The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
The prince of Monaco declares at the UN that his city-state now recognizes a Palestinian state, joining France and others.
Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto reiterates his country’s offer to provide peacekeeping forces to help stabilize Gaza after the war during his remarks at the UN General Assembly’s two-state solution conference.
Subianto first made the offer last year, with Indonesia remaining the only country to publicly do so.
Arab countries are said to also be willing to contribute troops to a post-war international force in Gaza, but they have yet to go public with that stance and have conditioned their participation on a role for the Palestinian Authority, which Israel rejects.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas makes an effort to appeal directly to Israelis and Jews around the world during his virtual remarks at the UN two-state solution conference.
He notes that the PA already recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1988 and 1993 and continues to do so today.
“We reject any confusion — I repeat, any confusion — between solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism. We reject the latter proceeding from our values and principles,” Abbas says.
“I call upon Israel to immediately sit at the negotiation table to put an end to this bloodshed and bring about just and comprehensive peace.”
“I address the Israeli people saying, our future and yours banks on peace. Enough violence and war. Our generations deserve to enjoy freedom and security. Let the people of our region live in durable peace and good neighborliness,” he continues.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to address all Jews around the world, wishing them a good new year,” Abbas says, offering Rosh Hashanah greetings.
“And to our patient Palestinian people,” he concludes. “The dawn of freedom and liberty is undoubtably coming.
In virtual remarks to the UN two-state solution conference, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says that the PA is in the midst of a “comprehensive reform agenda” that will better position it to serve as the unified governing body of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The agenda will promote good governance, transparency, the rule of law and reforms of the PA’s financial system and education systems. The latter reform will be in line with UNESCO standards and be achieved within two years, Abbas says.
He goes on to confirm The Times of Israel’s reporting on the PA’s reform of its controversial welfare system, which critics dubbed “pay-to-slay” as it rewarded prisoners based on the length of their sentence.
“We’re establishing a unified social welfare system after the abolition of all previous payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs. This system is currently undergoing international audit by a specialized international firm,” Abbas says.
The PA president commits to holding elections under international observance within one year after the end of the war in Gaza. In his June letter to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, though, he committed to holding elections within one year of that date, with no conditionality mentioned regarding the war in Gaza.
Abbas also pledges to draft an “interim constitution” within three months to ensure that all parties participating in elections adhere to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s charter, which includes recognition of Israel.
He says Ramallah’s goal is to establish a democratic state based on the rule of law, pluralism, power-sharing, equality, justice and empowerment of women and youth.
All traffic at Denmark’s biggest airport in Copenhagen has been closed after drone sightings, police say.
“(The airport) is currently closed for take-off and landing, as 2-3 large drones have been seen flying in the area. The time horizon is currently unknown,” police say in a statement posted on social media X.
Copenhagen Airport, the busiest in the Nordic region, halted operations at 20:26 local time (18:26 GMT), according to flight tracking service FlightRadar. Around 35 flights were diverted to alternate airports, FlightRadar says on X.
An airport spokesperson said police were working to identify the drones but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Giving the third speech at the UN two-state solution conference co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres begins by noting his “disappointment” at the US decision to prevent the Palestinian Authority’s leadership from attending the New York confab.
Expressing his support for the conference’s goal, Guterres asserts, “Statehood for Palestinians is a right, not a reward.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calls for Hamas to surrender its weapons to his forces while condemning the group’s deadly attack on Israel in an address to a UN summit on a two-state solution.
“Hamas will have no role in governing [Gaza]. Hamas and other factions must surrender their weapons to the Palestinian Authority,” he says via video link, having been denied a visa to attend by the United States.
“We also condemn the killing and detention of civilians, including Hamas actions on October 7, 2023,” he says, referring to the hostages taken by the group.
French President Emanuel Macron, speaking at the UN, lays out some details of France’s peace plan that it is advancing in parallel to its recognition of a Palestinian state.
He urges Israel not to take further actions that thwart the effort and stresses that it will include the dismantlement of Hamas.
He says an International Stabilization Force (ISF) will assist in that effort and in preparing the Palestinian Authority to take over governance in the Gaza Strip. The Times of Israel revealed the proposal earlier today.
France stands ready to contribute to ISF and to support allies in training PA forces, Macron says, adding that the international mission could be deployed immediately through a UN Security Council resolution and with the consent of Israel.
Turning to his expectations of the PA, Macron says, “It’ll be up to the State of Palestine to give hope to its people,” recalling PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s June commitments to France and Saudi Arabia to implement far-reaching reforms aimed, among other things, at promoting democratic expression.
He recalls that Abbas condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack in the June letter to Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which paved the way to Paris’s recognition of Palestine.
Those commitments included the disarmament of Hamas, excluding the terror group from future governance, combating hate speech and implementing an in-depth overhaul of Palestinian governance.
France will pay close attention to the full implementation of these commitments, Macron says.
Critically, Macron reveals that he will hold off on opening a French embassy in Palestine until after the hostages are released and a ceasefire in Gaza has been reached.
As for Israel, the French president says that France will tie its cooperation with Jerusalem to the steps Israel takes to end the war and advance peace.
“We expect our Arab partners to engage with Israel and normalize with Israel as soon as the State of Palestine has been established,” he says.
While Macron recognizes Israeli “sadness and fatigue,” he insists that recognizing a Palestinian state is in the interest of peace.
He recalls his sadness at first hearing about former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s 1995 assassination, and asserts that, like then, another opportunity for peace has arisen.
“The time has come to end the war in Gaza, the massacres and the death. Right now,” Macron asserts.
“The time has come for Israel to live in peace and security — from the Galilee to the Dead Sea and the Lake of Tiberias and Jerusalem,” he says.
“The time has come to no longer talk about the existence of Israel. It is self-evident. The time has come to do justice for the Palestinian people and thus to recognize the State of Palestine in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” he adds.
The suspected drone infiltration sirens that sounded near Eilat a short while ago were false alarms, the IDF updates.
