WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 179 AUGUST 25,26 - TARIF DUELS BETWEEN CANADA AND USA.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

WAR WITH IRAN - DAY 179 AUGUST 25,26 - TARIF DUELS BETWEEN CANADA AND USA.

THE NEXT US-ISRAEL HIT ON IRAN SHOULD BE VERSE 37. ALL OFFENSIVE NUKE SITES MISSLES,DRONES,AND OF COURSE KHEMENI AND THE IRGC GUARDS.THEN AFTER IRANS REGIME CHANGE. MUSLIMS COME TO JESUS BY THE MILLIONS.

JEREMEIAH 49:32-39 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITES AND ALL OFENSIVE WEAPONS DESTROYED IN IRAN)
Jeremiah 49:32-39    
32 Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh.
33 Hazor shall be a dwelling-place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.(Location & Size: It was strategically located along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), a major trade route connecting Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.)
34 The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam,(IRAN) in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) the chief of their might.(MISSLES AND NUKE SITES)
36 On Elam (IRAN) will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(SINCE 1979 IRANIANS HAVE GOTTIN OUT OF IRAN BECAUSE OF KHEMENI AND HIS APOCOPOLIPTIC DEATH CULT BELIEF-BLACK HATER 12ERS)
37 I will cause Elam (IRAN) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life;(ISRAEL THE LITTLE SATAN AND THE U.S THE BIG SATAN) and I will bring evil on them, (MISSLES) even my fierce anger,(FIRE) says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them,(IRANS OFFENSIVE WEAPONS) until I have consumed them; (DESTROYED THEM ALL NUKE SITES,MISSLES ETC)
38 and I will set my throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy from there king (KHEMENI CLAN) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY GUARDS)
39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,(IRAN) says Yahweh.(WERE IN THE LATTER DAYS NOW)

WHEN ARE THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL IN THE SPRING TIME.(GET READY ISLAM TO BE BIRD SEED FOR THESE BIRDS)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m0bXU5Xqc5M
The 500 million migratory birds in Israel during the spring arrive from Africa and head toward Europe and Asia, with the peak migration occurring in March and April. While migration starts in late February, the most intense movements, particularly of birds of prey, storks, and pelicans, occur during the third week of March and continue into April. 
Key Details on the Spring Migration
Peak Period: Mid-March through April.
Main Migration Route: The birds use the Great Rift Valley, which includes the Hula Valley and Eilat, acting as a "bottleneck" where millions of birds fly through the narrow land bridge.
Best Spots: The Hula Lake Park (Northern Israel) and the Eilat Birding Center (Southern Israel) are primary locations for observing the migration.
Key Species: Hundreds of thousands of white storks, along with black kites, raptors, and pelicans, pass through over these months.
uration: The spring migration runs from late February and continues into June, though the heaviest traffic is in March/April. 

The 500 million migratory birds fly over Israel in the fall between late August and mid-December. The peak migration period for the autumn, when the highest volume of bird traffic occurs, is typically October and November. 
Key Fall Migration Details
Location: The Hula Valley (Agamon Hula Park) in northern Israel is the premier spot to witness this phenomenon.
Timing: Migration starts as early as late June with some waders, but intensifies from mid-August through November.
Peak Festival: The "Annual Hula Valley Bird Festival" is usually held in November to align with the peak migration traffic.
Key Species: Many birds of prey (raptors), including honey buzzards and steppe eagles, cross during this time, along with massive flocks of storks and cranes.
While roughly 500 million birds pass through in the autumn on their way to Africa, the same number crosses again in the spring (mid-February to May) on their way back to Europe and Asia. 

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

20 dead in 68 incidents near Hormuz over six months of war, maritime agency says-Incidents occurred every 2.6 days on average, briefly halving during Iran-US talks from mid-June to July 7-By AFP Today, 11:54 am-AUG 25,26

The Strait of Hormuz has been the main focus of the six-month war between Iran and the US and Israel, with many commercial vessels targeted in the vital conduit for oil and gas shipments.In total, 68 incidents have been confirmed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the Gulf and neighboring bodies of water, the equivalent of one every 2.6 days.Across all incidents, at least 20 seafarers or port workers were reported killed, 35 wounded and one missing, the UN maritime agency said.About half of the incidents have involved tankers, 20 percent container ships and 15% bulk carriers.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) classified 47 of the incidents as attacks.Liberia-flagged vessels have been most affected, being involved in 13 incidents, followed by 10 vessels each from Panama and the Marshall Islands.Iran-flagged vessels were reported as being involved in four incidents.The rate of incidents has ebbed and flowed during the various phases of the war.From the outbreak of war at the end of February until an agreement establishing a framework for talks between the US and Iran was struck in mid-June, an incident was reported on average once every 2.3 days.Israel, which launched the military campaign against Iran jointly with the US, has not been represented at the talks.Incidents during this period accounted for 16 of the deaths and 19 of the injuries, and were recorded throughout the Gulf — both east and west of Hormuz, and off the coasts of Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.As peace talks continued until around July 7, that rate halved to one incident every 4.6 days, on average.No seafarers or other workers were reported killed, missing or injured during this period.Four of the five incidents during this period were clustered off the Omani coast around the strait’s narrowest point, along a route not authorised by Iranian authorities.Iran, which hopes to retain control of the Hormuz after the war and charge fees for passage, had warned vessels against taking the alternative route.Since talks collapsed, the rate has climbed almost back to pre-talks levels, with an incident recorded on average every 2.8 days.Four seafarers or workers have been killed, 16 injured and one reported missing as a result.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

IRAN IS FILLING THE WHEEL BARROW FULL AND OVERFLOWING WITH THIS STORY.

Iran’s president admits country faces ‘many problems,’ insists deal is best way forward-Pezeshkian says Tehran must escape state of ‘neither war nor peace’ as US preps fresh sanctions; new Iran security chief threatens Gulf oil routes, while Pakistan pushes mediation-By Agencies 23 August 2026, 5:49 pm

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged Sunday that Iranians were facing “many problems” as the United States prepares new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country’s economy, while defending a June memorandum of understanding with Washington as the best way out of a diplomatic deadlock that has left Iran in a state of “neither war nor peace.”His remarks came after the US announced the new sanctions campaign, nearly six months into the war between Iran and the US and Israel. The 60-day deadline set by the US-Iran memorandum for ending the conflict and reaching an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program expired last week without any sign of a breakthrough.“I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can,” Pezeshkian said in a speech broadcast on state television.Pezeshkian said Iran was effectively engaged in a “full-scale economic, military and security war,” blaming US President Donald Trump for seeking to impose the “most crushing and terrifying sanctions” on the Islamic Republic.Meanwhile, the Iranian president defended the MOU signed with Trump in June, describing it as the country’s best option for moving beyond the current stalemate.“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”Pezeshkian also argued that the diplomatic uncertainty was compounding Iran’s economic difficulties by preventing the country from attracting investment.Iran’s economy has been battered by repeated sanctions and a naval blockade, while inflation, unemployment and sharp exchange-rate swings have eroded purchasing power.“We are striving with all our hearts to overcome inflation, livelihood problems, unemployment, and to secure the future of the people, so that they can live with dignity and pride,” Pezeshkian said.Economic hardship has repeatedly fueled unrest in Iran in recent years. A protest movement that began at the end of December over the rising cost of living grew into mass demonstrations against the government. Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 people were killed during the unrest and accused the US and Israel of orchestrating the violence. Foreign-based NGOs, however, said officials had launched an indiscriminate crackdown that left thousands dead. According to some assessments, tens of thousands were killed.On Sunday, Iran announced the execution of a man arrested during the protests. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified him as Majid Adineh, saying he was arrested January 9 in Mohammadshahr, near Karaj, west of Tehran.Authorities said that he was carrying a handgun with 30 rounds of ammunition, two stun guns, two cans of tear gas and a battery-powered chainsaw when arrested. The judiciary said that forensic examinations indicated the handgun had been fired on Jan. 8 and 9.A Revolutionary Court later convicted Adineh under legislation providing harsher penalties for espionage and cooperation with hostile states. Mizan alleged that he had carried out operations on behalf of Israel, the US and other groups Tehran considers hostile.Iran security chief threatens retaliation-While Pezeshkian emphasized diplomacy and Iran’s economic difficulties, the newly appointed head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, issued a far more confrontational statement to neighboring countries against cooperating with the latest US pressure campaign.“If [Trump] wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” Rezaei told Iran’s state broadcaster in an interview aired Saturday.Rezaei warned that Iran could target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf that serve as alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz if neighboring countries joined what he described as Washington’s economic war against Tehran.Rezaei was appointed this month as part of a series of senior leadership changes widely seen as signaling a harder political and military stance.Pakistan pushes mediation-The competing messages came amid Pakistan’s continued efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington.Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is set to travel to Tehran on Monday at the head of an official delegation, according to Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman.Baghaei said the visit is intended to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Iran and Pakistan and form part of Islamabad’s efforts to “help consolidate peace and security in the region.”Two regional officials told The Associated Press that Munir’s visit is aimed at de-escalating tensions and encouraging the sides to return to negotiations.Pakistan played a central role in efforts to halt the war, helping broker the June deal, but talks currently appear to have hit a wall.Earlier this month, Pakistan also signed a joint defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, a move some analysts viewed as an attempt to counter Iranian influence in the region.

Where to kill Barron Trump?’: Iran said to put $10 million bounty on US president’s son-Heavily stylized state TV segment purportedly details place of residence and habits of US president’s youngest son, as voiceover claims ‘many would be willing’ to assassinate him By ToI Staff 24 August 2026, 2:24 pm

Iran is offering a $10 million bounty on US President Donald Trump’s son Barron, opposition outlet Iran International reported Monday, citing a segment that aired on Iranian state TV the day before.According to the outlet, state TV broadcast a three-minute segment titled “Where to kill Barron Trump?” detailing efforts to locate and reach Trump’s youngest child, though it noted that the segment was heavily stylized and did not give any indication that the efforts were bearing fruit.The Persian-language voiceover in the video claimed “many would be willing” to use the purported intelligence shown in the segment to find and assassinate the US president’s son.The TV report showed animations purporting to represent Barron’s frequent locations, as well has his daily habits and hobbies, such as playing video games and hanging out with his friends, one of whom was identified by name in the segment as Liam Carter. It was unclear from the video if the purported friend actually exists or if the identity and social media profile were used for illustrative purposes.The video also identified the student dormitories at the Constance Milstein & Family Global Academic Center at New York University’s Washington campus as Barron’s main place of residence. Barron, 20, is enrolled at the university, and moved to the Washington campus last year after spending his first year in school at NYU’s main campus in Manhattan.It also depicted Barron’s secret service detail and purported to show the locations of his security staff in relation to his dormitory. It was again unclear if the depiction had basis in actual intelligence gathered by Iran, or if it was purely illustrative.⚠️ Iran’s Islamist Terror Regime continues to directly threaten the lives of President Trump and his family members. The “Death to America!” Regime and its propaganda arms are openly pushing for the murder of Barron Trump, the President’s 20-year-old son. pic.twitter.com/zropCEAsHE Advertisement — Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) August 23, 2026-Iran International noted that Iranian state TV has previously issued similar videos showing efforts to find Trump himself and his wife Melania, and has repeatedly threatened to assassinate the US president and senior members of his staff.Trump has said publicly that Iran has made threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him, and last month, in an unusual move, he secretly switched planes while flying back from a summit in Ankara after Israeli intelligence reportedly alerted the US that Iranian agents were planning to shoot down Air Force One. The CIA was said to have cast doubt on the intel.The regime has been publicly pledging to assassinate Trump since the US killed Iranian IRGC Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani during his first term in 2020. Calls for the US president’s death featured prominently in the recent mourning commemorations for slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Besides the alleged Iranian plans, there have been multiple assassination attempts against Trump. Most recently, eight men were indicted last month on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges for their alleged roles in a thwarted plot to target officials linked to Israel, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other federal officials, trillionaire businessman Elon Musk and “other high-value targets,” at the UFC event at the White House last month.

US said returning diplomats to Mideast, signaling fresh Iran hostilities not imminent-Redeployments of staffers evacuated during recent conflict could begin this week, with embassies in Israel, Jordan and Oman set to return to full staffing despite stalled talksBy ToI Staff Today, 4:28 pm-AUG 25,26

The US is poised to send diplomatic staff back to embassies in the Middle East that were cleared out amid the war with Iran, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing an internal State Department document and three anonymous US officials.According to the report, the move suggests Washington does not expect the military conflict to reignite in the immediate future, despite the stalled negotiations between the US and Iran.With talks in a deadlock, Washington has increasingly turned to economic pressure in an apparent effort to force Tehran to make concessions at the negotiating table. On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled what he described as an “economic D-Day” of secondary sanctions intended to “sever every economic lifeline” sustaining Iran.The diplomats’ redeployment is expected to start as soon as this week.The report named several countries expected to get staff reinstated, including Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman.The State Department told the paper it “continuously reviews the security posture at our diplomatic missions around the world. Based on our latest assessment, we are adjusting our staffing posture at certain posts in the Middle East to ensure we can continue advancing US foreign policy objectives while protecting the safety and security of our personnel.”The paper quoted former officials as saying that the move appeared to be a clear indication the US did not see a return to full-scale any time soon.“Returning personnel to missions that were partly evacuated suggests the administration believes the war is winding down,” former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told the Times.However, others cautioned that the fact that some family members were not returning signified significant risk, and noted that bringing back diplomats was no guarantee.“Bringing back embassy staff does not tie their hands for taking action against Iran in the future,” Robert Danin, a former deputy assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, told the paper. “They did it once, they can do it again.”The day before the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, Washington authorized nonessential personnel at its Jerusalem embassy and their families to depart Israel. As Iranian drones and rockets subsequently struck American diplomatic facilities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and elsewhere, the State Department ordered further evacuations from missions across the region.The Lebanese embassy was reportedly set to be the first to receive diplomats, though the mission will continue operating below full capacity. Meanwhile, embassies in Israel, Jordan and Oman are expected to return to complete staffing.Missions in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will initially operate at up to 85 percent of normal staffing, while those in Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain will be limited to 75%. Restrictions on diplomats bringing family members will remain in effect across Lebanon and the six Gulf states.

SINCE ISRAEL TOOK OUT THE KHEMENI CLAN IN THE FIRST BOMB IN IRAN.NOW THE IRANIAN WHEELBARROW FILLERS WANT TO KILL TRUMP AND NETANYAHUS SONS AND FAMILIES. WE KNOW FOR SURE ISRAEL KILLED THE WHOLE KHEMENI CLAN IN ON SHOT.THAT SO CALLED GAY BOY KHEMENIS SON IS THE CARD BOARD PRESIDENT OF IRAN NOW. BUT THERES NO VIDEO OR AUDIO OF HIM FROM THE IRAN PROPAGANDA MEDIA.SO WE CAN GO BY THE BIBLE TRUTH.THAT MOJTABA IS BURNING IN HELL FIRE FOREVER RIGHT BESIDE PAPA ALI KHEMENI.

