‘They entered their own land’: ex-MK Zoabi appeared to justify Oct. 7 attack in 2024 speech

Hebrew-language reports identify a speech delivered by former MK Hanin Zoabi in Vienna, Austria, in early October 2024 as having sparked her detention this morning on suspicion of incitement to terror.

In a video of the address to the Palestina Kongress, she is heard seemingly justifying the October 7, 2023, assault, and expressing solidarity with the Hamas terror group that led the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

“It is not Hamas who is resisting, it isn’t the Palestinian people, you cannot differentiate between Hamas and the Palestinian people,” Zoabi says. “Don’t tell me about October 7.”

Noting that many in Gaza are descendants of Palestinian refugees, she adds, “On October 7, they didn’t enter Israeli borders, they entered their own land,” drawing applause.

Among other subjects, Zoabi also talks about support for changing European attitudes to stop backing Israel due to the Holocaust, and the importance of drafting anti-Zionist Jews as part of that struggle.

Israeli baseball team faces protests at European tourney in Rotterdam

A coalition of pro-Palestinian groups in Rotterdam is reportedly planning to continue protesting and attempting to block Israel’s national baseball team from competing in a European tournament, after demonstrating against the team in the Dutch city on Saturday.

Dozens of members of the Rotterdam Palestine Coalition Foundation gathered outside Rotterdam’s Neptunus Stadium and attempted to block the venue from opening.

The game was in fact delayed for over two hours, albeit by rain, and when gates opened, the remaining protesters were moved to another area by police, according to Turkey’s Anadolou Agency.

Euro Baseball 2025, Rotterdam

Around 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the venue on Saturday, with some chaining themselves to fences. The scheduled Israel–France match, originally set for 1:00 p.m., has been delayed to 3:30 p.m. Local police have ordered that… pic.twitter.com/fhH0ll9FO1

— Whispering Media (@_WMedia_) September 20, 2025

Protesters chanted “Death to the Israeli army IDF” and hung signs reading “Stop whitewashing with sports, boycott genocide” and “Zionism is Nazism, Gaza is Auschwitz,” on the stadium’s front gate, according to the report.

Israel beat France 8-4 in the opening game of the weeklong tournament of European baseball, powered by a Rob Paller grand slam in the third inning. The team faces Great Britain today before taking on the Netherlands on Monday to wrap up group play.

Organizers tell Anadolou they will continue protesting the Israeli team’s inclusion on Sunday and Monday.

IDF says it killed Hamas sniper, brother of Shifa Hospital head, ahead of ‘imminent’ attack

A Hamas operative, whose brother is the director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City’s Shati camp yesterday, the IDF confirms.

According to the military, Majed Abu Salmiya was a sniper in Hamas’s military wing, and was set to carry out an “imminent” attack on Israeli forces in the area.

The IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, “as much as possible,” including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

Abu Salmiya is the brother of Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the Shifa Hospital director who was detained by Israel in November 2023 on suspicion of having allowed Hamas to use the Gaza City hospital as a center of operations, before being released in July 2024.

According to Palestinian media, the strike also killed at least two other members of Abu Salmiya’s family and destroyed their home.

Police detain former firebrand MK Zoabi over terror suspicions

Police arresting a woman, apparently former MK Hanin Zoabi, from her Nazareth home on September 21, 2025. (Police spokesperson)

Police have detained former Knesset member Hanin Zoabi on suspicion of membership in a terror group and incitement to terror, according to the Ynet news site.

Zoabi, who served in the Knesset from 2009 to 2019 as a member of Palestinian nationalist party Balad, is known in Israel for outspoken criticism of the state.

Police confirm detaining a woman meeting the 59-year-old Zoabi’s description after receiving complaints regarding comments she made to an anti-Israel conference abroad some months ago.

Joint List MK Hanin Zoabi is removed by Knesset security during her speech at a plenum session in the Knesset on February 8, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

“After gathering evidence and checking with relevant figures, it was found that her comments carry suspicion of publicly identifying with a terror group and incitement to terror,” police say in a statement.

She was hauled in for questioning after receiving necessary approvals, the statement notes, indicating the attorney general’s office may have approved the detention.

“Israel police will take severe action against anyone who praises and identifies with terror groups and enemy states and encourages their acts in a time of war, online or anywhere else, for the sake of public security,” the police statement adds.