The Palestinian Authority hails the formal recognition of a Palestinian state by French President Emmanuel Macron as a “historic and courageous decision.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates welcomes the recognition of the State of Palestine by the friendly Republic of France, considering it a historic and courageous decision that is consistent with international law and United Nations resolutions and supports ongoing efforts to achieve peace and implement the two-state solution,” the PA’s foreign ministry in Ramallah says in a statement.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan calls for all countries to follow a slew of Western countries and recognize a Palestinian state.
“We call on all other countries to take a similar historic step that will have a great impact on supporting the efforts toward implementation of the two-state solution,” he says at a UN conference.
French President Emmanuel Macron announces France’s recognition of a Palestinian state, saying he is acting in the interest of peace amid Israeli and US criticism.
“France today recognizes a State of Palestine,” Macron tells the UN summit as the Palestinian delegation leads an ovation, saying he is supporting “peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.”
Opening the two-state solution conference at the UN General Assembly, Macron begins by asserting that “the time has come” for the release of the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza and an end to the war in the Strip.
He uses the speech to officially announce France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, asserting that “Breaking the cycle [of violence] lies in the recognition of the other.”
“We are just a few moments away from being no longer able to seize peace… Some may say it’s too late, some may say it’s too early. But one thing is clear: we can no longer wait,” Macron says.
He acknowledges that Hamas’s October 7 attack is an “open wound for Israelis” and “our universal conscience,” reiterating Paris’s unequivocal condemnation of the onslaught.
Macron says France will never forget the victims and will never stop fighting against antisemitism.
But while Israel has made important military gains against Hamas in the war that ensued, he says, Jerusalem’s response has gone too far, leaving tens of thousands of civilians injured and hundreds of thousands injured, famished and traumatized.
“Nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza. Nothing,” he says. “On the contrary, everything compels us to end it immediately.”
He highlights the “atrocious conditions of the hostages,” recalling how he has held in his arms the families of captives Evyatar David and Nimrod Cohen.
But “a life is a life,” he asserts, pointing to his meetings on the Egyptian-Gaza border with Palestinian civilians wounded by Israeli military operations.
Macron argues that the international community bears “collective responsibility” for the lack of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Worst could still come to pass,” he says, warning of potential Israeli expulsion of Palestinians to Egypt, the death of hostages and Israeli annexation of the West Bank. “This is why we must pave the way for peace.”
“We have reason to believe” that the Abraham Accords and the Camp David Accords could be at risk of collapse due to Israeli actions.
Several weeks ago, a top Emirati official told The Times of Israel that threatened Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a red line for Abu Dhabi that would “end” regional integration. Saudi officials have also reportedly warned of significant consequences of any annexation.
“We must do everything possible to preserve a two-state solution,” Macron says.
“This is why I declare today that France recognizes the state of Palestine,” he says to thunderous applause in the General Assembly hall.
“Recognition takes nothing away from the rights of Israel,” he asserts, adding that it is a “defeat of Hamas” and those who harbor “anti-Zionist obsessions.”
Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration sound in an industrial zone just north of Eilat in southern Israel.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have fired dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in recent months.
Last week, a drone smashed into a hotel in Eilat without causing injuries.
Speaking to reporters outside the UN General Assembly shortly before the start of the two-state solution conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon says Jerusalem opposes the framework.
“Before October 7, there was a debate about that in Israel. After October 7, it’s off the table,” Danon says. “Now we are focused on bringing [back] the hostages, on defeating Hamas.”
“When the day will come that there will be a general Palestinian leadership that will condemn terrorism… we will speak with the Palestinians,” he adds, repeating a claim that the Palestinian Authority pays stipends to terrorists, even though PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree ending the policy in February.
“We have to be honest that there is no partner on the other side.”
“We are a peaceful nation. We signed multiple peace accords and hopefully, we will sign more accords in the near future,” Danon says.
“This [conference] is a show, but what we are doing on the ground [in Gaza City] — that’s for real,” the Israeli envoy continues.
Danon calls the Western recognition of a Palestinian state a “unilateral action” that will provoke an Israeli response — one that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will announce in the coming days.
Danon confirms that Israel has been engaged in talks with Syria, adding that Jerusalem will be following Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Wednesday speech at the UN General Assembly and that Netanyahu will also address the issue.
France and Saudi Arabia are convening dozens of world leaders to rally support for a two-state solution, with several of them expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state — a move that could draw harsh Israeli and US responses.
The UK, Canada, Portugal and Australia all announced yesterday that they formally recognized a State of Palestine, with six more countries — France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, San Marino and Andorra — set to follow suit today, ahead of world leaders’ addresses to the UN General Assembly.
About 400 people gather at the Palestinian Mission to the UK to mark Britain’s recognition of the Palestinian state.
A crowd claps and cheers as the Palestinian flag is raised in front of the building, in Hammersmith in west London, during a ceremony.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian head of mission in the UK, thanks the people of Britain for supporting their cause.
“We will always remember how you stood by our sides, on the right side of history,” he says.
Holding up a plaque reading “Embassy of the State of Palestine,” Zomlot says it will be put up soon, marking the mission’s transition to an embassy, “pending some legal work, some bureaucratic work”.
He called the recognition move an “acknowledgement of a historic injustice” at a time of “unimaginable suffering” for the Palestinian people in the war in Gaza.
He says the UK’s recognition has particular resonance as Britain was pivotal in laying the groundwork for the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
Zomlot had said Sunday that recognition must be followed by action, including sanctioning Israel and reversing the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said today that the Palestinian Authority could now “set up an embassy and an ambassador in the UK.”
“We will set out the diplomatic steps with the Palestinian Authority, there will be a series of different stages and processes to go through,” Cooper told the BBC. “On that practical side, the most important thing is that it’s part of that process to keep everyone working towards a two-state solution,” she added.
Questioned on when the British consulate in east Jerusalem would become an embassy, Cooper said it had been there for longer than the Israeli state, “so it will continue for now, and we will set out the diplomatic process with the Palestinian Authority”.
Following Sunday’s announcement, Britain’s foreign ministry updated its travel advice page to remove the reference to “Occupied Palestinian territories”, replacing it with “Palestine.”
More than 80 town halls in France hoisted the Palestinian flag today ahead of the recognition of a Palestinian state by President Emmanuel Macron in defiance of a government warning not to do so.