Mojtaba Khamenei is the third and current supreme leader of Iran, taking office in March 2026 following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei.Background and Early LifeBirth: He was born on September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, Iran.Family: He is the second son of the late second supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.Education: He studied in religious seminaries in Qom, learning under senior clerics.Rise to PowerBehind-the-Scenes Role: For years, he held a powerful and shadowy role inside the Office of the Supreme Leader. He had strong ties to military and security groups like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).Succession: After his father was killed in air strikes on February 28, 2026, the Assembly of Experts appointed Mojtaba as the new supreme leader in March 2026.ControversiesDynastic Rule: Critics called his appointment a dynastic succession—meaning power passed from father to son—which goes against the original republican ideals of the 1979 revolution.Religious Rank: At the time he took office, many experts viewed him as a mid-ranking cleric rather than a top-tier Grand Ayatollah, making his rise politically driven rather than based on high religious standing.

JEREMIAH 49:38
38 and I will set my throne in Elam,(IRAN WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION) and will destroy from there king (KHEMENI CLAN) and princes, says Yahweh.(IRANIAN ARMY GUARDS)

Netanyahu says Iran ‘tried to murder one of my sons,’ doesn’t give further details-PM cites purported assassination attempt to defend unusually high level of security coverage enjoyed by his family-By Stav Levaton-and ToI Staff 24 August 2026, 11:42 pm

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Iran had tried to assassinate one of his two sons, in what appeared to be a defense of the recent and unusual agreement to extend their security protection even if he loses the upcoming election.“Here I think there is something quite unbelievable… Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill, to murder one of my sons,” Netanyahu told the pro-government Channel 14 in a phone interview, without saying which of his sons was a target, or providing any further details.Hebrew media outlets noted that the matter had been under censorship for several months. Channel 12 said the alleged assassination plot has been known to the Israeli security establishment for several months.“Iran tried to murder one of my sons,” the prime minister repeated. “And therefore this security protection is not a luxury,” he went on, seemingly referring to the agreement reached with the Shin Bet to extend security protection for his sons, Yair and Avner, and to grant lifetime security coverage to his wife, Sara, regardless of the outcome of the October 27 election.The deal, reportedly made back in July, has been a topic of conversation again in recent days after the Shin Bet declined to provide a security detail for Netanyahu’s main election opponent, Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot. On Monday, the security agency said it would allow Eisenkot armed guards but would not provide them itself.Netanyahu told Channel 14 that without the security coverage provided to his sons, the would-be-assassins “would succeed.”Netanyahu’s son Avner lives in Israel. Yair, the better-known of the two due to his hardline right-wing social media presence, has spent much of the past few years in Miami.Channel 12 said the alleged attempt took place at a time when Yair Netanyahu was not in Israel, but did not specify that Yair was the target.The round-the-clock security coverage granted to Yair Netanyahu has long been criticized as excessive, given that he generally lives abroad. In 2024, outlets reported the premier’s son was living in an extravagant apartment complex in Miami, Florida, with a chauffeur and a pair of bodyguards from the Shin Bet’s elite Unit 730, costing the state an estimated NIS 200,000 ($55,000) a month.The decision to grant Shin Bet protection to Netanyahu’s wife and children was initially approved in March 2023 after hundreds of anti-government protesters massed outside a Tel Aviv hair salon while Sara was inside, leading her to claim that she had feared her life was in danger.

 New sanctions on 'five critical sectors' of Iran's economy-‘Economic asphyxiation’: US Treasury chief announces new sanctions campaign against Iran
Bessent warns nations that ignore the sanctions and help Tehran will ‘share in the isolation,’ but holds off on announcing secondary sanctions against China, others By Agencies 24 August 2026, 10:40 pmUpdated: Today, 1:35 am

The US on Monday announced an expansion of secondary sanctions it hopes will “sever every economic lifeline” sustaining Iran, as President Donald Trump’s administration struggles to resolve an unpopular war that has pushed energy prices higher.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled what he described as an “economic D-Day” that aims to give a final warning to countries to cut their business ties with Iran or risk having key companies and entities cut off from the dollar-based financial system.“We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent said at a press conference.Bessent laid out plans for the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran, warning of dire consequences for countries that decline to join the pressure campaign.Bessent’s address comes almost six months into a war on Tehran that has ground to a stalemate, with stalled peace talks and Iran thwarting most traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.“Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent told a press conference.“We are going to hold everyone accountable, and this is economic asphyxiation of this regime.”He added that countries not joining US sanctions would “share in the isolation” of Iran, and noted that Trump is making phone calls to world leaders with requests to stop their interactions with Tehran.The US Treasury Department said Monday that it has “issued determinations against five critical sectors — digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping — that the Iranian regime uses to try to prop up its failing economy.Bessent, meanwhile, vowed that any entity “that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system.”He said secondary sanctions in the pipeline aim to block all potential sources of revenue for Iran, telling nations to cut economic ties to Tehran or face US retaliation.Bessent added that it’s “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of the conflict.On China, Bessent says no one beyond reach-The Treasury secretary did not name countries that could face potential secondary sanctions from the United States, but China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are Iran’s largest trade partners.“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent said. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”Asked if Chinese banks dealing with Iran could be targeted, Bessent said that “no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”China has for several years been the biggest buyer of Iranian oil and Washington has intensified its efforts to clamp down on Chinese purchases, but has so far stopped short of designating larger Chinese banks that may be facilitating the oil trade.Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit the US next month.The Treasury chief earlier declared that an “economic D-Day” had begun against Tehran, in a column for the Financial Times.Asked by a reporter why Washington was not taking immediate action against Tehran’s financial partners, the secretary said he wanted countries to shift away from Iran before it was too late.“Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” Bessent said. “We believe that it is important to level-set and give people a cure period.”But, he added: “They should know that that will move very quickly and that we are serious. Secondary sanctions are a very powerful tool.”Giving other nations ‘timelines’The UAE announced last week that it was suspending all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice.“I am confident the president, as you all know, is quite persuasive,” Bessent said.Bessent said that Treasury and State Department officials are following up with calls and visits with officials from countries and entities the US wants to see take action and laying out “exactly what we expect and the timelines.”Responding to Bessent, Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh predicted “another defeat” for the United States, saying the Islamic Republic had a “two-year plan” to counter the new sanctions.“They have done everything they could to test the determination of the Iranian people and the country’s officials, but they have failed every time. It seems they wished to suffer yet another defeat,” Madanizadeh told state television.“We’ve been waiting for these plans for a long time, and the government is and was ready and has a two-year plan to manage these events,” he added.The sanctions announcement came as the Iranian currency hit a new record low, dropping to 2.02 million rials to the US dollar as trading opened on informal currency markets.Iran’s official Central Bank rate stands at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the informal rate is what most Iranians pay.The currency had already been under pressure before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, with double-digit inflation and negative growth, but has been hitting new record lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.“You justly exact a steep price from that cruel dictatorship and from those who assist its continued aggression,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Monday praising the new sanctions.The US-Israeli campaign was launched to degrade the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, Israeli leaders have said.While heavy fighting has subsided, diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled and oil and raw material shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, keeping energy prices elevated. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stressed on Monday however that the Trump administration was not ruling out the resumption of military force.“By no means are we foreclosing using kinetic strikes anywhere in the Strait of Hormuz or around Iran,” Hegseth told reporters, adding that Iran cannot handle the economic pressure being put on it.Trump’s approval rating has fallen to a low point, with just ​33% of Americans in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll approving of his performance. He says the economic costs are necessary to ensure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.The US has maintained sanctions against Iran for decades, most of which have been aimed at curtailing the country’s oil revenues, aviation sector, cryptocurrency, procurement of weapons components and other military hardware, and cutting off funding for business enterprises controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a dominant force in the Iranian economy.The sanctions bar designated entities from the dollar-based financial system, but Iran has been successful in quickly standing up new front companies, other entities and vessel registrations to evade the limitations.

Iran threatens to punish ships that violate its Hormuz rules-US warns of ‘economic D-Day’ for Iran as defiant Tehran set to hold talks with Oman on Hormuz-Iran’s rial slumps to record low ahead of sanctions announcement; Tehran charges measures prove US failed in war, says it issued warnings against cooperating with pressure campaign By Agencies and ToI Staff 24 August 2026, 1:42 pm

The United States on Monday threatened Iran with what it called “the greatest financial offensive ever marshaled” as it prepared to roll out economic sanctions that target Iran’s trade partners in an attempt to pressure the Islamic Republic into favorable terms to end the war.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference on later Monday amid promises to reveal even more severe measures on a country that has endured near-continuous economic sanctions since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.“At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary,” Bessent wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times.Without detailing specific measures, Bessent signaled the US will target “fearful nations” that practice “appeasement” by engaging with Iran’s economy and financial system.“They would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it,” he wrote in the Financial Times.Ahead of the announcement, Iran’s currency dropped to a record low of more than 2,000,000 rials per US dollar, two websites tracking the free market rate showed.US President Donald Trump warned last week of sweeping economic consequences for any country that provides what he called “any type of lifeline to Iran,” threatening economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale.The US president has made a series of threats of devastating force and economic sanctions against Iran, only to walk many of those back, while claiming progress in negotiations toward a diplomatic agreement.The intensified economic pressure campaign comes as the war nears the six-month mark with no immediate diplomatic or military off-ramp in sight, and the vital Strait of Hormuz still significantly choked off, obstructing the flow of oil and natural gas.With the US November midterm elections quickly approaching, Trump is also facing renewed domestic scrutiny over the war’s costs on consumers and its toll on the military.Trump did not elaborate on what he would do to countries that continue doing business with Iran — which would appear to include US allies that have helped mediate talks — and he did not list any country by name.China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Beijing, a close trading partner of Iran, will closely watch developments and do what is necessary to protect its rights.Speaking at a daily press conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also urged parties to act rationally with restraint, warning that sanctions and pressure tactics do not help to resolve issues.China buys more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, but engaging in further economic warfare with China, a major exporter to the US, including in vital rare-earth minerals, risks retaliation against Washington.Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that it has issued warnings regarding cooperation with the sanctions, and vowed Tehran will use all bilateral means to confront them.“The necessary warnings have definitely been given, because any complicity with America in carrying out its aggressive actions against Iran will definitely have its own consequences,” he said.At the same time, the Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed Washington’s declaration that it will impose severe sanctions, saying it disproves US claims to have dismantled Tehran’s military and nuclear capabilities.“Your narrative doesn’t add up: you say that Iran’s military power has been ‘dismantled’, 100% of its military factories ‘destroyed’ and its nuclear program ‘buried’,” Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister, said in a post on X.Yet, he added, “there is a need for ‘the largest financial invasion in history’ and the mobilization of ‘all institutions and powers’ of the United States! Is this a victory or an admission of America’s defeat?”Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi will visit Tehran on Tuesday to continue talks between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz, Baghaei also said on Monday.Additionally, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, who has mediated between the US and Iran, spoke with Trump last week, according to three Pakistani sources, days before his expected visit to Tehran on Monday.The White House Office of the Press Secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was unclear what Munir and Trump discussed.Meanwhile, Iran has issued a warning that vessels violating its arrangements for transiting the Strait of Hormuz could face restrictions, including fines, detention, or confiscation, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority wrote in a post on X.The warning heightens risks for the charterers and shipowners whose vessels transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world’s energy shipments.The PGSA, a new body Iran has established with the aim of managing the strait, has said cargo owners should refer to an updated list of vessels deemed non-compliant for voyages relating to the Persian Gulf.Vessels engaging in operations including ship-to-ship transfers or transshipment with non-compliant vessels will also be added to the restricted list, it said.Ships seeking the removal of their names from the non-compliant vessels’ list must submit a request with relevant explanations to Iran’s maritime authorities, the post said.Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, shipping data shows, as Iranian and US blockades restrict traffic through the vital chokepoint for energy shipments.Four vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, initial data from ship tracker Kpler shows, with 13 on Saturday. The figures can change as some ships switched off transponders on their way through.

Iran announces new natural gas discovery as war and US sanctions hamper production-Islamic Republic’s oil minister predicts the field could produce 1 billion cubic feet of gas a day for 15 years, though any new production will likely take some time to materialize-By Agencies 24 August 2026, 4:09 am

Iran said on Sunday it had discovered more than 200 billion cubic meters (7.5 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, months into the Middle East war that has hit the country’s energy infrastructure and production.“New gas reserves were discovered in the south of Fars province,” Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad told state television, adding that over 160 billion cubic meters (5,700 billion cubic feet) could be extracted from the field, which he predicted could be in operation for 15 years producing over 280 million cubic meters (around 1 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day — a fraction of the country’s estimated daily natural gas consumption.He described it as sweet natural gas, which has very little of the toxic gas hydrogen sulphide, resulting in lower operating and development costs.According to Bloomberg, any new production from the site would likely be years away.Iran’s energy sector has taken a hit since joint US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic launched the Middle East war in late February.The countries have struck Iran’s energy infrastructure such as gas production facilities or oil depots, as well as transport routes.In July, a senior government official said Iran expected to restore about 100 million cubic meters per day of natural gas production capacity “within the coming months,” after strikes cut output by about 230 million cubic meters per day since the war started in late February.But Tehran, which has been carrying out repairs to its damaged energy infrastructure, now faces planned US sanctions that could put further strain on its economy, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. on Monday after threatening “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Iran-linked cyberhackers blamed for four-day shutdown of UK power plant-Telegraph reports attack marks first successful strike of its kind on vital British infrastructure; government says national grid not endangered-By ToI Staff 23 August 2026, 8:24 pm

Hackers linked to Iran were responsible for a cyberattack that shut down a small British power plant for four days last month, in the first successful Iranian-linked attack on vital UK infrastructure, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.According to the BBC, authorities declined to name the plant and insisted the shutdown did not put the country’s power grid at risk, but warned power companies about the danger of cyber attacks.A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that the incident “impacted a small-scale energy generator, and at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system.” He added that the department works “closely with the energy sector to protect infrastructure and ensure the highest security standards,” according to The Guardian.The Telegraph, which did not name a source, said the attack took place last month, at the same time that water infrastructure in the US was also affected by a suspected Iranian cyberattack.The incident could mark an escalation in Iranian-linked cyber activity against Britain after London allowed the US to conduct what it described as “defensive” operations against Iran from British bases. The UK has refused to help Washington in offensive operations.The policy was not altered by the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, who was notified last week that a decision had been made to extend the agreement with the US.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned last month that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces.”It has previously been accused of carrying out cyberattacks on various countries, including in relation to a massive power outage in Turkey in 2015.The US has alleged that an Iran-affiliated group known as “CyberAv3ngers” targeted US infrastructure in 2023, which compromised at least 75 devices in multiple infrastructure sectors.Israel has also faced suspected Iranian cyberattacks, including a major assault in March 2022 that knocked government websites offline for more than an hour. Israeli officials did not identify the perpetrator at the time, though some media outlets pointed to Iran.US security agencies warned earlier this year about potential cyberattacks on critical infrastructure by hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH) (DO NOT EVER LISTEN TO ANYBODY THAT SAYS THE WORLD IS ENDING.ITS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN-4 BILLION WILL BE LEFT ON EARTH TO GO INTO JESUS" 1000 YEAR RULE)(THAT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD TO ANY ONE, DOES IT-NOT ME.THE EARTH IS JUST RENOVATED.NEVER ENDED.

REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

WORLD TERRORISM

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.(CAN YOU SAY TORNADOES,HURRICANES,VOLCANOES,EARTH QUAKES,LANDSLIDES,FLASH FLOODING,EXPLOSIONS,SNOW STORMS,THEN FINALLY NUKESAND ANY OTHER JUDGEMENTS THE EARTH CAN VOMIT THE SINNERS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH WITH.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.

Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF -  HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE.

LUKE 19:40
40 And He answered and said unto them, “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”

US envoy tries to downplay remark that Israel occupies Golan, which defied American policy-Tom Barrack insists he was describing UN’s position on the territory, not endorsing it; also asserts he wasn’t advocating for Iran and Hezbollah to join Israel-Lebanon talks when he said they’re ‘missing from that table’By Agencies and ToI Staff 24 August 2026, 2:02 am

The US special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey on Sunday attempted to walk back his comments from two days ago that Israel “still” occupies the Golan Heights, in violation of UN resolutions, remarks that went against US President Donald Trump’s position on the disputed territory.Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it in 1981. The UN considers the territory occupied Syrian land.In 2019, Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory, reversing decades of US policy. That recognition was maintained by the Biden administration.Ambassador Tom Barrack said in a Friday interview with Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur Mario Nawfal that “in the Golan, with Syria, they still occupy the Golan against the UN resolutions, against all the international order, which has said the Golan is Syria’s.”Barrack claimed that was a description of the territory’s historical status, “not an endorsement of the United Nations’ position” on the Golan.“United States policy on the Golan was set by President Trump in 2019 and is unchanged,” he said in a statement to the Associated Press.He said he intended to explain why he does not anticipate annexation in Lebanon, where Israeli forces are occupying parts of the south to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. He also said he had meant to argue that negotiated agreements, rather than territorial maps, were more durable and that he had cited the Golan as an example that “territory taken by force remains contested for generations.”Defense Minister Israel Katz said Barrack’s remarks were “full of inaccuracies” and included “positions that contradict the position of US President Trump.”In the Friday interview, Barrack had also criticized Israel’s strikes on an airbase in northern Syria earlier last week. Israeli officials said the strikes intended to prevent Turkey from establishing a presence at the base.Katz on Sunday defended the strikes, writing on X that critics who initially called it “unnecessary and politically motivated” changed their position after the government said they were based on “clear intelligence” and at the recommendation of the Israeli army. He added that Israel would not allow Turkey “to establish itself in Syria and threaten Israeli security.”The strikes last Tuesday have highlighted growing tensions between Israel and Turkey over Ankara’s increased influence in Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad. Turkey and Syria have denied that Turkish forces were due to be deployed at the Abu al-Duhur military airport.Barrack’s comments on the Golan also sparked a backlash in Washington. Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott wrote on X that the ambassador appeared to have “forgotten” Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.Barrack went further on the defensive on Sunday, responding to criticism of his assessment of ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of the Iran-backed terrorist group.He had said “there are two people missing from that (negotiating) table – Hezbollah and Iran.” That remark prompted speculation Barrack meant Tehran and Hezbollah should join the US-backed negotiations.On Sunday, Barrack stressed that the US does not negotiate with Hezbollah, but said he was pointing out that “the weapons in question are supplied and financed by Iran,” which complicates negotiations over their fate.“I was describing the difficulty of the problem, not proposing a new table,” Barrack told the AP. “Hezbollah is a designated foreign terrorist organization. We do not negotiate with it, and nothing I said suggests otherwise.”He also defended his remarks questioning who would replace Tehran’s financial support for Shiite communities in southern Lebanon, saying that raising those questions was “not conferring standing on anyone.”

Eisenkot: PM allowing anarchists to do whatever they please-Far-right MK smashes monument for Palestinian ‘martyrs’ during IDF-escorted West Bank tour-Zvi Sukkot, aides filmed wielding sledgehammers in Madama; army accuses him of acting ‘deceptively and manipulatively; incident triggers condemnations across political spectrum; PM: ‘Unacceptable’By Emanuel Fabian,Sam Sokol and Stav Levaton-Today, 1:44 pm-AUG 25,26

Far-right lawmaker Zvi Sukkot and several of his aides smashed a Palestinian “Martyrs’ Monument” with sledgehammers in the West Bank village of Madama on Tuesday morning, during a military-escorted tour, drawing criticism from the army and politicians across the spectrum.Footage first published by Palestinian media showed a soldier standing beside the Religious Zionism MK and the other men as they struck the monument to slain Palestinians, while other troops stood slightly further away beside an army vehicle.The Israeli military said Sukkot’s trip had been authorized, but that the lawmaker and his aides had acted “deceptively and manipulatively” when they smashed the monument during the tour.Sukkot later published his own footage of the destruction of the village’s “Martyrs’ Monument,” which commemorates residents of Madama who were killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including terrorists.Photos published by Palestinian media after the incident showed that the monument remained standing but had been significantly damaged.In a statement, Sukkot said he acted because the Israel Defense Forces had failed to remove the monument and others in the West Bank commemorating Palestinian terrorists, despite a request he had previously made.“We will not lend a hand to a situation in which those who harmed Jews and IDF soldiers are commemorated as heroes,” he said, calling on the military to remove what he described as “all monuments to terrorism” across the West Bank.The monument at Madama honors several slain Palestinians, among them terrorists, including Yaman Tayeb Ali Faraj, who Sukkot said was involved in a 2003 suicide bombing at the Geha Junction in central Israel in which four people were murdered and over 20 injured, and Shadi Nasser, a Palestinian suicide bomber who injured 14 in an attack at the Eshel HaShomron Hotel in the West Bank settlement of Ariel in 2002.The December 25, 2003, suicide attack in Geha was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group. Faraj, a PFLP commander, was killed by a missile fired from an IDF helicopter while fleeing arrest near Nablus in July 2004. A Palestinian lecturer and his son were also killed in the arrest operation, according to Palestinian media.The IDF said that on August 12, Sukkot requested authorization to conduct a “tour of monuments” in the villages of Beita, Burin and Madama, located in areas A and B of the West Bank — where Israelis are normally barred from entering without military coordination. The tour was conducted on Tuesday morning “under the security of IDF troops who were diverted from their duties for this mission.”Though Sukkot had been scheduled to visit the villages of Burin and Beita, the tour was cut short following the incident in Madama.“Contrary to the coordination, the participants acted deceptively and manipulatively, without authority and in complete violation of the approved outline, and began demolishing one of the memorials in the village of Madama,” the army said.While footage showed soldiers standing by during the destruction, the IDF said that when troops saw what was happening, they notified their commanders, who then instructed the forces to halt the tour and take the MK and his aides out of the village.The military did not explain why it had approved the tour to begin with, which it said diverted troops that had been “assigned to operational missions in the area,” and also “unnecessarily put them at risk, all while the IDF is under operational strain.”“The IDF views the conduct and lack of coordination by the MK gravely and as an exploitation of the security provided by the security forces for a complete overstepping of authority,” the military said.The IDF said that it “regularly demolishes memorials and symbols of incitement,” subject to authorization, and that it was planning another such operation soon. “This is an important activity in the fight against terrorism and incitement to terrorism,” it said.Madama has been the target of several recent settler attacks. This month, settlers damaged the village’s electrical grid, while in May, seven Palestinians were hospitalized after a violent settler attack.The army’s presence during Tuesday’s incident comes amid longstanding criticism that IDF troops have condoned or even encouraged violent acts and property damage against Palestinians in the West Bank.Soldiers have repeatedly been filmed standing by without intervening during similar incidents of settler violence.Condemnation across political spectrum-A number of politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned the incident; however, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich partially defended the actions of the MK from his party.“The IDF is the sovereign authority in Judea and Samaria and is responsible for implementing the decisions of the political leadership,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a Hebrew-language statement, using the biblical term for the West Bank.“Taking the law into one’s own hands, particularly by public officials, is unacceptable and interferes with the IDF’s ability to focus on its missions against terrorism and incitement,” the PMO added.Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main rival in October 27’s elections, wrote on X that Sukkot’s behavior “is a disgrace for anyone who claims to represent the public and be a leader. He lied to and misled the IDF and its commanders, compromised security, and tarnished the entire State of Israel.”Eisenkot also slammed Netanyahu, declaring that the premier had “dismantled the system that enabled security and governance in Judea and Samaria” while “allowing anarchists like Zvi Sukkot and his ilk to do whatever they please, endangering security in the settlements and harming Israel’s standing in the world.”Former prime minister Naftali Bennett argued in a statement that Netanyahu’s “government of chaos is harming Israel’s security and Israel’s standing in the world in order to gain views on TikTok,” declaring that “terrorism is fought with actions, not with pathetic provocations.”Sukkot, “like any other Knesset member, is not the sovereign in the territories of Judea and Samaria,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X. Decisions to demolish such monuments must be made by the state and carried out by “the IDF and the security forces, and by them alone,” he said.In a statement, Smotrich appeared to agree with critics that such actions should only be taken by the military, but was quick to blast the opposition leaders for their comments.“What should truly disturb us is the frantic rush of the left-wing opposition leaders to condemn MK Sukkot rather than terrorism itself,” Smotrich asserted, accusing the opposition of intending to “form a government with overt supporters of terrorism, evacuate the settlements and farms we have established in Judea and Samaria, and establish a terrorist state in the heart of the country.“That is the only thing that should disturb any sane person who desires to live in the State of Israel today,” he added.However, critics of Sukkot reportedly also included Religious Zionism faction chair Ohad Tal, who, according to Channel 12, questioned his colleague’s behavior in an internal party forum, asking if there was “some deep strategy here that I’m completely missing, or did we just decide to commit suicide?”A history of provocation-Sukkot has previously attracted controversy over similar actions.In July, Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset’s Education Committee, filmed himself smashing the sign of a Palestinian school in the Old City of Jerusalem, pledging to shut down the institution over its use of a Palestinian Authority curriculum.A month earlier, he toured the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel and hung an Israeli flag outside one of its schools amid a strike by the city’s education system against his visit.In May, Sukkot, who heads a Knesset subcommittee, requested of the military to carry out a “professional oversight tour” of Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus. However, the tour ultimately became a political and media event, and was condemned by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir for wasting the military’s resources.Sukkot was also among far-right protesters who rioted outside and stormed the IDF’s Sde Teiman military base in July 2024, demanding that the Military Police free reservists arrested on suspicion of severely abusing a Gazan detainee held there.Shortly after the incident, Sukkot told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, “I was doing my job,” and adding to The Times of Israel that his accreditation as a Knesset member “gives me the right to enter any place in the State of Israel.”He was questioned under caution by police last November over his role in the break-in.The lawmaker has also played a prominent role in efforts to expand civilian Israeli authority in the West Bank. He helped advance a controversial bill that would extend civil control over archaeological and heritage sites. The bill drew criticism from Palestinians and Israeli rights groups that said it was tantamount to annexation of Palestinian territory and would expand Jewish settlements.Amid the controversy, the bill’s progress through the Knesset was halted in June, reportedly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Nava Freiberg contributed to this report.

Mossad chief meets Syrian FM in effort to defuse tensions after airstrike-Israel said to set ‘red lines’ for diplomatic agreement, as US pushes for full renewal of direct Jerusalem-Damascus talks that were halted earlier this year-By Nava Freiberg-and ToI Staff 23 August 2026, 11:26 pm

Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani held a meeting on Sunday to defuse tensions between their countries after Israel’s strike last week on a Syrian airbase, Syrian state media confirmed.The two met in Jordan, two sources told AFP, adding that they discussed issues such as establishing “a special operations room” in Jordan under US supervision to prevent any confrontation in Syria, including involving Turkey.Citing three sources with knowledge of the matter, the Axios news site reported that the meeting was aimed at “lowering the temperature,” following the escalating rhetoric between the two sides.Israel’s Channel 12 news reported that the sitdown was positive in nature and was considered a step toward restarting direct Jerusalem-Damascus negotiations. The network said the meeting was supposed to take place last week, but was pushed off because of the Israeli strike.The Trump administration strongly pushed for the meeting, seeking a de-escalation between Israel, Syria and Turkey ahead of the upcoming Israeli election, Channel 12 said.The TV network also reported that Israel’s security establishment is pushing politicians to follow through on diplomatic efforts to lower the flames, preferring that to a potential military escalation.Citing an Israeli security source, Channel 12 said Jerusalem has set a number of red lines for such talks, including not allowing any Turkish military activity in Syria; keeping the Syrian side of the Golan Heights a demilitarized zone; not allowing the Syrian army to possess strategic weapons systems; ensuring the security of Syria’s Druze community; and only withdrawing Israeli troops from the buffer zone in which they are currently posted in exchange for diplomatic achievements.The meeting came after tensions between Jerusalem and Damascus and Ankara rose sharply last week following an IDF strike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northwestern Syria. Israel accused Damascus of preparing to allow Turkish forces to deploy there. Syria denounced the strike and Turkey denied the claim that its forces were deploying to the base.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said that Israel had warned Turkey against any military activity in Syria ahead of the strike. Reuters reported last week that Gofman and al-Shaibani had held a phone call on Turkey’s military presence in Syria just days before the airstrike.Netanyahu’s office declined to comment to Axios on Sunday’s purported meeting, and a spokesperson for al-Shaibani did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the outlet.Hours before the meeting was reported, al-Shaibani said in an interview with the Reuters news agency that Syria expected negotiations with Israel to resume soon, urging Israel to seize a “historic opportunity” as the door for diplomacy is open.Shaibani said negotiations over a security agreement between the two longtime foes had been frozen since the start of the Iran war, but he expected them to restart: “We believe there should be contact, especially with a party that constantly threatens the security of Syria. But if this contact doesn’t bring results, then we don’t need it,” Shaibani said. “We do not trust Israel currently.”“The US is trying continuously to put pressure on Israel to return to the dialogue table,” he added, saying that Syria has “very great hope” of building stable relationships with its neighbors.“Syria is extending its hand for understandings, for peace, for diplomacy,” and regional stability, he said.The meeting took place despite an Israeli drone strike on Saturday afternoon in southwest Syria. Damascus condemned the attack, which the IDF said targeted an operative who was advancing attacks “in the final stages of preparation.”The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Most of the Israeli-held posts are located within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the two countries. Israel said it did so to protect its security given the instability and uncertainty brought on by the rise of the new jihadist-led regime.Israel and Syria held historic direct talks last year aimed at reaching a groundbreaking security agreement that ultimately failed to materialize.Al-Shaibani said Sunday that around the start of this year, the sides had “agreed on paper to almost everything” regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop strikes in Syria and was tied to its withdrawal from territory seized after Assad fell.The deal would include several security zones in Syrian territory near the Israeli border, including a buffer zone where only the United Nations would be present, and others where Syrian forces would deploy in varying degrees of force.But the Syrian foreign minister accused Israel of seeking to evade implementation, adding: “We did not see they had the real will to reach an agreement.”Meanwhile, Channel 12 also reported Sunday that Israel’s defense establishment has recently identified an increase in Hezbollah’s attempts to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon, as the terror group works to rearm and rebuild under cover of the ongoing ceasefire.A security official cited by the network said Iran is financing and operating the smuggling network through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, which continues to oversee the transfer of weapons into Hezbollah’s hands.While the Syrian and Lebanese armies have publicized several weapons seizures over recent months, Israeli security officials reportedly assess that many other shipments are successfully reaching Lebanon.“Hezbollah is exploiting the ceasefire to build up its strength, and there has therefore been an increase in smuggling attempts through Syria,” a security official told Channel 12. “We assess that many shipments are getting through without being detected.”Stav Levaton and agencies contributed to this report.