Bacterial infection outbreak at Rambam neonatal unit kills premature newborn

A premature infant who contracted a bacterial infection in Rambam Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit has died, the Haifa hospital says.

Three other premature infants with the same infection are receiving antibiotic treatment and are in stable condition.

The hospital states that the neonatal unit and the infection prevention team are working to identify the possible source of the infection. Measures have been taken to prevent the infection from spreading to other premature infants.

The incident is limited to the neonatal unit, and there is no risk to infants or patients in other departments at the hospital.

Rambam has forwarded a report to the Health Ministry and the National Infection Prevention Unit. The hospital’s neonatal unit is one of the largest in Israel and in 2024, it received the Health Ministry’s highest scores in the health system.

Witness says gunman yelled ‘free Palestine’ during deadly shooting at US country club

Police block a road to a country club where a shooting happened at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, New Hampshire, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP/Michael Casey)

A man who opened fire at a New Hampshire country club yelled ‘free Palestine’ while carrying out a deadly shooting, a witness says.

An adult male was killed and several other people were injured in the shooting and ensuing chaos at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, according to Attorney General John Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke.

The suspected shooter, who is in custody, is also described as an adult male.

A witness tells local ABC affiliate WMUR that the shooter appeared to target the victim.

“He looked like a target, that he was going right for this person. So, I feel terrible for him,” the witness is quoted saying. “What he said was the children were safe and, you know, ‘free Palestine.'”

Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley declines to confirm the report or whether the killing is being probed as a possible hate crime, citing the ongoing investigation.

Information on the wounded victims’ conditions is not immediately available.

More than 100 people were on the Sky Meadow property when the shooting took place, according to WMUR.

Starmer to impose new sanctions on Hamas when announcing UK’s recognition of Palestinian state — report

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to announce new sanctions on the Hamas terror group at the same time as he announces the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

British media reported on Saturday that Starmer will publish a statement on Sunday confirming the UK’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state, following the France-led push for coordinated recognition at the UN General Assembly.

The decision to simultaneously introduce new sanctions on Hamas is, in part, an attempt to appease the US, the Telegraph says, as President Donald Trump has publicly voiced his displeasure over Starmer’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.

In July, Starmer announced that he would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel didn’t heed international calls and take steps toward a ceasefire in Gaza alongside devising a permanent solution for the Strip and allowing the flow of humanitarian aid and goods.

Starmer is set to speak at the General Assembly on Friday, four speakers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tal Schneider contributed to this report.

Argentine President Milei to meet with Trump and Netanyahu in New York

Argentine President Javier Milei will meet with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on Tuesday as part of his trip to New York, the South American country’s presidential press office reports.

Milei, who maintains an international policy aligned with the United States and Israel, will also meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which will be held next week in New York.

The Argentine president reaffirmed this week that his country will open its embassy in Jerusalem next year as a sign of support for Israel. Milei has also repeatedly declared his support for Trump, with whom he has already met since taking office in 2023.

Starmer expected to declare UK recognition of Palestinian state on Sunday

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will publish a statement on Sunday in which he will announce that Britain recognizes a Palestinian state, following the France-led push for coordinated recognition at the UN General Assembly, British media reports

Starmer waited until the end of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain because they disagree on this issue, but on the other hand wants to publish the message before departing for the General Assembly in New York.

In July, Starmer announced that he would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel didn’t heed international calls and take steps toward a ceasefire in Gaza alongside devising a permanent solution for the Strip and allowing the flow of humanitarian aid and goods.

Starmer is set to speak at the General Assembly on Friday, four speakers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which could create an interesting clash given Britain’s historical role in establishing the State of Israel.

Israel reportedly barred from tourism fair in Italy

Reports in Italy say that Israel has been excluded from a local tourism fair over the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The reported move comes after the mayor of Rimini on Thursday urged the organizers of TTG Travel Experience to cancel Israel’s participation in the October 8-10 event.

Mayor Jamil Sadegholvaad, in a joint statement with head of the Emilia-Romagna region Michele De Pascale, said on Facebook that Israeli presence would be “inequality” and urged the organizers, the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), to “reconsider the presence of the Israel stand.”

“We really don’t think that today it is ethically and morally acceptable to propose as holiday destinations places of war, terror and death,” they said.