Macron is to recognize a Palestinian state on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, joining other countries in a move that has angered Israel.
Palestinian flags were raised at town halls in major cities across France — including in Lyon, Nantes, Rennes and Besancon — in defiance of an order by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. Even in Paris, left-wing city councilors put up the flag for 30 minutes at the city hall, despite opposition from Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The interior ministry says that 86 town halls out of 34,875 across the country had flown the Palestinian flag.
Retailleau, leader of the right-wing Republicans Party, sent out a circular last week demanding “neutrality” from public authorities and calling for any decision to fly the Palestinian flag to be referred to the courts.
The standoff has underlined social and political tensions in France since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas that set off the Gaza war.
France is home to Western Europe’s largest Jewish population, about half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
“Our responsibility is to reject silence and to do everything in our power, here and now, to put an end to the horror,” Nathalie Appere, the Socialist mayor of Rennes, says in a statement.
The White House reiterates its opposition to the decisions by Western nations to recognize a Palestinian state this week.
“The president has been very clear. He disagrees with this decision. He spoke about that in the UK, standing right next to his friend, Prime Minister Starmer,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says during a press briefing.
“He feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza; does nothing to end this war to a close,” Leavitt adds.
“Frankly, he believes it’s a reward to Hamas. He believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies,” she continues. “You’ll hear him talk about that tomorrow at the UN.”
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa renews his call for Washington to formally lift US sanctions imposed under the 2019 Caesar Act while visiting New York to attend the first UN General Assembly of a Syrian leader in nearly six decades.
Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader, led rebel forces that overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government last year. US President Donald Trump met him in Riyadh in May and ordered most sanctions lifted, but the Caesar Syria Civil Protection Act of 2019, authorizing them, remains US law.
Speaking at a summit on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly, Sharaa says the sanctions imposed on the previous Syrian leadership were no longer justified and were increasingly seen by Syrians as measures targeting them directly.
“We have a big mission to build the economy,” Sharaa says.
“Syria has a diverse workforce. They love to work, it’s in its genes. So don’t be worried, just lift the sanctions and you will see the results.”
Sharaa, the first Syrian president to participate in the General Assembly since 1967, is expected to deliver his first address at the General Assembly, which opens its 80th session on Tuesday.
Members of Congress have been debating whether to repeal the Caesar Act, which imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Syria under Assad. Some lawmakers, including Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, want its repeal to be included as an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act, a sweeping defense bill expected to pass by the end of December.
The White House confirms US President Donald Trump’s multilateral meeting with the leaders of eight Arab and Muslim countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York tomorrow.
The meeting will gather the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the UAE and Jordan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says during a briefing, with Trump expected to unveil the US plan for the post-war management of Gaza that former UK prime minister Tony Blair has been developing in recent months and that was revealed last week in The Times of Israel.
Before tomorrow’s multilateral meeting, Trump will address the UN General Assembly, speaking to the “renewal of American strength around the world,” while calling out “globalist institutions that have significantly decayed the world order,” while offering “his straightforward and constructive vision for the world,” Leavitt says.
On Tuesday evening, Trump will host a reception for more than 100 world leaders before returning to DC, where he will host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Leavitt adds.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met with the families of seven hostages, telling them he was pushing the government to reach a ceasefire deal that would see them freed, Channel 12 reports.
The meeting came as the military pushes ahead with an offensive to capture Gaza City, a move the hostage families have decried, saying it endangers the captives. Zamir is also widely reported to have told the government he opposed the plan.
“According to Channel 12, the families told Zamir that they would hold him responsible if the hostages were harmed. However, at the same time, they also said that they were relying only on him to secure their freedom, noting that the government had rejected Zamir’s recommendations.
Zamir, meanwhile, told them that he was responsible for the actions of the IDF in Gaza and was always keeping the hostages in mind.
“I authorized this operation myself and the head of the Southern Command is carrying it out responsibly,” the report quotes Zamir as saying. “I’m the one who authorizes any advances.”
Zamir is also quoted as saying that he supports a hostage-ceasefire deal even after launching the offensive.
“I am in favor of an agreement, I’m pushing for an agreement, and I will continue to push to bring about an agreement,” he tells them.
Israel will skip an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Gaza scheduled for Tuesday because of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, its envoy to the UN says, calling the timing “regrettable.”
As a country directly affected by the deliberations of the UN’s top security body, Israel had been invited to address the Council’s discussion of the conflict in Gaza on the sidelines of the UN’s high-level week.
Israeli troops are pressing a major ground offensive to capture Gaza’s largest urban center, as the push to defeat Hamas and free the hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023.
“I wish to inform you that the delegation of Israel will not participate in this meeting, as it coincides with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year,” Ambassador Danny Danon says in a separate letter to the rotating Security Council president.
“Despite Israel’s request to the Presidency and Council members to reschedule, the meeting remains set for that date — one of the most significant in the Jewish calendar, marking the start of the High Holy Days.”
“It’s unfortunate that the Security Council will meet without Israel,” says Danon in a statement.
The United States is considering imposing sanctions as soon as this week against the entire International Criminal Court, putting the court’s day-to-day operations in jeopardy in retaliation for investigations of suspected Israeli war crimes.
Washington has already imposed targeted sanctions on several prosecutors and judges at the court, but naming the court itself in the sanctions list would be a major escalation.
Six sources with knowledge of the matter, all speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue that has not been publicly announced, say a decision on such “entity sanctions” was expected soon.
A source says court officials had already held emergency internal meetings to discuss the impact of potential blanket sanctions. Two other sources said meetings had also been held with court member state diplomats.
One US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed that entity-wide sanctions were being weighed but did not elaborate on the timing of the possible move.
A State Department spokesperson accused the court of asserting what it said was its “purported jurisdiction” over US and Israeli personnel and said that Washington was going to take further steps, although the spokesperson did not say exactly what.
“It (the ICC) has the opportunity to change course by making critical and appropriate structural changes. The US will take additional steps to protect our brave service members and others as long as the ICC continues to present a threat to our national interests,” the spokesperson says.