TAKING SYRIA OFF THE TERROR LIST IS TROUBLE.THE BIBLE SAYS DAMASCUS WILL BE A HEAP OF RUBBLE.SO OVIOUSLY THE SYRIAN LEADER IS PLAYING AMERICA REAL GOOD.

Sharaa says Syria ‘shakes off a dark stain’ with removal from US terror list-Syrian president says sanctions relief step sets country on path to rebuild after destructive civil war; Turkey hopes it will boost effort to reintegrate Damascus into world By AFP Today, 11:54 am-AUG 25,26

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa hailed early on Tuesday the removal of his country from the state sponsors of terror list by the United States, a major sanctions relief step.“Today, Syria shakes off a dark stain and tears away a painful chapter of its past to embark on a path of development, reconstruction and rebuilding,” Sharaa said in a speech.Washington’s decision on Monday rescinded a decades-old designation that came with severe economic restrictions, marking another step in warming ties between the countries following the 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.The Treasury Department announced corresponding sanctions relief.Sharaa expressed his “many thanks to the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, and to all the friendly and supportive nations that stood by us.”The US Department of State also revoked its designation of the al-Nusra Front — later known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — as a global terrorist organization. Sharaa led that group, which spearheaded the blitz offensive that toppled Assad.It was formerly the branch of al-Qaeda in Syria before breaking ties with it in 2016.Syria’s new authorities are trying to attract investment to support the country and rebuild its infrastructure, heavily damaged by more than a decade of civil war.The US had initially announced in July its intent to delist Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, a move seen as a vote of confidence in Sharaa.Monday’s move gave Syria “a path to prosperity,” according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.The action “eliminates the final major barriers for private sector investment in Syria and promotes Syria’s economic recovery and reintegration into the global economy,” he said in a statement.Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani described Washington’s delisting as a “historic milestone” and said it reflected “the new Syrian state’s commitment to international peace and security.”Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh described the move as a “success for Syrian diplomacy,” according to the official news agency SANA.It “opens a major and long-awaited door to strengthening Syria’s integration into the global economic and financial system, attracting investment and modern technologies, and supporting development opportunities.”Turkey also welcomed the decision, hoping that it would boost efforts to integrate the war-torn country with the world.“We believe this decision will lend momentum to efforts to strengthen Syria’s ties with the international community and to establish lasting security and stability in the country,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

US removes Syria from terrorism sponsor list, lifting major investment obstacle-Rubio lauds ‘positive actions’ and ‘further commitments’ by leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, as Washington removes sanctions in place since 1979; Damascus already in talks with major banks-By Feras Dalatey 24 August 2026, 11:36 pm

DAMASCUS, Syria (Reuters) — The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, lifting what Damascus says was the last major impediment to investing in the country as Washington deepens ties to the new Syrian government.The removal, posted on the US Treasury’s website, took effect after a 45-day congressional review period triggered when Trump formally notified Congress on July 8 of his intention to rescind the designation.“These actions were all taken in recognition of the positive actions taken and further commitments by the Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa to fully distance Syria from acts of international terrorism,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told Reuters on Saturday that the government hoped removing what he called the “last obstacle” would help reconnect Syria to the global financial and economic system and boost investment. “There is no longer any obstacle to investment, doing business and rebuilding economic life in Syria,” he said.Syria had been on the list since 1979, when Washington accused the government of former president Hafez al-Assad of supporting militant groups. The designation remained throughout the rule of his son Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled by rebels led by current President al-Sharaa in December 2024.Monday’s announcement also removed the designation of the al-Nusra Front as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization, leaving Cuba, Iran and North Korea as the three countries designated by Washington as state sponsors of terrorism.The designation carries restrictions on US foreign assistance, defense exports and sales, certain dual-use items and financial transactions, and has remained a major deterrent for banks and investors even after Washington dismantled its broader sanctions program on Syria.Trump’s administration terminated comprehensive US sanctions on Syria in July 2025, while maintaining targeted sanctions against Assad and his associates, rights abusers, drug traffickers, Islamic State and al Qaeda affiliates and Iranian proxies.The US Treasury has since said American financial institutions can provide services to Syria, process payments involving Syrian banks and establish correspondent banking relationships with them, provided sanctioned parties are not involved.But the terrorism designation remained a source of legal and compliance risk for firms considering entering Syria, whose government is seeking billions of dollars in investment to rebuild after nearly 14 years of war.Signs of interest had grown ahead of the removal. Syria’s finance ministry said this month that Finance Minister Mohammad Yisr Barnieh held talks with Bank of America executives over potential cooperation and Syria’s reintegration into the international financial system. Bank officials expressed willingness to visit Syria and continue discussions, according to the ministry.Mastercard has gone further, announcing in May that it was working with QNB Group and Syria’s central bank to prepare infrastructure for international card payments in the country. The company has described itself as an early investor in Syria and said it wants to help connect Syrian consumers and businesses to global payment networks.Trump notified Congress of his decision after meeting Sharaa in Ankara in July, telling the Syrian president in a letter seen by Reuters that he had promised to “remove all barriers” preventing Syria from rebuilding.The delisting also followed months of negotiations between Damascus and Washington over Syria’s economic and foreign policy.Reuters reported this month that Damascus agreed to drastically reduce imports of Russian oil during discussions with Washington over lifting the terrorism designation, according to three sources familiar with the talks.Trump has increasingly embraced Sharaa, the former commander of al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front who broke ties with the global jihadist network in 2016 and led the rebel coalition that overthrew Assad.Washington has praised cooperation by Sharaa’s government against Islamic State and said easing restrictions is intended to give Syria an opportunity to stabilize, attract investment and rebuild.

Crime boss shot dead in broad daylight at Caesarea gas station-Footage shows gunman opening fire at point-blank range; Or Akiva businessman had repeatedly been arrested over suspected violent crimes, but never convicted-By Noam Lehmann 23 August 2026, 10:42 pm

A man was shot dead at a Caesarea gas station on Sunday afternoon. He was identified as Yanis Yushvaev, who was described in Hebrew media as the head of Israel’s Caucasian Mafia.Yushvaev, 40, a resident of the central town of Or Akiva, was well known to police and had been repeatedly arrested in recent years on suspicion of violent crimes.Footage of the shooting showed a man wearing a hoodie and cap approaching a restaurant at the Caesarea Junction gas station. The man met Yushvaev and two other men at the door as they walked out, and passed them by, only to suddenly spin around, draw a handgun, and shoot Yushvaev from behind at point-blank range. He then fled the scene.Yushvaev was critically wounded and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.Police have launched an effort to locate and arrest the killer.Magen David Adom medics reported from that when they arrived, the victim “had no pulse and was not breathing, and was suffering from significant injuries.”Yushvaev had been arrested numerous times on suspicion of involvement in shootings, grenade attacks, and car burnings, though none of the cases resulted in a conviction.He was most recently detained in February at Ben Gurion Airport after returning from Moscow, but was released within days.Yushvaev owned restaurants in Or Akiva. In an October 2025 interview with Channel 12, he described himself as “a legitimate businessman” who was “very well-established, and drives a Bentley, and that bothers police.”Police sources cited in the same report said Yushvaev “almost never talks on the phone” because he knew he was being wiretapped, and commanded the “complete loyalty” of his associates in the Hadera area, who would remain silent in interrogations.“It’s hard to convict him, and that’s frustrating,” an unnamed senior police officer told Channel 12 at the time.

Alice Miller: 'Every child deserves basic medical care'Israeli aid group announces new medical clinic for 10,000 children in Gaza refugee camp
Set to open September 1 in crowded Al-Mawasi, facility will provide vaccinations, consultations, rehab for children with disabilities, education services with anti-hate messaging By Sue Surkes-and ToI Staff Today, 10:04 am-AUG 25,26

The Israeli humanitarian organization NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief announced on Tuesday the opening of a new medical clinic that it will support at the Mega Academy of the Gaza Children’s Village (GCV), a humanitarian project aiming to give Palestinian children nutrition, healthcare, and trauma-informed support in addition to education via a curriculum devoid of hateful messaging.The clinic, set to open on September 1 in the Al-Mawasi camp, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians live in tents in packed and squalid conditions, will be staffed by GCV nurses and doctors, while NATAN will offer telemedicine support.It will provide preventive screening, pediatric primary care including vaccinations, specialist consultations, and dedicated rehabilitation support for children with disabilities, serving up to 10,000 children.The project is managed by NATAN CEO Alice Miller, an aerospace engineer and former Israeli Air Force officer. Miller is nationally known for her landmark Supreme Court case in 1995, which opened the gates of the air force to female fighter pilots. This decision paved the way for today’s female combat soldiers and made Miller a household name.“Every child deserves access to basic medical care, no matter where they were born or what circumstances surround them,” Miller said. “This clinic is a direct response to a need we have seen firsthand at the Gaza Children’s Village.”Miller told Ynet news that most of the organization’s work in Gaza is conducted “remotely” due to Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian activities in the enclave.Neurosurgeon and scientist Dr. David Hasan, founder of the Gaza Children Village, is also a collaborator.“These children need a place to gather and learn, a meal so they aren’t left with empty stomachs, and physical care for bodies enduring extreme humanitarian conditions,” said Hasan. “This clinic gives us that last piece — the physical care they need.”NATAN, named after late Israeli humanitarian and peace activist Abie Nathan, has for over two decades deployed small teams of volunteer medical and emergency professionals to assist communities whose local systems have been overwhelmed by crises.In November 2025, NATAN began an initiative to provide feminine hygiene products to Gazan women and girls who lacked access to them amid displacement and other hardships caused by Israel’s military offensive, launched in response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.According to NATAN’s website, the organization consists of over 1,700 volunteers, including doctors, nurses, dentists, psychologists, social workers and emergency professionals, and operates in over 20 countries.The project’s emphasis on a hate-free curriculum comes amid longstanding criticism of educational materials used in Gaza for allegedly promoting antisemitism, glorifying violence and denying Israel’s legitimacy.Listen to What Matters Now from February 2026: Alice Miller: CEO of Israeli disaster org on aiding Gazans post-Oct. 7

22.4% satisfied with Education Ministry's conduct during war-Nearly 90% of Israeli parents say their kids’ education was harmed by Iran war – poll
Ahead of new school year, parents say 80% of children were hurt emotionally, 74% socially; however, 63% of Haredi families say kids not harmed by war; country short 30,871 teachersBy ToI Staff Today, 8:53 am-AUG 25,26

A new poll published Monday found that close to 90 percent of Israeli parents feel their children’s education was hurt by the Iran war, during which school was closed for more than a month due to the threat of missile fire.In addition, 77% of students who experienced class cancellations due to teacher shortages suffered severe harm to their education, compared to 33% of those who did not experience such cancellations, the poll (Hebrew) said, which was reported by the Walla news site.More than 80% of parents say their children were hurt emotionally during the war, while 74% say they were hurt socially, the poll said.By contrast, 63% of Haredi families say their children were not hurt socially by the war, according to Walla.Schools were ordered closed at the beginning of the war on February 28, and reopened only after the end of Passover in April.Only 22.4% were satisfied with the Education Ministry’s conduct during the war, the report said.The poll was conducted by the Geocartography Knowledge Group. Walla did not give details about the methodology.The results came amid mounting concerns over Israel’s education system, as students have faced repeated closures since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and teachers’ strikes, and more so since 2023 due to ongoing wars.The country also faces a massive shortage of 30,871 teachers ahead of the 2026-27 school year, set to begin on September 1, The Marker reported on Sunday, citing data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.Results published earlier this year from exams taken in 2025 also drove up anxieties over the quality of the country’s education system.They showed that only 22% of Israeli ninth graders met the requirements of the English language curriculum. In tests in their mother tongue, only 38% of ninth graders met the requirements — 19% of students at Arabic-speaking schools and 44% in Hebrew-speaking schools.According to data reported by Channel 12 in June, 15 days of school were disrupted at elementary schools, and 22 in secondary schools across the country in the recent school year.
The disruptions were more serious in northern border communities, with 36 disrupted days for elementary schools and 53 for secondary schools.In the Gaza border communities, 27 days were disrupted for elementary schools and 40 for secondary schools.

Outrageous’: UN slams threats from Netanyahu, Katz to evacuate Gazans over ‘children’s kites’Israel believes the kites are being organized by Hamas, which previously used them as incendiary devices carrying flammable materials and explosives-By AFP and ToI Staff Today, 3:27 pm-AUG 25,26

GENEVA, Switzerland — The United Nations on Tuesday slammed Israel’s threat to evacuate people from areas where kites, drones and balloons are launched in Gaza, lamenting “unacceptable rhetoric” coming from Israeli leaders.“On the threat of expulsion due to children’s kite flying, I hope we can all agree that this is outrageous,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.Israel warned Hamas on Sunday that it would step up operations in Gaza if launches of kites, drones and balloons toward Israel continued, after a recent increase in such incidents. Hamas has denied responsibility.The Israeli military believes Hamas was behind the launches, which did not carry explosives and may have been testing how Israel would respond.The incidents have revived memories of waves of kites and balloons launched from Gaza in previous years, notably in 2018-21, some of which sparked massive fires in southern Israel.In those incidents, burning material was attached to kite tails or to clusters of helium balloons, and some carried small explosive charges, including devices that detonated on handling,Four kites were found in communities near the Gaza border on Saturday and one was shot down by the army on Sunday, bringing the total number recovered in recent days to around 10.On Monday, Channel 12 reported that nine kites were launched from the Gaza Strip toward IDF troops in June, but the incidents were neither publicly reported at the time nor met with an Israeli response.“Israel warns Hamas that if the launches toward Israel do not stop immediately, the IDF will act to intensify strikes against those responsible for the launches and evacuate populations from areas from which kites, drones and balloons are launched,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday in a joint statement.Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, claimed in a statement that the kites were “launched from Gaza by children searching for their innocent childhood amid the rubble.”In a separate statement, the terror group accused Israel of using the kites as a “pretext” for airstrikes in central Gaza on Sunday, in which three people were killed according to the Hamas-linked civil defense rescue service.The UN spokeswoman highlighted that Sunday’s statement was only the latest in a string of threats.“We continue to see unacceptable rhetoric coming from the highest level of the Israeli authorities, showing utter contempt for international human rights and humanitarian law, and advocating and inciting violence amounting to atrocity crimes,” she said.Katz recently found himself in similar hot water after boasting that the IDF was “here to stay” in southern Lebanon and was “destroying all the houses” there.US President Donald Trump’s administration rushed to condemn those remarks, with a State Department official arguing that Katz’s comments flew in the face of Jerusalem’s assurances that it had no territorial ambitions in the country.