Hundreds of people join family members of the hostages who are holding a protest outside the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Rosh Hashanah eve.
The relatives set up a “no holiday” table in front of Netanyahu’s home.
“We will have no holiday or festival without them – the people of Israel will have no recovery. Tonight, on Rosh Hashanah eve, we sit at this empty table outside the Prime Minister’s residence, with all of Israel standing beside us. Only the people will bring the hostages home,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum says in a statement.
Hundreds, clad in traditional holiday white, join the families, conducting traditional prayer services for the Jewish New Year.
Several wave the yellow flags that have come to symbolize the struggle to free the hostages.
ערב ראש השנה במאהל החירום של משפחות החטופים ברחוב עזה ליד מעון רה"מ – תפילה pic.twitter.com/sRZOVphpy3
— Or-ly Barlev 🎗 אור-לי ברלב (@orlybarlev) September 22, 2025
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi issues a pardon for prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been jailed for the better part of the past decade, a member of the presidential pardon committee and his lawyer says.
The 43-year-old British-Egyptian national, who was pardoned alongside five others, was a leading figure in Egypt’s 2011 uprising and has been repeatedly jailed since.
Following his latest arrest in 2019, Abdel Fattah was sentenced in December 2021 to five years in prison for “spreading false news” after sharing a Facebook post about alleged torture in Egyptian jails.
Tarek al-Awady, a member of Egypt’s presidential pardons committee, says all procedures for the pardon had been finalized and the prison was awaiting the arrival of the presidential decree to implement it.
Alaa’s mother, the activist and academic Laila Soueif, recently ended a 10-month hunger strike demanding his release.
Abdel Fattah himself has been on hunger strike since the start of September, following a partial strike that began in March in solidarity with his mother.
Irit and Kobi Ohel, the parents of hostage Alon Ohel, say their son is losing sight in his right eye and are demanding that he see an eye doctor before any more humanitarian aid is approved or negotiations are held with Hamas, after the terror group released propaganda footage of the captive earlier today.
They say the family was “shaken” by the footage, in which “it is clear that Alon is losing his vision in his right eye, and he is thin and frightened.”
“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, in these days of repentance, the fate of the lives of young Jews, Israeli citizens, is in the hands of the prime minister and the cabinet. Don’t break the nation of Israel’s heart,” they say.
The IDF releases footage from this morning’s battle between troops and three Hamas gunmen in Gaza City.
A video shows one of the gunmen fleeing while being tracked by an army drone, before a tank of the 401st Armored Brigade fires a shell that kills him.
Images published by the IDF show the weapons the three gunmen were carrying.
In the incident, an officer of the Givati Brigade was seriously wounded, and all three operatives were killed.
UNITED NATIONS — Iran believes diplomacy can resolve its decades-long dispute with the West over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells Iranian state TV, saying it was time for the West to choose between “cooperation or confrontation.”
The Foreign Ministry vows Israel will not allow the Global Sumud Flotilla, a group of dozens of boats bound for Gaza carrying symbolic aid and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists, to reach its destination, accusing it of serving the Hamas terror group.
“This flotilla, organized by Hamas, is intended to serve Hamas,” it writes on X. “Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow the breach of a lawful naval blockade.”
“If the flotilla participants’ genuine wish is to deliver humanitarian aid rather than serve Hamas, Israel calls on the vessels to dock at the Ashkelon Marina and unload the aid there, from where it will be transferred promptly in a coordinated manner to the Gaza Strip,” it writes.
“Israel urges the participants not to break the law and to accept Israel’s proposal for a peaceful transfer of any aid they might have,” it adds.
Among the activists on the fleet of boats is Sweden’s Greta Thunberg. Israel stopped a single ship carrying aid and a group of activists, including Thunberg, in June.
UNITED NATIONS — The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, tells AFP that diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program were at a “difficult juncture.”
“It’s obviously quite a difficult juncture. It’s a very difficult situation we are facing right now,” the International Atomic Energy Agency chief says, adding that talks between the involved parties were planned in New York for today.
Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson recounted the story of the death of Jesus yesterday at activist Charlie Kirk’s funeral, drawing accusations that he was promoting the conspiracy theory that Israel was responsible for Kirk’s assassination.
“So it’s about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and Jesus shows up and he starts talking about the people in power, and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do, which is telling the truth about people, and they hate it, and they just go bonkers. They hate it, and they become obsessed with making him stop: ‘This guy’s got to stop talking. We’ve got to shut this guy up,'” Carlson says.
“And I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamp-lit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus, thinking about — what do we do about this guy telling the truth about us? We must make him stop talking. And there’s always one guy with the bright idea, and I can just hear him say, ‘I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we just kill him? That’ll shut him up, that’ll fix the problem,'” Carlson says.
“It doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t work that way,” he adds.
🚨 Absolutely no way did Tucker Carlson just say this at Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Service.
Everyone single person knows exactly what he means. pic.twitter.com/1EqasbKRS9
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) September 21, 2025
Political scientist Max Abrahms slams the remarks in a post on X, saying that Carlson, formerly known for debating, is now “known for dog whistles, blaming everything on Jews, heaping praise on fake-historian Hitler apologists, apologizing to the Bin Laden terrorist family, denying Hamas is a terrorist group, siding with Islamist terrorists, and pretending Russians enjoy a higher standard of living than Americans.”
The Stop Antisemitism campaign group slams the “ridiculous insinuation that Jews were behind [Kirk’s] assassination.”
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the pro-Israel Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, charges that Carlson “used the memorial for Charlie Kirk — a passionate friend of Israel & the Jewish people — to spread antisemitic blood libels.”
The Hamas terror group publishes footage of hostage Alon Ohel, the second since he was taken captive on October 7, 2023.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum requests that media outlets not publish the video until the family gives approval.
The terror group published footage of Ohel earlier this month, and the family approved the publication of a still from the video.
CAIRO, Egypt — The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says two Gaza City hospitals have been taken out of service due to Israel’s escalation of its ground offensive and damage caused by continued Israeli bombing, as tanks advanced deeper into the territory.
The ministry says in its statement that Rantisi Children’s Hospital was badly damaged a few days ago by an Israeli bombardment. At the same time, it reports Israeli attacks in the vicinity of the nearby Eye Hospital, which forced the suspension of services there, too.
“The occupation deliberately and systematically targets the healthcare system in the Gaza governate as part of its genocidal policy against the Strip,” it says.
“None of the facilities or hospitals have safe access routes that allow patients and the wounded to reach them,” the ministry adds.
There is no immediate Israeli comment.
Hamas has frequently used hospitals in Gaza as bases to plan and carry out attacks against Israel.
Gaza City has been under evacuation orders since the beginning of the IDF’s offensive there.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
SINGAPORE — Singapore says it will impose targeted sanctions on leaders of Israeli settler groups and would recognize a Palestinian state under the right conditions.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, speaking in parliament, chides those Israeli politicians who have spoken about annexing parts of the West Bank or Gaza.
“We call on the Israeli government to cease settlement construction and expansion,” he says, citing the so-called E1 settlement project as fragmenting the West Bank.
“We oppose ongoing attempts to create new facts on the ground which undermine the prospects for a two-state solution.”
More details on the sanctions would be released at a later date, he says.
Balakrishnan says it was a matter of when, not if, Singapore will recognize a Palestinian state and that the nation is waiting for an “appropriate constellation” of factors, including a need for an effective Palestinian government that accepts Israel’s right to exist and categorically renounces terrorism.
“Ultimately, to resolve this long-standing conflict in a comprehensive, just and durable manner, there needs to be a negotiated settlement which results in two states, one Israeli (and) one Palestinian, with their peoples living alongside each other in peace, security and dignity,” he adds.
The military says the rocket fired from Gaza City at the Nahal Oz area on the border earlier today was intercepted by air defenses.
No damage or injuries were caused in the attack.
NEW YORK — Arab mediators have not been substantively advancing hostage talks since Israel’s September 9 strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.
Before resuming negotiations, Qatar is seeking some sort of apology from Israel over the strike, the diplomat says, acknowledging that Jerusalem has indicated little interest in offering such a gesture.
Meanwhile, Egypt is holding off on trying to mediate independently, believing that Qatar’s role is critical and that the effort should be advanced jointly, the diplomat says.
The diplomat says Hamas has expressed willingness to resume negotiations, pointing to a letter presenting another phased ceasefire offer that the group plans to send to US President Donald Trump.
The Arab diplomat expresses hope that the freeze in negotiations will be lifted in the coming days.
Hamas gunmen who opened fire on Israeli troops in Gaza City this morning, seriously wounding an officer, were killed in close-quarters combat, the IDF says.
The incident took place this morning at around 10 a.m. in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood when a cell of three operatives opened fire on a tank and troops of the 401st Armored Brigade with RPGs and sniper fire, according to an IDF probe.
A short while later, soldiers of the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, led by a company commander, launched a pursuit after the gunmen.
The three operatives were spotted meters away from the soldiers, and they exchanged fire. During the battle, the company commander was seriously wounded, and all three gunmen were killed.
The soldiers found RPGs and other weapons on the bodies of the operatives, according to the military.
Initially, the Givati officer was reported as moderately wounded, though his condition has since worsened.
Hamas has written a letter to US President Donald Trump requesting that he guarantee a 60-day truce in Gaza in exchange for releasing half of the hostages it is holding, Fox News reports, citing a senior Trump administration official and a source involved in the negotiations.
A source familiar with the matter confirms the report to The Times of Israel.
According to the report, the letter is currently being held by Qatar and will be given to Trump later in the week.
A source tells Channel 12 news that Hamas has not signed the letter yet, but may do so in the coming days.
Qatar has put mediation efforts for a deal to free the remaining 48 hostages in Gaza on hold since Israel attempted to eliminate Hamas’s leadership in Doha earlier this month.
NEW: Hamas wrote a letter to President Trump asking him to personally guarantee a 60-day pause in Gaza in exchange for immediately releasing half of the hostages, Fox News has learned from a Senior Trump administration official and a second source directly involved in the talks. pic.twitter.com/GynGHGx2xB
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) September 22, 2025
Israel will eliminate Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges at a toast ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday with Israel’s military leadership.
“We are in a struggle in which we are prevailing over our enemies, and we must destroy the Iranian axis — and we have the power to do that. This is what lies ahead of us in the coming year, which could be a historic year for Israel’s security,” says Netanyahu, meeting the IDF General Staff Forum alongside IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
“I want to repeat that we are determined to achieve all our war objectives; not only in Gaza, not only to complete the elimination of Hamas, to free our hostages, and to ensure Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, but also on other fronts — to open opportunities for security, for victory, and also for peace.”
“This requires two fundamental qualities: unity in moments of trial, and resolve at all times,” Netanyahu tells the forum. “So may this be a year of security, victory, and unity. Shana Tova.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks to Australia’s Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, of the center-right Liberal Party, to discuss Canberra’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
“I expressed our appreciation for her position opposing the Government of Australia’s recent decision and for her announcement that, should there be a change of government in Australia, this decision would be reversed,” Sa’ar writes on X.
“I outlined to her Israel’s objectives in the war in Gaza and the major efforts being made to enable the continued flow of humanitarian assistance under challenging conditions,” he says.
“I stressed that Israel is well aware of the many friends it has in Australia and distinguishes between the Government and the people of Australia. I extended an invitation to Ms. Ley to visit Israel,” he adds.
I held a phone call earlier today with the Leader of the Opposition in Australia @sussanley.
The discussion focused on the Australian Government’s decision to recognize a “Palestinian state,” the ongoing war in Gaza, and bilateral relations between Israel and Australia.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 22, 2025
A rocket was launched from Gaza City at the border community of Nahal Oz a short while ago, the military says.
The IDF says an interceptor missile was launched to shoot down the rocket, the results of which are under investigation.
Sirens had sounded in open areas near the community, “according to protocol,” the IDF adds.
MOSCOW, Russia — The head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation, Mohammad Eslami, has arrived in Moscow for talks, Iranian state-run media says, as the UN considers whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.