UN and Red Cross step up call for restrictions on ‘killer robot’ weapons-Joint statement from agencies warns that world is ‘dangerously close to crossing a moral red line’ that would see ‘the autonomous targeting of humans by machines’By Jamey Keaten Today, 5:27 pm-AUG 25,26

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday ratcheted up a joint call for countries to adopt bans and restrictions on the use of autonomous weapons systems — often known as “killer robots” — warning that “the risks have intensified.”Building on an initial appeal three years ago and international talks on the issue for years, the appeal stops short of calling for a blanket ban, but notes that such weapons systems are being developed — though the UN and Red Cross haven’t confirmed their use on the battlefield.The organizations said, however, that civilians need to be protected for when that day may come.“We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: The autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” said UN Geneva spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci, reading a joint statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.“Today, we renew this call with even greater urgency,” the statement said. “The fundamental concerns remain unchanged, but the risks have intensified.”The two international organizations say the development of weapons technology at “record speed” has strained the international rules system, and widened the gap between technological capacities and regulatory constraints.“Autonomous weapons systems are not part of a distant future — a race toward greater autonomy in weapons systems is already well underway,” the joint statement said.The call comes as negotiators are set to meet in Geneva in November on ways of strengthening the existing Convention on Conventional Weapons, with the UN and ICRC saying the conference “offers the clearest path available” to move toward binding legal rules on the use of such autonomous systems.The yearslong effort to rein in the use of autonomous weapons systems has struggled to produce limits. The new push comes against the backdrop of drones and other technologies used in conflicts as diverse as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East, Sudan and others.Ground robotic vehicles have so far been used on the Ukrainian battlefield primarily to ferry supplies to infantry and carry out evacuations, because of Ukraine’s need to preserve manpower amid the growing prevalence of drones.Kyiv is now seeking to scale up armed robotic systems to reduce the pressure on increasingly outnumbered infantry by equipping them with firing power, but those efforts have been limited so far.“Scientists and engineers developing these systems have themselves raised the alarm,” the organizations said. “When the architects of this technology are calling for limits, states cannot afford to remain passive.”“This year must mark a turning point,” the statement said.

Police shut down Palestinian graduation ceremony in Old City-Israel launches operation to take over East Jerusalem UNRWA facility it says it controls
PM: Israel to use ‘every means at its disposal’ to stop activity of UN agency ‘involved in terrorism’; Jerusalem says land owned by Jewish Agency since 1937, UNRWA says Jordan handed it over in 1952-By Noam Lehmann, ToI Staff and Nava Freiberg-Today, 5:26 pm-AUG 25,26

Israeli officials announced on Tuesday the start of operations to dismantle a vocational training center run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the East Jerusalem area of Kafr Aqab, near the Qalandiya refugee camp, on land Jerusalem says is controlled by the state.Israel “will not allow an organization whose employees were involved in terrorism and in the October 7 massacre to operate on its territory, and will take action against it using every means at its disposal,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language statement.The prime minister said he had ordered the evacuation of UNWRA from the compound in line with a law passed in 2024 banning the UN agency from operating in Israeli territory.The statement from Netanyahu came hours after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced the beginning of the police operation.“Large forces of Israel Police are working together with the relevant authorities to implement the law and get UNRWA out of the area,” Ben Gvir said in a statement Tuesday. “An organization whose workers were involved in terrorism, and which served as a front for Hamas time after time, has no right to exist for even one more second, and has no place in Jerusalem and the State of Israel.”Footage from Palestinian media showed Ben Gvir on the scene with Israeli forces at the UNRWA facility. According to the Haaretz newspaper, Ben Gvir was accompanied by a camera crew from the pro-government Channel 14 TV station.The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces ordered UNRWA employees to exit the facility and not return. It also said that Israeli forces had raised the Israeli flag in the courtyard of the training center.Israel has long accused UNRWA of fomenting anti-Israel sentiment in its schools, and in the aftermath of the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, also accused it of collaborating with Hamas in Gaza, providing evidence of agency employees who were also terror operatives. The UN agency denies the charges. In late 2024, Israel passed legislation banning UNRWA from Israeli territory, including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after the Six Day War of June 1967.A statement from the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the operation was part of “renovation work” carried out by the Jerusalem Municipality on a “new educational and community complex in Jerusalem’s Kafr Aqab neighborhood, for the benefit of thousands of its Arab residents.”The ministry said that the municipality is spending more than NIS 40 million ($13 million) on the project, including a new high school set to open next month. The statement asserted that the complex is question is on a plot owned by the Jewish National Fund since 1937, and is being built “following close dialogue with neighborhood residents” and will include schools, a mosque, sports and healthcare facilities.UNRWA says the land was given it by the Jordanian government in 1952 — when Jordan controlled East Jerusalem — to establish the vocational training center that has operated there ever since. The center trains about 340 students a year and was already open for registration for the coming school year starting on September 1, according to UNRWA.An AFP journalist at the scene on Tuesday said Israeli forces had closed the main road near the entrance to the Qalandiya Training Center, while forces inside the institute were moving from one building to another.The journalist reported seeing a convoy of three civilian vehicles leaving the institute, escorted by the military.The UN body said earlier this month that it was aware of the municipal plan, and that carrying it out would violate protections to UN facilities under international law.“Should the Israeli authorities proceed with the implementation of the plan, such action would raise serious concerns regarding Israel’s obligations under international law, including its obligations as a Member State of the United Nations,” UNRWA said.However, the Foreign Ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality maintain that UNRWA has no ownership or control over the plot of land in question.“Despite holding no property rights to the plot, UNRWA has walled off the land for decades, denying local residents much-needed space for schools and community services,” the ministry statement said. “UNRWA’s activities in Israel were prohibited by law following evidence of its employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and its inseparable links to Hamas.”Separately on Tuesday, the Israel Police announced that a “conference identified with the Palestinian Authority” in Jerusalem’s Old City was thwarted a day earlier.According to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate, the event in question was a graduation ceremony for a Palestinian organization that teaches graduate students from Al-Quds University. Four guests, including the director of the Center for Jerusalem Studies and the head of the Palestinian Jerusalem Tourism Cluster, were detained for interrogation, the governorate said.Police said that “intelligence activity by the Jerusalem District’s central unit” had uncovered the plans to hold the event “inside the Old City, in violation of the Implementation Law.”The 1994 Law on Implementation of the Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which enshrined agreements reached as part of the Oslo Accords, forbade the Palestinian Authority from holding gatherings on Israeli territory without permission from Israel, and authorized the public security minister to order the closure of unapproved PA gatherings in Israel.Ben Gvir signed an order to shut down the Palestinian gathering after he and top police officers reviewed the plans to hold the event, police said in a statement.Officers arrived at the site of the gathering, where “they noticed preparations and a number of people, and informed them of the order prohibiting the event,” the statement said. It did not mention any arrests.The ceremony was set to take place in Khan Tankaz, the compound that houses the Center for Jerusalem Studies in the Muslim Quarter’s Cotton Merchants’ Market.The Center for Jerusalem Studies, which teaches an interdisciplinary graduate program on the city, is affiliated with Al-Quds University, a nonprofit independent institution overseen by the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque.The university, which is the only Arab university in Jerusalem, is accredited by the Palestinian Authority but not by Israel. It was established in 1995 as a merger of other Palestinian institutions. According to its website, the university has about 12,000 full-time students and over 700 faculty.

Merz vows perpetrators of attempted drone attack on German airport ‘will pay’Chancellor says Berlin will soon reveal those responsible for plot targeting NATO and Ukrainian military logistics hub; Russian intelligence suspected, Moscow denies involvementBy Agencies Today, 2:51 pm-AUG 25,26

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that people and groups behind hybrid attacks against Germany, such as an explosive drone found at an airport, “will pay for them,” without naming a suspected perpetrator.Germany had increasingly “found itself in the crosshairs of hybrid attackers,” Merz said, referring to an incident at Leipzig airport earlier this month where police defused a drone found near a Ukrainian airplane.German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius similarly warned in January of “the increasing number of hybrid attacks in many European countries, with critical infrastructure being targeted at the click of a mouse, data cables being cut in the Baltic Sea, drone-based espionage and media disinformation campaigns.”Merz also said that the German government would soon announce who was responsible for the attempted drone attack.Speaking at a coalition summit, Merz said his government was “working closely with the security authorities on this, and we will set this out and comment on it shortly.”Security sources cited by local media suspect the involvement of Russian intelligence in the attempted attack, but Berlin has not made any direct accusations.On August 4, an explosives-laden drone was discovered near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft used for military supplies. Investigators suspect a second drone collided with a DHL cargo plane soon after the airport’s temporary shutdown.The airport is a cargo and military logistics hub used by NATO and Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines for military supplies.German investigators discovered a third drone and suspected explosives linked to the attempted attack 10 days later, broadcasters NDR and WDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Tuesday.The drone was found to the west of the airport, where investigators also discovered about 50 grams (1.8 oz) of a substance they suspected to be the military explosive hexogen, the media reports said.The office of the prosecutor general declined to comment on the report. Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident.Germany, Europe’s top economy and home to more than 83 million people, is a strong military supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia and a central hub for NATO forces on the continent.After decades of stability following the end of the Cold War, it is now scrambling to rebuild its military to deter Russia — but also to improve resilience on the home front.

Suspect's father reportedly arrested over obstructing probe-Man who allegedly stabbed 7-year-old to death reportedly on drugs at time of killing
Court orders Liel Ifergen kept in custody until Sept. 3 over Beit Shemesh stabbing; report says he’d been previously hospitalized at psychiatric hospital, will undergo new evaluationBy Michael Horovitz-Today, 2:32 pm-AUG 25,26

The suspect in the murder of a young boy in Beit Shemesh was under the influence of drugs when he carried out the deadly stabbing last week, according to a report on Tuesday.Liel Ifergen, 26, had taken a substance when he stabbed to death 7-year-old Hillel Mordechai Dadon and injured his 4-year-old cousin, while their parents were out of the house, according to the Kan public broadcaster.The report did not specify what drugs Ifergen took.He is set to be sent to a psychological evaluation as part of the conditions of his arrest, Kan reported.According to the report, Ifergen was hospitalized at the Eitanim psychiatric hospital several years ago, and he was scheduled for a check-up with his psychiatrist in December. Police said at the time of the murder that the suspect had not been previously known to them.The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday extended Ifergen’s custody by 10 days, police said, meaning he will remain detained until at least September 3.Meanwhile, Ifergen’s father was arrested several days ago on suspicion of obstructing the investigation into his son, the Ynet news site reported on Tuesday.He was released to house arrest, the report said.Police said Friday that Ifergen was a resident of the neighborhood in which the stabbing took place. The Walla news site said after the killing that neighbors reported seeing him cleaning a bloody knife, which was seized by police.The father of one of the boys reportedly found them in an inflatable pool upon his return home, at around 4:40 p.m.The pair were rushed to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, with the older boy in critical condition and the younger one in serious condition.A short time later it was announced that the older child had died.Last week, the victim’s mother Tamar told Kan that Hillel was a “smiley” boy who “knew everything.”“He is a bookworm; he was into puzzles,” she said.Times of Israel staff and Noam Lehmann contributed to this report.

IDF’s West Bank chief said to warn PM that settler attacks could spark major Palestinian terror outbreak-Report quotes Central Command chief telling Netanyahu ‘there is one match that could ignite everything in an instant – nationalist crime,’ as army increasingly sounds alarm over unchecked violence-By Stav Levaton-Today, 4:48 am-AUG 25,26

The most senior Israel Defense Forces officer in the West Bank warned during a closed-door security assessment on Monday that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory, Channel 12 reported.“There has been a significant decline in the scale of [Palestinian] terrorism over the past two years, but there is one match that could ignite everything in an instant – nationalist crime,” Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth was quoted by Channel 12 news as telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.“The IDF’s attention is constantly being diverted to such incidents instead of thwarting Palestinian terrorism,” he reportedly added.According to the report, Netanyahu then asked IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir what the military would do if the West Bank erupted and what plan it had in place.“We did not come prepared to present that at this meeting,” Zamir reportedly replied.Defense officials cited by the TV network stressed the IDF does have a contingency plan, but said the meeting was convened at short notice and was expected to focus specifically on settler violence, leaving Zamir without the asked-for presentation and details on how the IDF would deal with a drastic escalation in Palestinian West Bank terrorism.It was at least the second time in recent days that IDF brass have warned that the surge of near-daily settler attacks — which are rarely prosecuted — could lead to an outbreak of Palestinian terrorism.A Channel 12 report on Friday quoted an unnamed senior military official suggesting more forceful action on the part of Israel was needed to stem the violence, and lamenting that some government officials support the extremist settlers.“There’s a group here that wants chaos,” the official reportedly said. “Support from part of the local leadership and parts of the government make enforcement difficult. It’s unclear whether there’s anyone who wants enforcement. Commanders on the ground feel alone in the campaign.”Settler violence has mounted in recent years, with near-daily, sometimes deadly attacks taking place throughout the West Bank, but few suspects arrested and charged.Critics accuse the government of condoning or even encouraging the attacks. In addition, IDF troops have been accused of standing by and allowing the violence, or even aiding it in some cases.Violence in the West Bank has escalated sharply in recent months, mostly involving settler attacks on Palestinians. There have also been several attacks by Palestinian assailants on Israelis, including a stabbing Sunday near the Jordan Valley village of al-Auja that left an Israeli man moderately wounded. The IDF arrested a 16-year-old Palestinian male suspected of carrying out the attack.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Israeli startup led by cybersecurity veterans lays off workforce and shuts down-Backed by Wiz founders and top cybersecurity executives, Minimus is the developer of a platform designed to help businesses keep their software secure from vulnerabilitiesBy Sharon Wrobel-24 August 2026, 9:39 pm

Tel Aviv security startup Minimus, founded by Israeli cybersecurity veterans, on Monday announced plans to shut down its operations and lay off employees after grappling with competitive headwinds and a challenging business environment.Minimus employs about 35 workers who will be let go as the startup gradually ceases its operations in the coming weeks.“Minimus is ending operations,” stated the startup’s co-founder and CEO Ben Bernstein. “Unfortunately, the current business and investment climate has resulted in a situation in which we are unable to continue operations.”Minimus, formerly known as Gutsy, was founded in late 2022 by cybersecurity veterans Bernstein (CEO), Dima Stopel (VP R&D) and John Morello (CTO). The same team founded Israeli cloud security pioneer Twistlock, which was sold to cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks for about $410 million in 2019.Three years later, the trio, who previously worked together at Microsoft, teamed up to develop a platform to help businesses and organizations secure their software supply chains and applications from malicious attacks by eliminating vulnerabilities. A software supply chain is the ecosystem of systems, infrastructure, processes, and people involved in developing software.Minimus attracted prominent investors and top industry executives with an ambitious security platform designed to eliminate over 95% of software supply chain vulnerabilities.In October 2023, shortly after the outbreak of war with the Hamas terror group, the startup raised $51 million in a financing round led by Yoav Leitersdorf’s YL Ventures and US venture capital fund Mayfield. Stellar cybersecurity entrepreneurs, including Wiz co-founders Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, and Roy Reznik; Talon founders Ofer Ben-Noon and Ohad Bobrov; former CyberArk CEO Udi Mokady; and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz also participated in the funding round.Over the past year, the startup has been facing tough competition from a flurry of security solutions as a rapid digital transformation across industries has increased the risk of online vulnerabilities and hacks, prompting businesses to spend more on safeguarding their software domains and applications. The rapid adoption of AI tools into workflows has also opened unprotected attack channels for cybercriminals to target.Minimus said it has started a 60-day transition period to provide customer support and maintenance services for its products and will gradually cease all operations by October 22. The startup is set to return about $10 million to its investors, according to reports in the Hebrew press.

Analysis 'West sees Erdogan as a tame poodle, but that's not the case'Strike on Syrian airbase signals Israel’s growing unease with Turkey’s regional ambitions-Critics question why Ankara’s longstanding presence suddenly required force, but experts say Turkish military systems could threaten IDF freedom of action and help Erdogan expand his influence By Stav Levaton-24 August 2026, 6:06 pm

For a decade, Turkey has maintained a military presence in northern Syria, with Ankara framing the occupation as necessary to protect its border from the Islamic State and Kurdish militants it considers linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Israel’s strikes last week on a military airport in northwestern Syria, however, signaled that Jerusalem increasingly sees Turkey’s military presence not simply as a feature of the Syrian conflict, but as a potential threat to Israel itself.In the early hours of August 18, Israel carried out a series of eight airstrikes on the runway of the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib, causing damage but no casualties, according to Syria.“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in an English-language statement explaining the strikes.Damascus swiftly condemned the attack, calling it an “unjustified act of aggression.” Ankara did as well, while denying plans to deploy military assets there.The fallout quickly reached Washington, where US envoy Tom Barrack said the strikes “constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”The ambassador cast doubt on Israel’s claim that Turkey was moving military assets into Syria’s northwestern Abu al-Duhur military airport, saying US intel did not indicate such activity.US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom- Israel, for its part, alleged that Syria had approved the shipment of unspecified military equipment from Turkey to the airbase, even after Mossad chief Roman Gofman reportedly warned Syrian Foreign Minister Asad Hassan al-Sheibani against such a move.A senior military source told Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s sister Hebrew website, that the shipment consisted of several drones, while the Kan public broadcaster reported that it was a radar system.Whatever the shipment contained, the Israeli decision to use force raised a broader question: Why had this particular Turkish deployment in northern Syria suddenly become a red line for Jerusalem? Turkey’s deep roots in northern Syria-The Turkish Armed Forces have occupied areas of northern Syria since August 2016, when they launched Operation Euphrates Shield. In the years that followed, Turkey played an active role in the Syrian civil war, supporting Syrian opposition forces against now-ousted president Bashar al-Assad and backing the Syrian National Army.Turkey’s unwavering support for Syrian dissidents and its decision to welcome Syrian refugees during the civil war created a close relationship between the two nations that has only gained greater prominence as Syria seeks to rebuild and establish itself as a stable, unified state after nearly 14 years of internal conflict-The current Syrian government’s appreciation for Turkey, coupled with Ankara’s willingness to aid Damascus in its military buildup, leaves “room for Turkey to operate” within Syria, according to Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.Still, she emphasized that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is “not a puppet of Turkey,” and has sought to balance Ankara’s influence against strong support from other powers, such as the US and Saudi Arabia.A necessary strike or political calculation? Israel’s attack was widely seen as a preventive move — an attempt to stop Turkey from establishing a new military foothold at Abu al-Duhur before personnel and equipment were in place.Lindenstrauss said that Jerusalem’s message was “clear,” wanting to signal that “Turkey will not deploy in Syria.”But whether the prospective deployment justified military action is far more contested.Attacking the base opened the prospect of armed conflict with a NATO member country that enjoys close ties with the White House and that continues to maintain diplomatic ties with Israel, even if heavily frayed. And the strike added a fresh crimp to a relationship with Syria that the US has been trying to smooth out in hopes of forging a security deal and possibly more between Damascus and Jerusalem.Elizabeth Tsurkov, a senior non-resident fellow at the New Lines Institute, a Washington DC-based think-tank, told The Times of Israel that while there “was definitely a context” for Israel’s attack, she questioned the necessity of going “as far as striking to prevent” the Turkish shipment.Others have questioned not only the necessity of the strike, but the motivations behind its timing.“One theory is they were just baiting Turkey, and it’s a very aggressive, but maybe well-received, pre-election concept,” Barrack said in an interview days after Israel’s attack, implying that conflict between Israel and Turkey would serve  Netanyahu ahead of the elections scheduled for October 27.“I see political reasons behind it,” Tsurkov said, echoing Barrack’s remarks. “It’s very clear it could have been avoided.”Tsurkov speculated that the government is purposefully exaggerating the Turkish threat in Syria to gain political points by portraying itself as confronting the issue with an iron fist.“We are two months away from an election. Netanyahu is failing in the polls, and he is willing to do what it takes,” she said. Recent polling shows Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party trailing slightly behind main political rival Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party.Tsurkov took to X to voice her criticism of Israel’s strikes, posting satellite images of Turkish bases in northern Syria, “some of which have existed there since 2017.”“The images are from before the fall of Assad, and since then, dozens of the Turkish bases have been dismantled due to the end of the confrontations with the Assad regime and the Kurds,” Tsurkov wrote. “Why does another base in northern Syria with Turkish presence justify an Israeli strike and damage to relations with the US and increased tension with Turkey? Where is the great threat?”The wider Turkish threat-For Israeli security officials and some analysts, however, the answer lies less in the prospect of another Turkish base than in the capabilities Ankara could eventually station there.According to Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs and former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, the most tangible threat lies in what Turkey may have planned to ship to Syria.“What is especially alarming is the deployment of their anti-aircraft system, the SİPER system,” he stressed, referring to Turkey’s long-range, high-altitude surface-to-air missile defense system.According to Kan, Israel told the US that Turkey planned to deploy an air defense system at Abu al-Duhur, potentially threatening Israel’s freedom of action in the region.Ailam said such a deployment could complicate future Israeli strikes on Iran, since “the course of the aircraft that are sent to Iran are strictly above this place near Idlib.”Reporting has also portrayed the prospective deployment as increasingly imminent. An Israeli source told Zman Yisrael that the decision to launch the strikes was made when “the Turkish trucks were already ready to move towards Syria.”Tsurkov pushed back against that characterization, saying, “This airbase did not pose any kind of an imminent threat to Israel,” noting its deteriorated state due to damage sustained during the Syrian Civil War and the months it would take to rebuild it to an operational state.Lindenstrauss argued that other aspects of Turkey’s growing regional role may pose more immediate challenges for Israel.“Hamas leadership is now moving from Qatar to Turkey,” she said. “That’s an issue that I think is a bigger concern than a possible Turkish deployment of UAVs in northern Syria.”According to the Kan public broadcaster, the decision came in part after Doha expressed dissatisfaction with the terror group’s decision to elect Khalil al-Hayya as its new leader.Indeed, the dispute over Abu al-Duhur comes amid a much broader Israeli unease over Ankara’s expanding regional ambitions, extending beyond Syria to Gaza and the eastern Mediterranean.Turkey’s growing involvement in the region has led some experts to suggest Ankara is working to expand its influence, drawing comparisons to Iran, which exerts sway via a network of proxy organizations across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “gradually trying to get his foot in the door in order to facilitate his concept of the new Ottoman Empire,” Ailam said, pointing to Ankara’s push to deploy its troops to Gaza as part of the enclave’s yet-to-be established International Stabilization Force as an example of this effort.“I think the West and the Americans should understand who we are facing,” Ailam warned. “They are looking at Erdogan as more of a tame poodle that can be manipulated very easily, but that’s not the case.”Keeping conflict at arm’s length-Israel’s mounting concern over Turkey has helped drive closer ties with two of Ankara’s longstanding regional rivals, Greece and Cyprus, both of which it recently partnered with to deepen military cooperation.In December, the Greek parliament approved the purchase of 36 PULS rocket artillery systems from Israel to bolster defenses along Greece’s northeastern border with Turkey and on Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.Yet for all the increasingly hostile rhetoric and competing ambitions, neither Jerusalem nor Ankara appears eager to allow their rivalry in Syria to spiral into a direct confrontation.An unnamed Israeli defense official told Kan on Sunday that the two countries have established quiet backchannel contacts aimed at avoiding friction over Syria.“Israel has no desire to turn Turkey into an enemy,” the source said. “[But] when the messages don’t help, Israel is forced to act.”The comments echoed those of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who said Saturday night that Israel has “no interest in escalation with Turkey,” seeking to dial back tensions that ratcheted up after the Israeli strike on the Abu al-Duhur base.Turkey’s NATO membership raises the stakes further, muddling the prospect of any direct military confrontation between Ankara and Jerusalem.“Nobody wants to envision this scenario in which Israel and Turkey clash,” Lindenstrauss said, pointing to Washington as a likely mediator should tensions between the two countries escalate further. “The US has a leading role in NATO and a great interest in relaxing tensions.”

They 'will live under pursuit until they are eliminated' In rare warning, Board of Peace tells Israel to limit Gaza fire to ‘genuine’ threats IDF chief vows that ‘pursuit of the October 7 terrorists continues’; US-backed organization also calls for halt of ‘all militant activity’ in Gaza, including kites, after Israeli threatsBy Nava Freiberg and Emanuel Fabian-Today, 7:01 pm-AUG 25,26

An official from the US-backed Board of Peace made a rare call on Tuesday for Israel to comply with the ceasefire in Gaza and limit strikes to “immediate” threats, even as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir vowed that targeted killings of October 7 terrorists will continue until they are all “eliminated.”The Board of Peace official also said that “all militant activity” in Gaza, including kite flying, must stop, two days after Israel threatened a forceful response if the Hamas terror group revives a tactic of launching incendiary kites over the border.“All militant activity in Gaza must stop, including the flying of kites. We have conveyed this message directly through the established mechanism,” an official of the Board of Peace — tasked with implementing the October 2025 ceasefire in Gaza — told multiple outlets.“Israel, too, must comply with the ceasefire; military action cannot extend beyond responding to genuine and imminent threats,” the official added.The statement from the Board of Peace came after Israel appealed to the organization over the spike in kites flown from Gaza in recent days. But the response marked a rare admonition of Israel by the Board, which has largely refrained from publicly criticizing Israeli military activity in Gaza in recent months.But Zamir said during a visit to Gaza on Tuesday that Israel’s hunt for terrorists involved in the October 7, 2023, onslaught will continue in the Gaza Strip.“We will not allow our enemies along the borders, with an emphasis on Gaza and Lebanon, to rebuild their strength,” Zamir said. “We will not allow terror infrastructure to become established. We will take every opportunity to eliminate threats as they emerge.”Zamir continued that “the pursuit of the October 7 terrorists continues. Anyone who took part in the massacre will live under pursuit until they are eliminated.”“This is a high-priority mission to which the [Southern] Command and the entire IDF are committed,” he added.Zamir also met with female surveillance soldiers on the border with the Gaza Strip, commending their efforts as “important.”“You are our eyes on the front, the first to identify infiltration threats and activate forces,” he said, according to remarks published by the army, during a visit to the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit at the Re’im Base.He added that the surveillance soldiers’ identifications and assessments “are important, and one of the lessons of October 7 is that we must listen carefully to every female and male soldier as part of assessments and the decision-making process.”Leading up to that Hamas-led invasion and massacre, the surveillance soldiers sent alerts about terrorists training for the attack, and were infamously ignored. Some of the surveillance soldiers, who are women, said sexism was a factor in their warnings being brushed aside.A total of 12 kites and four balloons have reportedly crossed from Gaza into Israeli border communities this month. The military stressed that “no suspicious findings were identified on the kites,” and that “at no stage was there any danger to the public.”But according to Hebrew media reports, the IDF believes that Hamas was responsible for launching the kites, and was doing so to test whether and how Israel would respond.Officials have told The Times of Israel that senior US representatives and board members expressed concern during their recent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s interpretation of “imminent threats” in Gaza is too “vague” and risks stalling advancement of Washington’s peace plan, which would see Hamas disarmed and have Israel withdraw.In recent months, the IDF has stepped up its efforts to kill Palestinian terrorists involved in October 7, justifying the strikes amid the ceasefire by claiming that the targets had “posed an immediate threat.”On Sunday, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz also threatened to “intensify strikes” against those responsible for launching kites from Gaza toward Israeli border communities, and evacuate areas of the Strip.Gaza parents were warned late Monday to stop their children from flying kites in the war-ravaged enclave. The popular committees, comprising representatives of local non-government organizations and charities that run Gaza displacement camps and shelters in the Hamas-run area of the Strip, issued the warning in a statement coordinated with Hamas authorities.“We are working tirelessly on the ground and doing everything possible to stop this practice, not to restrict the childhood of our children, who have already been deprived of the most basic rights to play and live in safety, but to protect their innocent lives,” the statement said.A Hamas official told Reuters the group has complained to ceasefire mediators that “Israel was making fake pretexts to continue the war on Gaza.”On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike killed one Palestinian in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, south of the enclave. The IDF said it had targeted a terror operative, without further information.The IDF also said Tuesday that it bombed five Hamas weapon depots located inside mosques and near aid sites, along with a rocket launch site, in the Gaza Strip a day earlier.According to the IDF, the arms sites were used to store rockets, weapons, explosives and other military gear used by Hamas to advance attacks on troops.“These storage facilities were established inside mosques and alongside humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” the military said. Ahead of the strikes, the IDF published warnings to Palestinians residing in the area.The military and Shin Bet said in a joint statement that the strikes “constitute a clear warning” to Hamas, adding that Israel “will not accept any kind of terror activity” in the Strip that threatens Israeli civilians.Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Report: Strike deterred Turkey from setting up Syria base--Katz: Israel won’t leave Syria buffer zone so long as ‘jihadist threats’ remain
Defense minister, visiting troops, tells Syrian president ‘when you wake up in Damascus and see IDF on Mount Hermon, know we’re here to defend our communities and border’By Emanuel Fabian-and ToI Staff Today, 7:56 pm-AUG 25,26