On Friday, the 15-member UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran, a move backed by Russia and China, which oppose efforts by Britain, France, and Germany to reimpose UN sanctions.
The European nations accuse Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies having any such intention, and Russia says it supports Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.
Eslami, who is also Iran’s vice president, tells Iranian state media that bilateral cooperation agreements would be signed during his visit to Russia, including a plan to construct eight nuclear power plants as Tehran seeks to reach 20 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2040.
“Contract negotiations have taken place, and with the signing of the agreement this week, we will enter the operational steps,” Eslami says.
Iran, which suffers from electricity shortages during high-demand months, only has one operating nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, which was built by Russia and has a capacity of around 1 GW.
An IDF officer was moderately wounded by Hamas gunfire during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip this morning, the military says.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
President Isaac Herzog notes that many families across Israel will have empty chairs at their Rosh Hashanah table, honoring bereaved families and families of hostages ahead of the Jewish new year holiday that begins this evening.
“There are families who are waiting with agonizing concern for their captive loved ones, there are those wounded physically and mentally who struggle daily with their families to return to life, and there are bereaved families, in whose hearts a void will remain forever,” he writes in a post on X.
“I hope that next Rosh Hashanah we will sit together at the holiday table when all our captive brothers have returned to their homeland,” he says.
MOSCOW, Russia — Russia still believes that a two-state solution is the only way to settle the conflict in the Middle East, the Kremlin says, after it was asked about a decision by some Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state.
“We remain committed to the fundamental resolutions of the UN Security Council and remain committed to the international position on the possibility of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli problem on the basis of a two-state approach,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters.
“This remains our approach, and we believe that it is the only possible way to find a solution to this extremely complex, long-standing conflict, which is now perhaps at its most acute and tragic stage in its entire history.”
ROME, Italy — Cities across Italy see pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests, strikes, and blockades, responding to calls from unions to “denounce the genocide in Gaza” and for diplomatic and economic sanctions against Israel.
In Rome, hundreds of high school students gather outside Termini train station, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine!”
Michelangelo, 17, tells AFP he was there to support “a population that is being exterminated.”
Francesca Tecchia, 18, is protesting “for the first time,” because “what is happening (in Gaza) is too important,” she says.
“Italy must come to a standstill today,” says Federica Casino, a 52-year-old worker protesting with the students for Gaza’s “dead children and destroyed hospitals.”
“Italy talks but does nothing,” she says.
There are also protests in northern cities Milan and Turin, the central city of Florence, and southern cities Naples, Bari, and Palermo.
Dockworkers in Genoa and Livorno in the center-north blocked the ports, according to Italian news agencies.
In Rome, many buses are not running and the metro service was disrupted, AFP reporters say.
Israel has denied allegations of genocide, saying that its military operation is targeted at destroying the Hamas terror group and freeing hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, massacre that sparked the war.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The French-Saudi two-state solution summit will begin today at 3 p.m. local time in New York in the UN headquarters assembly room.
French President Emmanuel Macron will open the event, followed by a video address by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
UN Secretary General António Guterres will speak next, then Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, president of the UN General Assembly.
Heads of state or representatives will then speak.
The event is expected to last three hours, and a joint statement could be adopted at the end, according to a French official.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 61 Palestinians were killed and some 220 were wounded by Israeli fire in the Strip during the previous 24 hours.
Gaza authorities do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says she has “made it clear” to her Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, that Israel “must not” annex parts of the West Bank in retaliation for several countries recognizing a Palestinian state.
“We have been clear that this decision that we are taking is about the best way to respect the security for Israel as well as the security for Palestinians, Cooper tells the BBC.
“It’s about protecting peace and justice and crucially security for the Middle East, and we will continue to work with everyone across the region in order to be able to do that,” she says.
Yesterday, the UK, alongside Canada, Australia, and Portugal, recognized a Palestinian state, while France and several other European countries are set to make such declarations today.
VALLETTA, Malta — Malta will announce its formal recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in New York today, the Maltese Prime Minister’s Office says, joining a group of countries in making the move.
Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela first announced plans for the recognition of a Palestinian state in May, but the UN conference was later postponed.
The Mediterranean EU island has a history of support for Palestinian causes and has backed efforts for a two-state solution, while maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel.
The wife of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat lived on the island for several years.
Late on Sunday, Abela hailed the delivery of a consignment of flour donated by Malta to Gaza “on the eve of Malta’s recognition of a Palestinian state,” in a Facebook post.
He says that the recognition of a Palestinian state is “historic” and Malta remained committed to reaching peace in the region.
Israel has characterized the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state as a “prize for terror” after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Israel will continue fighting in Gaza, and will set the stage for more peace agreements in the region, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message for the Jewish new year.
“We will continue to act with determination until we achieve all the goals of the war, in order to secure our future in our wonderful land,” says Netanyahu in his Rosh Hashanah message. “And in doing so, we will also pave the way to expanding the circle of peace.”
He boasts that Israel removed an existential threat from Iran over the past year.
“We struck hard at the Iranian axis. We did so in Lebanon, in Syria, in Yemen, and in Iran itself,” he says
“Our forces are now operating with great strength in the Gaza Strip to decisively defeat Hamas and to bring all of our hostages home,” he adds.
After causing a stir last week by saying Israel might have to become a “super Sparta,” Netanyahu says that Israel “will continue to advance our economy and our security — through technology, cyber, artificial intelligence, our defense industries, and developments that are unmatched in the world and that break the boundaries of imagination.”
“May this be a year of unity, a year of victory, a year of peace,” he says.
PARIS, France — Almost two dozen town halls in France fly the Palestinian flag from their entrances in defiance of a French Interior Ministry warning not to do so ahead of the recognition of a Palestinian state by President Emmanuel Macron.
The president is due to recognise a Palestinian state in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, following up on a pledge he made in the summer that angered Israel.
However, hardline French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is also leader of the right-wing Republicans Party, last week issued a circular ordering prefects — the top local state-appointed officials — to oppose the flying of the flags.
“The principle of neutrality in public service prohibits such displays,” the Interior Ministry said, adding that any decisions by mayors to fly the Palestinian flag should be referred to courts.
“This evening, the president will announce at the UN the recognition of the State of Palestine.
“Nantes is supporting this historic decision by the French Republic by raising the Palestinian flag for the day,” the Socialist Party (PS) mayor of Nantes, one of the major cities in western France, Johanna Rolland, says on X.
The flag was already flying in front of the Nantes town hall, an AFP correspondent reports.
The deputy commander of Hamas’s naval police, who participated in the October 7 onslaught, was killed in a recent airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, the military announces.
The strike killing Iyad Abu Yousef was carried out by the Israeli Air Force, following intelligence provided by the Naval Intelligence Division and the Military Intelligence Directorate.
The IDF says Abu Yousef invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and during the war, planned ambushes against Israeli troops and dealt with security for Hamas assets.
“His elimination constitutes a significant blow to the capabilities of Hamas’s naval police, which is used for gathering intelligence on our forces and enforcing maritime control for the organization’s military wing,” the military says.
The IDF releases footage showing the airstrike that killed Abu Yousef, along with a video showing the Israeli Navy’s 916th Patrol Squadron shelling a Hamas operative on the coast of northern Gaza earlier this week.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with members of the Syrian Jewish community in New York City yesterday, the Ynet news site reports.
Hundreds of people attended the meeting, including 11 members of the Syrian Jewish community in New York.
Joseph Jajati, a Syrian-American Jewish businessman, tells Ynet that the issue of Israel was not raised at all during the meeting, as the two countries advance toward a security agreement.
“Two kippa-wearing Jews stood up to speak, and said they were proud Jews. One of them, David Shelly, even offered to donate $100,000 to help rebuild Syria. The president laughed and said it wasn’t enough, but you could see on his face how moved he was by the gesture,” Jajati says.
“Also, the Syrian foreign minister who sat beside him was very happy. They don’t need money, but they were moved to see this support,” he says.
Sharaa is in New York to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, the first time in six decades a Syrian leader has attended the annual summit.
A building used by Hamas to launch two rockets yesterday at the southern port city of Ashdod was destroyed in a strike, the military says, as troops push deeper into Gaza City.
The IDF says that during operations of the 162nd Division in Gaza City, the 215th Artillery Regiment struck the building from which Hamas operatives launched the rockets. Other forces of the division killed 15 gunmen identified near troops and demolished Hamas infrastructure, the military says.
Also in Gaza City, the IDF says the 98th Division directed an Israeli Air Force drone to strike a Hamas weapons manufacturing site. The division’s forces separately spotted a cell of operatives near troops and directed another drone strike that killed them.
In the Strip’s south, the IDF says the Gaza Division spotted several Hamas operatives in a building, which was then targeted in a drone strike.
The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court rules that a man arrested on suspicion of throwing mock dollar bills at a Likud lawmaker be released from police custody this morning.
Police arrested the man on the highway and asked to keep him in custody for three extra days, after identifying him from a video showing Likud MK Eli Dallal leaving a Likud-organized Rosh Hashanah celebration in Kfar Saba on Saturday night.
The 70-year-old MK is seen making his way through a crowd of noisy anti-government protesters gathered in the lobby of a mall, where the event was held, when he suddenly falls to the ground.
The detained protester, who was dressed in a thobe in an apparent reference to the Qatargate scandal, is filmed throwing counterfeit money at Dallal. He does not lay a hand on the politician, who soon gets back up on his feet and is escorted out of the crowd by police officers.
Protesters denied that they attacked Dallal in any way that night.
“The court, within two minutes, watched the video, read the case, and came to the correct decision that this demonstrator did not commit any offense,” says the protester’s attorney, Nir Alfasa, following the ruling. “Certainly not assault of anyone, certainly not the assault of an elected official.”
The incident drew widespread condemnation from Netanyahu and Likud party figures, with the premier himself accusing demonstrators of “wild incitement” and warning that “the next murder is just around the corner.”
According to Hebrew outlets, the presiding judge during the hearing, Erez Melamed, said that “there was no reason to arrest him [the protester].”
Police also filed an appeal to the Lod District Court and requested a stay on the release of two additional protesters who were arrested Saturday night, after a lower court judge ordered they be freed from police custody.
Nearly 460 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip yesterday through the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says.
According to COGAT, some 310 trucks’ worth of aid were also collected by the United Nations and other international organizations from the Gaza side of the crossings yesterday for distribution
“The contents of hundreds of trucks are still awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the crossings,” COGAT says.
COGAT notes that the collection of aid will “continue on the Gazan side of the crossings, despite the closure on the Israeli side due to the holiday.”
Similar amounts of aid deliveries have been reported daily in the past few weeks. The UN has said 600 trucks of aid need to be distributed each day in order to properly feed the Strip’s roughly two million people amid the war.
COGAT also says that “tankers of UN fuel entered for the operation of essential humanitarian systems” yesterday.
The IDF says it is bolstering all fronts with dozens of companies of in-training combat troops, during the Jewish holiday season.
The move comes following a “multi-front assessment,” the army says.
The IDF says it reinforced “the combat sectors with forces in the air, at sea, on land, and across all formations throughout the country.”
The combat trainees will remain deployed until mid-October, before returning to their programs.
MOSCOW, Russia — The head of Iran’s atomic energy organization, Mohammad Eslami, has arrived in Moscow for talks, Russia’s state-run RIA news agency quotes the Iranian embassy as saying.
The 15-member UN Security Council earlier opted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran, after three European countries launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose them, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies having any such intention, and Russia says it supports Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.
Eslami is also Iran’s vice president. RIA does not say who he would meet in Moscow.
The Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank reopens four days after a deadly shooting-and-stabbing attack there, the Airports Authority says in a statement.
The crossing is still closed to humanitarian aid shipments en route to the Gaza Strip, however, until a Jordanian investigation into the attack at Allenby last Thursday — in which an aid truck driver killed two Israeli military personnel — is completed and and the inspection procedures for Jordanian drivers are updated.
On Sunday, Jordan briefly reopened the bridge, but Israeli authorities abruptly closed it again.
An unvaccinated one-year-old toddler from Jerusalem has died of measles, the Health Ministry says.