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday told troops in southern Syria that the Israeli military would not leave its buffer zone there as long as “jihadist threats” remain, issuing a belligerent message to Damascus as the US tries to secure a security deal between the countries.“We will not move from Mount Hermon and the security zone as long as there are jihadist threats to the State of Israel,” he said.“The message to the president of Syria is clear — when you wake up in the morning in the palace in Damascus and look up at Mount Hermon and see the IDF, you know that we are here to defend our communities and our border.”Katz added that Israel “acted against a Turkish attempt to establish itself in Syria, while putting Israel’s security interests at risk,” referring to last week’s strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib.“We made this clear and will stand by it in the future as well,” he added.The Syrian foreign ministry condemned Katz’s visit as illegal, and said his crossing of the international border was “a flagrant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.The Israel Defense Forces has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.Israeli troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (9 miles) deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”The two countries, which have no formal relations and are officially in a state of war, held historic direct talks last year aimed at reaching a groundbreaking security agreement that ultimately failed to materialize. However, contacts between the sides have been ongoing.In addition to concern about local jihadist groups, Israel is increasingly worried about Turkey’s military presence in Syria, prompting the strikes against the airbase last week.However, a Channel 12 report on Tuesday said that Israel believed that Turkey’s efforts to establish a military presence at a base in northern Syria have been thwarted for now.The decision was a result of intensive efforts to calm tensions following the Israeli airstrike, which have seen high-level contacts between Israel and Syria, as well as Israel and Turkey, notably including a meeting between Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Jordan on Sunday, the report said.Nevertheless,  Israel will not hesitate to strike the base again, Channel 12 quoted Israeli security officials as saying.Washington took issue with the Idlib attack, and even cast doubt on the Israeli intelligence Jerusalem cited to justify it.The US has been seeking to forge a security deal between Israel and the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a new US ally in the Middle East, for over a year. But it has proven elusive as Israel has kept troops in Syrian territory and attacked government assets, citing threats to its security.On Sunday, Mossad chief Gofman met with Syria’s al-Shaibani in Jordan to defuse tensions between Israel and Damascus.The Trump administration strongly pushed for the meeting, according to Channel 12. The outlet reported that the sitdown was positive in nature and was considered a step toward restarting direct negotiations.Hours before the meeting was reported, al-Shaibani said in an interview that Syria expected negotiations with Israel to resume soon, and that “the US is trying continuously to put pressure on Israel to return to the dialogue table.”Al-Shaibani said that around the start of this year, the sides had “agreed on paper to almost everything” regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop strikes in Syria and was tied to its withdrawal from territory seized after Assad fell.The deal would include several security zones in Syrian territory near the Israeli border, including a buffer zone where only the UN would be present, and others where Syrian forces would deploy in varying degrees of force.But the Syrian foreign minister accused Israel of seeking to evade implementation.Channel 12 also reported Sunday that Israel identified an increase in the Hezbollah terror group’s attempts to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon. A security official cited by the network said Iran is financing and operating the smuggling network.“Hezbollah is exploiting the ceasefire to build up its strength, and there has therefore been an increase in smuggling attempts through Syria,” a security official told Channel 12.

Reform synagogue vandalized in central Israel, in second such incident in 10 days-Ramat Hasharon mayor demands police investigation after assailants smash windows of Darchei Noam congregationBy ToI Staff 24 August 2026, 6:05 pm

The Darchei Noam synagogue in the central city of Ramat Hasharon was vandalized on Sunday night by unknown assailants, the second Reform synagogue targeted in less than 10 days.The assailants threw rocks at the synagogue and smashed a window at the entrance, Darchei Noam said in a statement, adding that it did not yet know who was behind the “heinous act.”As of Monday afternoon, the attackers had not yet been apprehended, and it was unclear whether police had opened an investigation into the incident, although the mayor of Ramat Hasharon said he had demanded one.The attack on Darchei Noam, said Mayor Itzik Rochberger, “is a serious act of vandalism, and it will not be tolerated here.”Rochberger said that “Ramat Hasharon is a city of freedom, tolerance, pluralism, and coexistence between secular and religious people.“We will not allow extremist elements to damage property, instill fear, and sabotage the fabric of our shared life,” the mayor added in a statement carried by local news outlet Sharon Online.The violence took place just over a week after the well-known Kol HaNeshama synagogue in Jerusalem was vandalized by a group of youths. The assailants in that incident broke a window, entered the building, and tore an LGBTQ Pride flag in the main sanctuary, according to the synagogue.Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who directed the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism before entering politics in 2021, posted an image on X of the damage to Darchei Noam.He noted, in his post, the general uptick in violence against businesses that operate on Shabbat and against places of worship and religious figures affiliated with other religions or with non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism.“We will not falter for a moment,” he vowed. “Facing the Judaism of the ‘paths of hatred,’ we will continue to promote the Judaism of the ‘paths of joy’ and ‘paths of peace,’ he said (Darchei Noam translates to Paths of Joy.)-“In the face of incessant incitement, we will continue to promote incessant hope,” continued Kariv. “They will smash and break — we will repair and build.”

Israel home purchase cancellations spike as risky developer financing takes toll-Data shows sharp rise in shelved deals, after builders allowed some buyers to put down nothing in advance and face little or no penalty for walking awayBy Zev Stub-24 August 2026, 4:20 pm

The number of canceled home purchases has spiked in recent months, rising 41 percent since the beginning of the year, according to the Finance Ministry’s most recent review of the housing sector.The increase points to growing strains on the housing market as developers have aggressively promoted new developments with generous financing options.In a number of cases, buyers were not required to put any money down when buying “on paper,” and fees for cancellations were waived or heavily discounted, senior deputy to the chief economist Galit Ben Naim commented on social media after the report’s release.Israel’s housing market has slowed in recent years, with prices falling nearly 2% in the past year, partly in reaction to the multifront war Israel has been engaged in since Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023. High interest rates, a record supply of unsold new housing, and high prices have also helped to tamp down sales.In response, developers have taken to offering more attractive — and riskier — financing options to buyers, who have become more averse to buying homes due to the uncertainty of the situation. The trend became so pronounced in recent years that in March, the central bank stepped in and imposed restrictions on those packages, fearful of the increased risk to individuals and the entire banking system.According to the Finance Ministry report, of the purchase deals signed between 2023-2025, a total of 1,821 had been canceled as of August 2026, with some 500 of those in the past seven months alone.While contract terminations naturally increase as time elapses, the recent acceleration points to deeper structural factors, economists at the Finance Ministry noted.Contracts signed during 2024 saw a particular jump in cancellations, the report noted, with 738 cancellations by August compared to 495 in January. This pushed the relative cancellation rate for 2024 deals from 1.5% to 2.3% — a 53% increase in relative frequency over just seven months. This corresponded with a period when building companies offered aggressive promotional financing schemes, including delayed payment structures, the report noted.By comparison, the cancellation rate for 2023 deals grew by 18% over the same period, reaching 825 canceled contracts for a 4.3% overall cancellation rate.More defaults may be reported in the future, the report noted. For housing units sold in 2024, only about 40% are ready for occupancy, and about a quarter specify delivery dates extending into 2028 or later, meaning that more cancellations are likely to materialize.The trend stands in stark contrast to previous boom periods, the report noted. For deals signed in 2021, for example, the cancellation rate was just 0.5% two years after the end of that calendar year.The rise in defaults is directly connected to the risky payment conditions required by developers, Ben Naim wrote on her personal Facebook page.“Two sentences caught my eye when I was looking through the pile of cancellation agreements,” she wrote, quoting: “‘As the buyer has not paid anything for the apartment.. and as the buyer has informed the seller that he is unable to complete the purchase…'”According to Ben Naim, half of all those who canceled never put up more than a few tens of thousands of shekels, and a third never actually put up any money.“Set aside the fact that it is somewhat amusing to write about ‘completing’ the purchase when nothing has been paid,” she charged. “There is nothing funny about the fact that for many months, sometimes even more than a year after the purchase, in many transactions, one could pay nothing for an apartment.”In addition, Ben Naim noted that while there is usually a cancellation fee of 10% of the apartment price, a sum that would typically reach hundreds of thousands of shekels, the penalty was discounted or completely waived in many cases. In the southern region, where the cancellation trend was most pronounced, the average penalty was just NIS 20,000 ($6,682), she wrote.Separately, a report by the central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) last week showed that price disparities between different regions in Israel continue to grow.The average home in Tel Aviv now sells for some 2.5 times the price of a residence in the northern and southern regions, CBS found.Nationwide, the average transaction price reached NIS 2.435 million ($665,000) in the second quarter of 2026, CBS said.The average sale price in Tel Aviv during the quarter was NIS 3.58 million ($1.2 million), compared to NIS 1.52 million in the north ($508,200) and NIS 1.66 million ($555,000) in the south, CBS reported. In Jerusalem, the average price was NIS 2.91 million ($973,000).

Canada strikes back at US with retaliatory tariffs, amid escalating trade war-Donald Trump says Washington giving ‘serious consideration’ to renaming Lake Ontario ‘Lake America,’ as Canada slaps tariffs up to 50% on $20 billion worth of American goods-By Rob Gillies Today, 8:27 pm-AUG 25,26

TORONTO (AP) — Canada struck back at the United States on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbors escalated sharply.The tension threatened one of the world’s largest trading relationships. The new tariffs extended well beyond industrial goods, hitting everyday purchases such as seafood, cheese, clothing, cosmetics and toilet paper, with some facing duties as high as 50%.“We did not choose this conflict, but when our economic integration is used as a weapon rather than the foundation for a win-win partnership, we need to stand up,” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in French, calling the situation “an unprecedented challenge imposed on Canada.”Canada’s retaliation came after the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs over the weekend on Canadian goods following the collapse of trade negotiations. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused Washington of trying to subordinate Canada and said US demands during the failed talks showed that Americans wanted to “destroy our major industries.”President Donald Trump intensified the confrontation Monday, telling Canadian leaders to “fall in line” or face consequences “far WORSE” than existing tariffs and threatening new 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel.Trump added another provocation Tuesday, saying the United States was giving “serious consideration” to renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” in a feud with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Such a change would be reminiscent of the Republican president’s unilateral action last year by executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.The tariffs will take effect September 8 at rates of 15%, 25% and 50%, with Canada matching the corresponding US tariff rate on more than 700 products such as pulp and paper and electronics. The tariffs on many American products would double from 25% to 50%, with the largest share of the new measures affecting steel and aluminum.Canadian officials said the goal is not to raise revenue but to protect Canadian companies and reduce US imports.US steel imports, for example, have already fallen 30% since Canada imposed a 25% tariff, and the new 50% rate is expected to cut them further, Canadian officials said.Goods facing 50% tariffs include some steel and aluminum products, furniture and clothing. Appliances, dairy products including cheese, fish and seafood, and certain steel and aluminum derivatives will face 25% tariffs. Existing Canadian countertariffs on US autos will remain in place.Canada also announced a support package for workers and businesses affected by the dispute worth $7.5 billion in Canadian dollars ($5.4 billion in US dollars).Canadian officials acknowledged the counter tariffs will raise costs for some businesses and consumers but said they expect the overall economic effects to be moderate.They said the government has provided more than 30 billion Canadian dollars (US$21.7 billion) in tariff-related support since the beginning of 2025 — far more than it has collected in retaliatory duties — as it tries to cushion the blow from the trade fight.Canada and the United States have deeply integrated supply chains across autos, energy, agriculture and manufacturing, making a prolonged trade fight potentially costly for businesses and workers on both sides of the border.Businesses and consumers are caught in the middle, facing uncertainty about how much prices may increase.Michael Howard II, owner of a furniture business in Warren, Michigan, outside Detroit, said the tariffs will hamper the “ability for us to put food on the table for our family” and affect “the ability for us to give back to our community.”Howard and his wife started their business a decade ago. They make and sell everything from dining room tables to bookcases.“To say that we don’t need Canada is just disingenuous,” he said. “It’s dishonest. And it’s just absolutely not truthful. We need our neighbor, but also they need us.”Carney said Monday that Canada may need to move away from matching US tariffs dollar for dollar and instead use more targeted retaliation aimed at protecting Canadian workers and businesses.“An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States” is “not something we’re going to accept,” Carney said.Carney was even more blunt in French.“We learned during the negotiations that the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminum,” Carney said. “That was one of the main reasons we said no. It was a bad deal.”On Monday, Carney said US negotiators had raised the discoverability of French-language content on streaming platforms, along with French-language labeling rules, as trade irritants. He rejected the idea that those protections were negotiable, saying in French: “For the Americans, questions about the French language, Quebec culture, francophone culture and Canadian culture are irritants. Here in Quebec, here in Canada, they are rights.”In a social media post early Tuesday, Trump wrote: “I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!”