This is the third child who has died from measles since May, the beginning of an outbreak that is now active in Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Harish, Jerusalem, Modi’in Illit and Nof HaGalil.
The Ministry says that 24 measles patients are hospitalized, including eight children in intensive care, with one on a ventilator. Most of the patients are children up to the age of six who have not been vaccinated against measles.
Measles is a highly contagious, life-threatening viral disease that is preventable through an effective and safe vaccine.
For those who feel unwell, it is important to avoid gatherings so that others will not be infected.
Germany reaffirms its position that it will not recognize a Palestinian state until Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a two-state solution.
As he leaves for the UN General Assembly in New York, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul says that “a negotiated two-state solution is the path that can allow Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, security and dignity.”
“For Germany, recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of the process. But this process must begin now,” he says.
At the UN this week, France is expected to become the latest country to recognize a Palestinian state, following Australia, Britain, Canada, and Portugal, which did so on Sunday.
The leaders of the so-called “change bloc” will convene on October 8, following an initial meeting last Saturday, they announce.
The bloc comprises right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties that seek to provide an alternative to the current, hard-right Netanyahu-led coalition.
This time, former prime minister Naftali Bennett — who has formed a new party provisionally called Bennett 2026 — and Blue and White-National Unity chief Benny Gantz will attend.
Both were absent from the earlier meeting, with Bennett missing the sit-down in order to mark the 10th anniversary of his father’s death.
The meeting will also be attended by Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman, “Yashar! With Eisenkot” chief Gadi Eisenkot, and The Democrats head Yair Golan, all of whom were present at the first meeting.
Police arrest three residents of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, on suspicion of extorting contractors in Ashdod.
The residents threatened the contractors and extorted money from them in a mall in the city, police say.
Police say they have confiscated the suspects’ cars, which they allege were used to carry out the crimes.
The three suspects’ arrests have been extended until next Sunday.
The chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth warns of an escalation in the West Bank over the Jewish holiday season, with the convergence of other factors, including “political declarations,” an apparent reference to the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western nations and Israeli leaders considering annexing the West Bank in response.
“[There are] many challenges before us, the intense fighting in Gaza City, the defense in the north, and the constant struggle against terror in Judea and Samaria, and in addition, many vectors have recently converged that heat up the central arena, including political declarations, the holidays and the olive harvest, direction [of terror attacks] from abroad, and the inspiration and contagion of the lone perpetrator,” Bluth says at a ceremony last night marking 35 years since the establishment of the Border Police’s undercover West Bank unit.
“All these are not a reason for optimism, but I am full of hope, because I believe in you,” he says to the Border Police officers at the ceremony.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar both issue statements welcoming the decision by the UK, Canada, Australia, and Portugal to recognize a Palestinian state.
Saudi Arabia says recognition underscores the Western states’ commitment to a peace process, and calls on more countries to do the same.
The kingdom, together with France, will lead a summit on the two state solution today in New York, as world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly.
Qatar says the Western countries’ statehood recognitions have supported efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the region.
The US State Department says the five people killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday were not American citizens, contradicting an earlier statement by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
“While the situation is fluid, so far, indications are that the five killed were not US citizens. In fact, one had an unused immigrant visa petition in the past,” a State Department spokesperson says.
Israel said Sunday it was investigating a strike that the Lebanese health ministry said killed five people, including a father and his three children, in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.
According to the IDF, the strike killed a member of the Hezbollah terror group, and also killed several civilians by accident. The military said it “regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians], and works as much as possible to mitigate harm to them.”
A 21-year-old man is moderately wounded in a violent incident in Ness Ziona, Hebrew media report.
The Walla news site reports he was stabbed.
Magen David Adom paramedics have given him medical attention and transferred him to Kaplan Medical Center with penetrating wounds.
The reports give no indication of any suspicion of terrorism.
Asked whether he thinks there can be a diplomatic solution to the Gaza conflict, US President Donald Trump tells reporters, “Hopefully we’ll get something done.”
“We’re studying Gaza and dealing with Gaza very strongly. That’s a real mess,” he adds.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians protested Sunday against “shameless” lawmakers seeking an amnesty that could benefit former president Jair Bolsonaro, while pushing to shield themselves from criminal charges.
Bolsonaro was sentenced last week to 27 years in jail for plotting a coup, and within days, the conservative-majority Congress fast-tracked an amnesty bill that could include the far-right leader.
“No amnesty,” crowds roared in dozens of Brazilian cities, holding up signs and wearing stickers reading “Shameless Congress.”
Protesters were also outraged by what they dubbed the “Banditry Bill” passed this week. The law would require Congress to vote by secret ballot to give the go-ahead for one its own to be charged or arrested.
“This protection they seek is to camouflage corruption, impunity,” said Giovana Araujo, 27, a psychology student clad in a blue bikini top in the sweltering heat at a “musical protest” on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach.
Iconic octogenarians of Brazilian music, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Chico Buarque, took to a truck-mounted stage alongside palm trees to sing resistance songs from Brazil’s dictatorship era.
The United States calls the recognition of a Palestinian state by several key allies — including Britain, Australia and Canada — “performative.”
“Our focus remains on serious diplomacy, not performative gestures. Our priorities are clear: the release of the hostages, the security of Israel, and peace and prosperity for the entire region that is only possible free from Hamas,” a US State Department spokesperson says on condition of anonymity.
US President Donald Trump calls slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk “a giant of his generation” at a massive memorial event marked by strong Christian rhetoric and praise for the man many speakers are referring to as a “martyr.”
The 79-year-old Republican says Kirk was “above all a devoted husband, father, son, Christian and patriot,” adding that he “was violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice. For God and country. For reason and for common sense.”
The service has drawn an extraordinary level of attention and security, with the top brass of Trump’s administration joining tens of thousands in attendance, and some US media likening it to a state funeral.
Ahead of Trump’s address, the crowd heard speeches from prominent cabinet members including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“You thought you could kill Charlie Kirk? You have made him immortal,” top Trump advisor Stephen Miller said, vowing “to save this civilization, to save the West.”
Among other speakers were right-wing media personality Tucker Carlson, Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