Wartime reserve duty will take heavier toll on economy, Treasury warns-Month of reserve duty costs the state an average NIS 53,000 per soldier and falls mainly on non-Haredi Jewish men aged 25-44, who tend to earn more and have children, report finds-By Sharon Wrobel-Today, 9:59 pm-AUG 25,26

The economic cost of a reservist leaving a job for a month to perform military duty is higher than previously estimated, as the burden falls disproportionately on non-Haredi Jewish men who earn higher salaries, the Finance Ministry warned in a new report released on Tuesday.The average economic cost of a reserve soldier is about NIS 53,000 ($17,790) per month, according to the study by the Finance Ministry’s chief economist’s division. The estimate is about 10 percent higher than the previous estimate from 2024, which was NIS 48,000. The Treasury said it switched from a calculation based on the average wage in the economy to examining the actual employment characteristics and wages of reservists.The report showed that the burden of reserve duty falls disproportionately on non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish men aged 25 to 44 earning an average monthly salary of NIS 19,000, about 42% higher than similar workers who weren’t absent due to reserve duty.In the second quarter of 2026, about 75% of employed reservists who were absent from work were aged 25-44, even though this age group only made up about 43% of the workforce, the Finance Ministry said.A reservist in his 20s costs the state NIS 39,000 per month, up from NIS 33,000 in the previous estimate, while one in his 30s costs about NIS 68,000 versus NIS 54,000, the report showed.Israel’s multi-front hostilities with the Hamas terror group and Iran and its proxies that began with the devastating Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, have ballooned defense costs and the need for military manpower, placing heavy pressure on public debt and finances.The direct cost of the war has been estimated at more than NIS 250 billion ($84 billion), of which about a third was allocated to funding the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists for extended periods, among them many high-tech employees.The figures come even as the government has sought to enshrine a blanket exemption from military duty for ultra-Orthodox men and passed a series of laws, which have since been frozen by the courts, that would have temporarily stopped the arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers.“Non-Haredi Jewish men on reserve duty aren’t from within the lowest socioeconomic strata, and their salaries are high, which is a very heavy burden for the Israeli economy,” Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, Director of Israel Democracy Institute’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, told The Times of Israel. “But there is an alternative, which is to enlist young ultra-Orthodox men to mandatory military service, who are supposed to join the army.”At the peak of the war, the IDF activated around 300,000 reservists, and it had previously been expected to call up some 60,000 during 2026 for routine activities. During the first year of the war, combat soldiers served an average of 136 days, and commanders served 168 days. Before the war, reservists would carry out up to 25 days of operational activity every three years.Earlier this month, a government-requested extension of emergency military mobilization until September 30 was approved. The approval allows the IDF to call up a maximum of 240,000 reservists. Such extensions have been granted every few months since the outbreak of war in Gaza almost three years ago.The Finance Ministry’s report found that although non-Haredi Jewish men make up only 36% of the country’s workforce, they represented about 83% of the employed who were absent from work due to reserve duty. About 70% of those absent due to reserve service were parents with children.The report’s findings reinforce repeated calls by the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel to draft the ultra-Orthodox population into the military service, to save billions of shekels per year to the state’s war-hit coffers.Some 72,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The IDF has said repeatedly in recent months that it urgently needs 12,000 new recruits amid the ongoing regional security threats.“We know the costs of security are only getting higher as Israel is facing conflicts on multiple fronts,” said Ravitsky Tur-Paz. “This is not sustainable and will come at a heavy price for social services including health, welfare and education.”Ravitsky Tur-Paz noted that a broader enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men could reduce reliance on reserve soldiers, whose cost to the economy is much higher. In contrast, the cost to the economy of drafting young Haredi men for mandatory service is very low, since in most cases the enlistment does not replace participation in the labor market. The enlistment of 7,500 Haredi men per year could generate annual savings of about NIS 9 billion within three years, according to estimates by the Bank of Israel.“The problem that Haredim are not joining the army is not only about fairness and the fact that it’s not egalitarian,” said Ravitsky Tur-Paz. “It’s not only about military manpower and whether we will be able to meet our defense challenges, but it’s also about whether Israel’s economy will be able to shoulder the high costs in the coming years.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

MONTREAL BETTER HAVE STOPPED A BILL AGAINST ISRAEL OR GOD MAY HAVE SENT FLOODING OR ANOTHER DISASTEROUS ICE STORM OR BIG QUAKE ON MONTREAL.AND ALSO DONALD JOHN TRUMP THREATENS TO CHANGE LAKE OF ONTARIO.TO LAKE OF AMERICA.TRUMP CARNEY AND FORD ARE DUKING IT OUT IN THE MEDIA OVER THE 50% TARIFFS ON CANADA,

Montreal city council walks back motion to cut ties with Israel-Municipal legislators vote to water down anti-Israel resolution, removing accusations of ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid,’ instead passing a pro-Palestinian solidarity statementBy Luke Tress-Today, 6:43 pm-AUG 25,26

The city government of Montreal, Canada, failed to pass a motion on Monday that sought to cut ties between the Canadian city and Israel, instead passing an expression of solidarity with Palestinians.The city passed the watered-down version of the proposal by a vote of 54-6 after a lengthy debate that highlighted divides in the city government and outside activists.Montreal’s opposition had backed the motion to cut ties with Israel, but Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrara and her administration had opposed the move, saying foreign relations were the purview of the federal government.“We are not a government of a national perspective on foreign affairs. That is not our role,” Martinez Ferrara said during a Monday press conference.The administration proposed amendments to the initial motion, removing the demand that Montreal cut institutional and diplomatic ties with Israel, as well as demands the city denounce “apartheid” and “genocide” by Israel, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.The amendments passed by a vote of 38-22, The Montreal Gazette reported.The final motion expressed “solidarity with the Palestinian people as well as all civilian victims of hostilities” in the Middle East.The motion also backed Montreal’s commitment to international law and called on the federal and provincial governments to demonstrate “greater leadership” in resolving the conflict.After the vote, Nathalie Goulet of Projet Montreal, the opposition group that initiated the proposal, said the group was “extremely disappointed” with the amendments.Outside activists had campaigned on both sides.Anti-Israel groups organized petitions, campaigned for the measure online and rallied outside Montreal’s City Hall on Monday.Video from The National Post showed anti-Zionist activists shouting, “Shame on you,” and, “Genocide supporter,” at those leaving city hall.Leaving courtroom. When they show you who they are, believe them pic.twitter.com/t5BoY3xudh — Terry Newman (@terrynewman) August 25, 2026-B’nai Brith Canada, a leading Jewish group, had urged the city to reject the motion.“For the City of Montreal to weigh into this conflict would be inappropriate and exacerbate tensions between communities. It is not in the city’s purview to dictate foreign policy for its residents,” B’nai Brith said in a statement.The statement tied anti-Israel activism to hostility against Jews.Greek and Italian community groups also opposed the initial motion.B’nai Brith Canada hailed the vote and applauded Soraya Martinez in a Tuesday statement.“We are pleased that the City Council did not adopt the deceitful and distorted language contained in the original motion,” said Paola Samuel, B’nai Brith Canada’s Regional Director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada.“We urge Montreal’s city council to continue to focus its attention on what matters most to its constituents — housing, crime and affordability — rather than inserting itself into complex geo-political issues that foster division and contribute to the normalization of hate on our streets,” Samuel said.The motion was significant because, if its original text had passed, it would have made Montreal the largest North American city to cut ties with Israel, following European cities like Barcelona, Spain, and Liege, Belgium.Montreal is home to a large Jewish population and has a long and storied Jewish history. It also hosts an Israeli consulate.
Studies have repeatedly found record levels of antisemitism in Canada in recent years, including high-profile incidents in Montreal.In Montreal, antisemitic activity has targeted an Israeli soccer player, synagogues have been hit with arson and firebombings, protesters have hanged effigies of Israeli leaders, and Jews have been attacked in public.

Official: Faction leaders think disarming would serve Israel, US-Iraq delays deadline for Iran-backed Shiite militias to hand over weapons
Senior official says original Sept. 30 disarmament deadline was actually date for departure of US forces, does not provide updated timeline for arms handover By AFP 24 August 2026, 3:21 pm

BAGHDAD — A senior Iraqi official on Sunday pushed back a September 30 deadline for pro-Iran armed factions to hand over their weapons, without offering an explanation for the move or providing a new date.Iraq has come under pressure from the United States to rein in armed factions, particularly those close to Iran.The US and Iran have been at war since February 28, drawing in other countries in the region as well as non-state groups backed by the Islamic Republic, many of whom are located in Iraq and draw support from the country’s Shiite majority.For several months, Iraq’s government has stood by its deadline, but on Sunday, the security adviser to the prime minister, Qasim al-Araji, told state media the process would only begin at the end of next month.“September 30 is the date for the international coalition to depart, not the deadline to hand over weapons,” Araji told the Al Iraqiya broadcaster, referring to the coalition of US-led forces.Government spokesman Haidar al-Aboudi had made a similar announcement to local media on Friday, despite announcing in June that factions had until the end of September to disarm.September 30, he said, was “the date for the international coalition to end its presence, not the deadline for armed factions… Perhaps people are confusing the two.”Since taking office in May, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has pledged to ensure the armed factions that emerged in the years that followed the US-led invasion hand over their weapons to the state.While some factions have in recent weeks said they would join state institutions, others, in particular those closer to Iran, are refusing.“The situation is extremely complicated,” a government official told AFP, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.“The government is insisting on closing the weapons file; but faction leaders are determined to hold onto their weapons because they believe disarming would serve Israel and the United States.”The most powerful armed factions in Iraq include Kataeb Hezbollah, a part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance” against the US and Israel.Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the US, has also accused armed groups in Iraq of launching attacks against it.Another Iraqi source told AFP that Iran views its proxies in the region, “especially in Iraq, as a source of strength it refuses to give up.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION-HEAVENLY OBJECTS) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

DEUTORONOMY 28:24
24  The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

JAMES 1:11
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. 

The Hebrew noun accurately translated “oven” refers to a “baking oven” as distinct from a kiln or smelting furnace—both of which burn much hotter. (The Hebrew nouns for “kiln” or for “smelting furnace” are more likely to appear in contexts of God's wrath or judgment.)
21 They have roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.
22 Yes, a fire has blazed from my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of Sheol; it will devour the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to the footings of the mountains.
23 I shall hurl disasters on them, on them I shall use up all my arrows.

Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(LIBERAL GODLESS AIR WAVES) the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:(GODLESS)

2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Daniel chapter 10 provides us with a particularly fascinating incident from the life of the prophet Daniel. The incident has to do with answers to prayer and why those answers sometimes get delayed. In Daniel’s case, his answer was delayed for three full weeks.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day (3 WEEKS EARLIER) that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.(THIS SEEMS TO ME TO BE MICHAEL THE ARCH ANGEL ISRAELS WAR ANGEL OF PROTECTION.) THAT CAME TO DANIEL.
13 But the prince (TERRITORIAL DEMON OVER IRAN) of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days:(3 WEEKS) but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.(THE POINT HERE IS THAT SAME TERRITORIAL DEMON THAT STOPPED DANIELS PRAYER FROM BEING ANSWERED FOR 3 WEEKS-IS STILL OVER IRANS TERRITORY THAT LEADS THE LEADERS OF IRAN). THATS WHY IRAN WILL NEVER STOP MAKING NUKES TILL ISRAEL IS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. WITH THIS TERRITORIAL DEMON CONTROLLING THE MINDS OF KHAMENEI AND THE LEADERS IN IRAN. 

Fast-moving wildfire amid shifting winds threatens Reno, Nevada, forcing thousands to evacuate-Smoke billows in the distance as a wildfire in Reno, By  JOHN RABY, JACK BROOK and JOHN SEEWER-Updated 2:42 AM EDT, August 24, 2026

An out-of-control wildfire that jumped over fire trucks and made it difficult for crews to reach hot spots destroyed homes in northwest Reno, Nevada, on Sunday. Shifting winds challenged firefighters trying to bring it under control, and authorities urged some 90,000 people to evacuate.At least six people — three first responders and three civilians — were injured. Officials said the fire was “human-caused” but did not provide details on how they reached that conclusion, or whether it was intentionally set or accidental.The Hawk Fire began Saturday and grew to more than 23 square miles (60 sq. km.) as it spread Sunday across the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest, where rugged foothills are ringed by homes and businesses near the California state line. There was zero containment.Some 42,000 residents have been ordered evacuated as the “GO NOW” zone expanded, reaching the edge of the University of Nevada. An additional 45,000 people were in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. Authorities urged people to be prepared to stay away for several days, because shifting and strengthening winds were expected to make the fire even more unpredictable“Please get out if you can right now,” Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said.A Sunday evening update said crews observed “extreme fire behavior” as gusts pushed flames through dry brush.“Over the next 12 hours, the fire is expected to continue to make moderate to high intensity runs in pockets of dense fuels,” the statement said.It wasn’t known how many homes were destroyed. Cari Kieffer said a video posted on social media showed her house entirely burned down, with only a scorched basketball hoop still standing.“I woke up this morning and just started crying — all my kids, they lost everything,” Kieffer said Sunday. “We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone.”Kieffer had been watching her son’s football game Saturday when she learned that their home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. An app the family used to track the fire’s progress had been lagging significantly behind its actual location, she said, so they thought firefighters had kept the blaze from their neighborhood.Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children ages 3 to 16 raced to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could retrieve. Ash rained down, and the wind blew like an oven blast from a wall of flames advancing down the hillside toward their neighborhood, she said.“I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked,” Kieffer said. “I was like, we gotta go like now.”Eyes watering and throat burning, Kieffer grabbed a handful of clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother’s ashes. In the frenzy, as firefighters yelled at her family to leave immediately, she said she forgot her family’s birth certificates and was unable to salvage her childhood photos.The family drove to a friend’s home but had to evacuate again. They learned later Saturday evening that their own home was gone.Governor declares state of emergency and mobilizes National Guard-Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the Nevada National Guard to support aerial firefighting with two helicopter crews as well as 60 troops to help police safeguard evacuated neighborhoods. Also responding were 800 fire personnel.Nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Washoe County on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. Portions of U.S. Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed due to the fire. Reno, with more than 280,000 residents, is the largest city in Nevada outside of metro Las Vegas.Washoe County emergency officials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to evacuees, but said they couldn’t bring their pets — small animals and large animals were to be left at two other locations. Casinos in Reno offered discounts on hotel rooms to evacuees.The fire turned destructive fast-The fire was so small Saturday morning that it wasn’t even a concern, said Tyler Duvall, who went camping over the weekend. By the next day, his house was in the evacuation zone.“The wind really blew it up,” Duvall said.On Saturday alone, 15 new fires popped up across Nevada. Months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter across the American West have created prime fire conditions. Earlier this month, wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area, while three wildfires north of Reno forced more than 13,000 residents from their homes.A mountaintop home goes up in flames-Jaida Hargrove’s grandfather, Rick Arrate, lived alone on Peavine Mountain, which overlooks Reno and Sparks. Firefighters used a bulldozer, cut down trees and applied fire retardant in their attempt to contain the flames, Hargrove said.“They all thought it would be OK,” she said. “And then, in about 30 minutes, the winds just changed and it came way too fast.”Arrate and the firefighters were quickly forced off the mountain. “All he was able to take with him was his two golden retrievers,” Hargrove said.Arrate spent Saturday night with Hargrove’s parents, his next steps unknown.Separate GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns were set up to assist Arrate and the Kieffer family.A Nevada transplant gets a rude welcome to Reno-Retired police officer and firefighter Ted Melden has seen his share of Mother Nature’s fury since moving to Reno with his wife earlier this month from Chapin, South Carolina. So far, he has experienced a hailstorm with flash flooding, two different power outages and, now, the second wildfire incident in the region in two weeks.“Just another natural disaster,” Melden said.In the two years he lived in South Carolina, Melden said Hurricane Helene knocked over trees in his yard, while a tornado did some damage in his neighborhood.For now, Melden hasn’t been ordered to leave his home, but he has his bags packed just in case.“You just have to roll with the flow and be ready,” he said.David Barb returned from a weekend hunting trip to find the fire had leveled his taxidermy shop, but his house nearby appeared to have been spared thanks to workers with a landscaping company who cut a fire break, he said. His wife was home when the fire started on the other side of the mountain and later evacuated to a friend’s house.“I’m kind of devastated, but thank God everyone’s safe,” he said Sunday.esidents just outside the evacuation zone are keeping watch-The University of Nevada, where many of the 20,000 undergraduates moved into their housing this weekend, was just outside the evacuation zone Sunday.Two hospitals evacuated patients and the sheriff said his office was keeping a close watch on whether to evacuate the county jail.The fire moved exceptionally fast Saturday night, jumping over fire trucks and making it difficult for responders to get to hot spots while residents were trying to get out, the sheriff said.“It was extremely confusing,” Balaam said, describing how changing winds sent the flames in different directions.___Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia, Brook from New Orleans and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio.