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Israel's military campaign in Gaza, evolving ceasefire and hostage deals, and the catastrophic humanitarian toll on Palestinian civilians
An AP-NORC poll of 1,022 Jewish adults in the U.S. found deep divides within the community over Israel's military actions in Gaza, the role of Jewish identity, and representation in American politics. The survey, released July 18, 2026,…
2026-07-18 · 4 MIN READA federal appeals court on Friday ruled that a 28-year prison sentence for Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a Libyan militant convicted in the 2012 attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans,…
2026-07-17 · 3 MIN READAn opinion piece by author Moustafa Bayoumi describes the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's foreign policy as "hawkish ideology" that left, in Bayoumi's words, a "legacy of destruction." The piece, published Tuesday in The Guardian, presents a…
2026-07-14 · 4 MIN READRep. Ro Khanna of California said armed Israeli settlers carrying US-made M4 rifles detained him and his delegation for 90 minutes during a visit to the occupied West Bank Wednesday. The congressman said the Israel Defense Forces arrived…
2026-07-11 · 3 MIN READIsraeli researchers are testing methods to locate and remove unexploded grenades, mortars, and other munitions from the Mediterranean Sea near the central city of Rishon Lezion, part of a yearslong experiment to clear the seabed and return…
2026-07-10 · 3 MIN READA man identified by Tibetan exile media as activist Lobga Rangzen died Thursday evening after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, police said. Rangzen self-immolated following what Voice of Tibet,…
2026-07-03 · 3 MIN READFederal authorities have arrested and charged Catherine Beth Washburn, a 37-year-old Irondequoit, New York, woman, with attempting to provide material support to the Palestine Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist…
2026-07-01 · 3 MIN READFormer Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth argued in a Guardian op-ed on June 30 that a generational shift, accelerated by the Iran war and Israel's military campaign in Gaza, is fundamentally transforming the US-Israel…
2026-06-30 · 3 MIN READSang Hea Kil, a tenured justice studies professor at San José State University who was fired last November over her pro-Palestinian activism, has been ordered reinstated by an arbitrator who found the California State University system…
2026-06-29 · 3 MIN READA network of conservative foundations funds at least 20 of the 23 largest donors to campus "civil discourse" initiatives, according to a new analysis by the research consortium Uncivil, fueling a $200 million-per-year industry that critics…
2026-06-28 · 3 MIN READA peer-reviewed pilot study has found that some East Palestine, Ohio, residents showed blood markers of chronic inflammation and altered immune cell counts six months after the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical release,…
2026-06-26 · 3 MIN READFederal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Wednesday against eight pro-Palestinian activists accused of conspiring to run a criminal intimidation campaign targeting University of Michigan officials, including placing fake bloody corpses on…
2026-06-10 · 4 MIN READIsrael's Cabinet unanimously approved a proposal Sunday to designate the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as a genocide, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced. The decision, which still requires approval…
2026-06-29 · 3 MIN READFive people were injured in a mass stabbing at New York City's Penn Station on Sunday evening, and a male suspect is in custody, officials said.
2026-06-07 · 3 MIN READ
Savneet Talwar, a tenured art therapy professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was suspended from teaching and placed under investigation after a student complained about an assigned case study that mentioned violence…
2026-06-05 · 3 MIN READAn independent UK government review has recommended barring NHS staff from wearing political badges on their uniforms, including pro-Palestinian symbols, as part of a broader set of measures to tackle antisemitism within the health service.
2026-06-03 · 3 MIN READSeveral Jewish faculty members at Columbia University filed Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims this week arguing that a $21 million antisemitism settlement fund, created as part of the university's deal with the Trump…
2026-06-03 · 3 MIN READA woman in a refugee camp in the Central African Republic gave birth on the roadside, alone and without medical care, after conflict and poverty prevented her from reaching a health facility. Her story is part of a broader crisis in…
2026-06-02 · 3 MIN READSeveral prominent New York Democrats who marched in Sunday's Israel Day parade have condemned the attendance of Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister, saying they were unaware he would be present and denouncing his…
2026-06-02 · 3 MIN READThe UK Home Office revoked the visas of US political commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur, blocking them from entering the country to speak at the SXSW London festival and a university event. The two said they were banned for…
2026-06-01 · 3 MIN READThe United Kingdom's government has proposed creating a national database that would allow airlines to share information on disruptive passengers and potentially bar them from flying with any carrier. Officials from the Department for…
2026-06-01 · 3 MIN READJune 1 marks significant historical milestones across more than 140 years, including the 2020 clearing of Lafayette Square protesters, the 1962 execution of Adolf Eichmann, and the 1968 death of Helen Keller, United Press International…
2026-06-01 · 3 MIN READFamilies of the 241 people killed in the June 2025 crash of Air India Flight AI171 are observing the first anniversary of the disaster as investigators prepare to release a final report on what caused the aircraft to fall from the sky less…
2026-06-01 · 4 MIN READNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke with a decades-long political custom on Sunday by declining to attend the annual Israel Day parade, citing his sustained support for Palestinian rights.
2026-06-01 · 3 MIN READThe killing of three people at a mosque in San Diego has renewed calls among Jewish and Muslim leaders to confront anti-Muslim hate and antisemitism as interconnected threats rather than competing grievances. In a commentary published by…
2026-05-31 · 3 MIN READReligious leaders and lawmakers are pressing Congress to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, or NSGP, asking for $1 billion to help secure houses of worship. In meetings on Capitol Hill, officials and advocates said…
2026-05-24 · 3 MIN READIsrael will for the first time allow women to sit for the rabbinic exams that Israel’s rabbinate requires for Orthodox men, NPR reported May 19. The change follows years of court fights, but Israel’s official rabbinate still refuses to…
2026-05-19 · 3 MIN READThree Finnish cave-diving experts arrived in the Maldives on Sunday to map a new strategy for recovering the bodies of four Italian divers lost deep inside an underwater cave, a Maldives presidential spokesperson said, after a Maldivian…
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READThree Finnish divers arrived in the Maldives to help map a new plan to search for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be inside an underwater cave, after a Maldivian rescue diver died, the Maldives coastguard and officials said.…
2026-05-17 · 3 MIN READMADRID — For the first time in seven years, Silvia Díaz won’t gather with friends to watch the Eurovision Song Contest finals Saturday night after Spain’s public broadcaster withdrew from the competition to protest Israel’s participation…
2026-05-16 · 4 MIN READFélicien Kabuga, accused of financing Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, died Thursday in a hospital in The Hague while in United Nations custody, the U.N. court said. He was over 90 and had been ruled unfit to stand trial in 2023 due to dementia.
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READA French investigating judge from the crimes against humanity unit will examine a criminal complaint by two rights groups accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of involvement in the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,…
2026-05-16 · 4 MIN READThe Justice Department will seek the death penalty for the man charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Washington museum last May, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday. Elias Rodriguez, who shouted ‘Free…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READIsrael said Friday it launched airstrikes targeting Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the commander of Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, in Gaza City. The attacks on a residential building and a vehicle killed seven people and wounded dozens, according to…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READPalestinian activist Ramy Shaath says French authorities are seeking to deport him on grounds he poses a threat to public security, accusing the government of targeting him for his pro-Palestinian activism. The Associated Press reported…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READLondon's Metropolitan Police deployed at least 4,000 officers, armored vehicles, and helicopters on Saturday to manage two rival marches and the FA Cup final, arresting 43 people by early evening.
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READThe Spanish public broadcaster RTVE has withdrawn from this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest finals in protest of Israel’s participation, prompting Spain to boycott the event for the first time in seven years. Fans in Madrid and elsewhere…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READUn buzo militar de Maldivas murió el sábado mientras buscaba los cuerpos de cuatro buzos italianos que se cree que quedaron atrapados en una cueva submarina, informó el gobierno de Maldivas. El ministerio de Exteriores de Italia indicó que…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READSabastian Sawe, 31, became the first runner to complete a marathon in under two hours when he won the London Marathon in a record 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, according to Religion News Service and the Associated Press. The report…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READThe U.S. Department of Justice will seek the death penalty for Elias Rodriguez, who faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the deaths of two Israeli Embassy staffers shot outside a Jewish museum in Washington last May, prosecutors…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday targeted the leader of Hamas’ military wing, Israeli officials said, though it was not immediately clear whether Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed or injured. Israeli…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READPalestinian activist Ramy Shaath said French authorities are seeking to deport him, accusing France of targeting him over pro-Palestinian activism. Shaath, 54, made the claim in a May 14 video statement posted online, saying the…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READBulgaria won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday in Vienna, as singer Dara captured the grand final with her party anthem “Bangaranga.” The Israeli entry by Noam Bettan finished second after Eurovision’s Israel participation…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READPolice in London deployed thousands of officers and other resources on Saturday to manage two rival marches through central areas of the U.K. capital and keep them separate from the FA Cup final, which took place at Wembley. By 7:30 p.m.,…
2026-05-16 · 3 MIN READNEW YORK — Global Citizen on Thursday announced the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a $100 million initiative to support education for underserved children, anchored by the first-ever halftime show at the men’s World Cup on July 19.…
2026-05-15 · 4 MIN READVIENNA (AP) — The lineup for the Eurovision Song Contest final was set Thursday after 10 acts advanced from the second semifinal in Vienna, but political tensions over Israel’s participation continued to cast a shadow, with five countries…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READVIENNA — A Vienna café has become an unlikely focal point of the Eurovision Song Contest’s deep divisions over Israel’s participation, offering Israeli food and flags to fans while a police officer stands guard outside.
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READA federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced Michail Chkhikvishvili, a Georgian neo-Nazi leader, to 15 years in prison for recruiting others to commit violent attacks against Jews and racial minorities, including a plot involving poisoned candy…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READGaza’s digital freelancers are rebuilding their online work after months of bombardment, blackouts and bank restrictions, relying on coworking spaces, solar power and alternative payment channels to keep clients abroad supplied. In Gaza…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READPARIS (AP) — The gilded dome of Les Invalides in Paris is known worldwide as the resting place of Napoleon. Behind the landmark’s grand façade, the National Institution of Invalides has served for more than 350 years as a home and hospital…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READVienna’s famed coffeehouses have leaned into the Eurovision Song Contest, including one café that added Israeli food and decorations as debate over Israel’s participation carries into the event. Organizers are also preparing for protests…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READPARIS — The gilded dome of the Invalides is known worldwide as Napoleon’s tomb, but behind the Paris landmark's grand 17th-century façade, a lesser-known mission has continued without interruption for over 350 years: serving as a home and…
2026-05-15 · 3 MIN READIsraeli police shot and killed a 44-year-old Palestinian father of four as he attempted to climb the concrete barrier separating the occupied West Bank from Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, according to Palestinian authorities. The man's…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READAlbrecht Weinberg, a Holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz, Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen and survived three death marches before returning to Germany in his 80s to teach students about Nazi atrocities, died in Leer, on Tuesday,…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READDan Sohail, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court to intentionally ramming his car into the entrance of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, a synagogue and office complex, causing $19,000 in damage while about 2,000…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition submitted a bill to dissolve parliament, a preliminary step toward holding new elections later this year, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The bill is expected to move toward a…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READPalestinian authorities said Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man as he tried to climb the concrete barrier separating the occupied West Bank from Jerusalem, near the West Bank town of Al-Ram. The man was identified by…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition took a preliminary step toward dissolving parliament on Wednesday, submitting a bill that would trigger new elections as the current Knesset approaches the end of its…
2026-05-14 · 3 MIN READAn Israeli nonprofit’s two-year investigation has found that sexual violence was systematic, widespread and a deliberate tactic in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, documenting gang rape, sexual torture and forced nudity based on more than 400…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READA report by an Israeli nonprofit says sexual violence was systematic, widespread and integral to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks and their aftermath, based on a two-year investigation. The report, “Silenced No More,” was published Tuesday by the…
2026-05-13 · 3 MIN READDoctors who examined Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi more than a week after she collapsed in an Iranian prison said she needs months of treatment, her foundation announced Wednesday. An angiography revealed two of her main arteries…
2026-05-12 · 4 MIN READOpen Society Foundations, the philanthropy founded by billionaire George Soros, announced Wednesday it will direct $30 million over the next three years to groups fighting antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, responding to what its president…
2026-05-12 · 3 MIN READAlternative concerts sprang up across Europe this week to counter the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, as organizers and boycotting nations protested Israel's continued participation in the 70-year-old competition amid the military…
2026-05-12 · 3 MIN READDoctors who examined Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi more than a week after she collapsed in an Iran prison said she needs months of treatment, her foundation said Wednesday. The foundation said an angiography procedure showed…
2026-05-12 · 3 MIN READJERUSALEM, May 13 — Nickolay Mladenov, the U.S.-brokered ceasefire’s top diplomat for Gaza under the Board of Peace, said Wednesday that a truce reached last October has stalled over a deadlock on disarming Hamas. Mladenov told foreign…
2026-05-12 · 3 MIN READPalestinian songwriter Bashar Murad performed in Brussels as activists organized “United for Palestine” ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, which features Israel amid criticism tied to the war in Gaza. Protest organizers and…
2026-05-12 · 3 MIN READOpen Society Foundations said it will spend $30 million over the next three years to support groups tackling antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, linking the effort to the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and the fragile ceasefire. The major…
2026-05-12 · 4 MIN READIsraeli military bulldozers razed roughly 50 Palestinian-owned shops and businesses on the edge of a town southeast of Jerusalem on Tuesday, as authorities pushed forward a road project that critics say will deepen Israeli control over a…
2026-05-11 · 5 MIN READIsraeli bulldozers demolished dozens of Palestinian shops in al-Eizariya, a town southeast of Jerusalem, as authorities cleared land for a settlement-linked road project in the occupied West Bank, according to the Associated Press.…
2026-05-11 · 4 MIN READArmed vessels linked to the Libyan coast guard fired live ammunition at the humanitarian rescue ship Sea‑Watch 5 on Monday shortly after it had pulled approximately 90 migrants from an overcrowded wooden boat in the central Mediterranean,…
2026-05-10 · 4 MIN READThe 2026 Venice Biennale opened on May 9 without an awards jury after the panel resigned in protest of Israel’s and Russia’s participation, while demonstrators clashed with police outside the Israeli and Russian pavilions, forcing…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READEuropean Union foreign ministers unanimously agreed Monday to impose sanctions on leaders of Hamas and figures in the Israeli settler movement, citing growing outrage over violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The political…
2026-05-10 · 4 MIN READJERUSALEM — The Israeli Knesset voted 93-0 on Monday to establish a special tribunal that will have the authority to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of participating in the 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed some 1,200 people and…
2026-05-10 · 4 MIN READA handful of Palestinian surfers braved Israeli naval patrols and the dangers of a war-damaged coastline on Tuesday, riding rare high waves off the Gaza City port in a fleeting escape from the territory’s two-year humanitarian crisis.
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READAbraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League for nearly three decades who survived the Holocaust as a child, died Sunday at age 86, the organization announced. Foxman counseled world leaders and became a prominent…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READIsraeli lawmakers approved a bill creating a special tribunal to try Palestinians convicted of participating in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza, and to allow the death penalty for those convicted. The…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READDEIR AL-BALAH, The Gaza Strip — Despite the dire humanitarian crisis across the Gaza Strip and a fragile ceasefire in place, a small number of Palestinian surfers have continued to take to the Mediterranean waters when conditions allow.…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READNiger suspended nine French media outlets, prompting Reporters Without Borders to call the move fabricated and part of a coordinated strategy to repress press freedom, according to the group. The National Observatory of Communication,…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READArmed vessels linked to the Libyan coast guard opened fire Monday on a German rescue ship in the Mediterranean shortly after it saved about 90 migrants from an overcrowded wooden boat, an aid group said. Sea-Watch said the vessels fired…
2026-05-10 · 3 MIN READWhile the country runs a multi-front war into the ground, the Prime Minister's only strategic objective is to ensure no one wins the election.
Brussels’ foreign ministers unanimously agreed to impose new EU sanctions on Hamas leaders and on leaders and organizations tied to Israeli settler activity in the occupied West Bank, but did not endorse broader economic pressure against Israel, diplomats said. The bloc said a committee will finalize which specific groups and individuals are targeted.
Venice Biennale opened Saturday in Venice, Italy, without a jury after jury members quit in protest over Russia’s and Israel’s participation, and amid protests outside their pavilions. The Biennale said visitors will vote anonymously by email for national pavilion and main exhibition prizes, with winners announced on closing day, Nov. 22.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Hamburg on suspicion of planning an attack on a shopping mall, a bar or a police station, prosecutors said. Authorities allege the suspect was inspired by the Islamic State extremist group and had sought items that were later seized.
A Palestinian family in the northern West Bank says Israeli settlers forced them to exhume the body of a newly buried relative after Israeli forces allowed the burial. The family said it had coordinated the burial of the father with the Israeli military before armed men from a nearby settlement arrived and threatened to dig up the grave with a bulldozer.
Israel deported two steering committee members of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Sunday after detaining them for over a week, concluding the latest chapter in an ongoing effort by activists to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Separately, an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis killed at least two people, including a Hamas police colonel, underscoring the fragility of the October ceasefire.
Israel deported two activists detained after leading an aid flotilla intended to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to the activists and Israeli officials. The men—Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila—were detained for slightly over a week after their boats were intercepted in the Aegean Sea near Crete, then were deported after arriving in Athens.
The son of Hamas’ chief ceasefire negotiator died after being wounded by an Israeli strike on Gaza City, the militant group said Thursday, as separate Israeli strikes killed three Hamas-affiliated security forces and, in Lebanon, three Hezbollah militants.
Following the 2023 attack that killed worshippers at El-Ghriba Synagogue, international visitors returned this year to the annual Jewish pilgrimage on Tunisia’s Djerba island, with security tightly focused around the historic site. The pilgrimage ran from April 30 to May 6 for Lag B’Omer, drawing visitors from countries including France, China, Ivory Coast and Italy.
A former Southern California college professor pleaded guilty in Ventura County, California, to involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of a Jewish counterprotester during 2023 demonstrations tied to the Israel-Hamas war, prosecutors said. The case is scheduled for sentencing June 25.
Hamas said Thursday that the son of Hamas lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya died after being wounded in an Israeli strike on Gaza, as another strike killed three Hamas security forces, according to local officials. In Lebanon, Israel said it killed three Hezbollah militants in a strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut a day earlier, after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in mid-April.
A judge sentenced Mohamed Sabry Soliman to life in prison without parole after he pleaded guilty to a 2025 firebombing attack on a pro-Israeli hostages demonstration in Boulder, Colorado. Prosecutors said the attack killed Karen Diamond, 82, and injured a dozen others when Soliman threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators on a downtown pedestrian mall.
The Anti-Defamation League said the number of antisemitic incidents it tallied in the United States declined sharply in 2025, with campus incidents driving much of the drop. ADL’s latest annual audit, released Wednesday, counted 6,274 incidents of antisemitic assaults, harassment and vandalism overall, down 33% from 2024. ADL attributed part of the decline to colleges curbing pro-Palestinian protests amid pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration.
The University of Michigan issued a formal apology after a history professor praised pro-Palestinian student protesters during a commencement speech on Saturday, sparking calls from Republican officials and a major donor to strip the university of federal funding and cut off donations. The speech, by outgoing faculty senate chair Derek R. Peterson, credited the activists with “opening our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza” and drew immediate condemnation from Jewish groups who say campus protests have created a hostile environment. University President Domenico Grasso apologized within hours, calling the remarks “inappropriate” and saying Peterson deviated from prepared remarks shared before the ceremony.
A London jury convicted four members of the activist group Palestine Action on Tuesday for breaking into an Elbit Systems factory in Bristol, England, in August 2024 and smashing equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars.
The Anti-Defamation League said Thursday that antisemitic incidents it tallied in the United States declined sharply in 2025, with a steep drop on college campuses a key driver. The ADL said its latest annual audit counted 6,274 incidents of antisemitic assaults, harassment and vandalism overall in 2025, down 33% from 2024’s record-high 9,354.
The University of Michigan issued a formal apology after a history professor, speaking at a universitywide commencement ceremony, praised pro-Palestinian student protesters. In response to the backlash, the university president said the remarks were inappropriate and did not represent the school’s institutional position.
London’s Woolwich Crown Court convicted four Palestine Action activists on May 5 for breaking into an Israeli defense factory in the United Kingdom and damaging equipment. Prosecutors said the Aug. 6, 2024 raid at Elbit Systems in Bristol was organized to cause maximum damage and gather information about the company.
The Venice Biennale previewed its 61st and “most chaotic” edition on Tuesday, with tensions spilling into the Giardini as war and grief followed art into the world’s oldest contemporary art show. The preview took place days after the jury resigned over the participation of Israel and Russia, a decision that, according to the Biennale’s rules, left no prizes awarded by jurors.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman plans to plead guilty this week to state murder charges stemming from a firebomb attack on a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, where an 82-year-old woman was killed and more than a dozen people were injured.
The Anti-Defamation League said antisemitic incidents it tallied across the United States declined sharply in 2025, with a steep drop on college campuses. The ADL’s annual audit, released Wednesday, found 6,274 antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism overall in 2025, down 33% from 2024.
A man accused of killing a woman and injuring a dozen others in a firebomb attack on pro-Israel demonstrators in downtown Boulder is expected to plead guilty this week to murder and other charges, court documents say. Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the June 1 attack, which occurred during a weekly demonstration supporting Israeli hostages in Gaza, according to the filings. Prosecutors and defense attorneys described separate cases in state and federal court, including hate-crime charges in the federal case.
Young Palestinian artists staged an outdoor exhibition of paintings in central Gaza on Tuesday, capturing the displacement and destruction of the war as a fragile ceasefire continues, the Associated Press reported.
GAZA STRIP — Young Palestinian artists staged an impromptu outdoor exhibit in Bureij on Tuesday, showing impressions of the war and the fragile ceasefire. The paintings, displayed despite displacement and destruction, came as Israeli strikes and fire continued around parts of Gaza and as ceasefire planning remained uncertain.
Spain’s foreign minister demanded the immediate release of a Spanish-Swedish dual national detained by Israel after its navy intercepted a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters, deepening already strained relations between the two governments. A legal advocacy group said Saturday the man and a second detained activist, a Brazilian national, had begun a hunger strike after allegedly being beaten in Israeli custody.
Spain’s foreign minister called for the immediate release of a Spanish-Swedish activist detained by Israel after an aid flotilla bound for Gaza was intercepted in international waters, a move that has deepened tensions between the two countries. A legal aid group said the detainees, including the man’s Brazilian counterpart, began a hunger strike after what they described as repeated beatings in custody.
Turkish authorities detained more than 500 people during May Day protests on Friday in Istanbul, as small groups attempted to march into areas the government had declared off-limits. Protests marking International Workers’ Day have repeatedly been marred by clashes with police, including at Taksim Square, which authorities have restricted on security grounds.
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran after her foundation said her health suffered “catastrophic deterioration.” The foundation said she experienced episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis, and it blamed “systematic medical neglect” since her Dec. 12 arrest.
Israeli police said they arrested a 36-year-old man suspected of attacking a nun near Jerusalem’s Old City, in an incident captured on video. Police said the suspect was taken into custody after the Wednesday attack near David’s Tomb, outside Zion’s Gate, and they described it as racially motivated. The arrest came amid ongoing scrutiny of treatment of religious minorities in Israel.
More than half a year after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Gaza’s water crisis shows little sign of easing. Ninety percent of the strip’s water infrastructure was destroyed during the war, and 80 percent of its 2.1 million residents now rely on water delivered by trucks to central distribution points, according to the United Nations-led WASH Cluster. Aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has accused Israel of weaponizing water access in what it calls a 'campaign of collective punishment,' a charge Israeli authorities deny.
The leaders of major media companies, including The Associated Press, on Thursday called on Israel to lift a ban keeping foreign journalists from independently reporting from Gaza, a barrier that has remained in place since the war began in 2023 and persists despite a ceasefire now in its seventh month.
Las embajadas de Israel y Alemania en Perú calificaron de “absurda” una afirmación del presidente interino del país, José María Balcázar, quien dijo que los judíos empujaron a Alemania hacia la Segunda Guerra Mundial por controlar el comercio, la banca y la usura. En un comunicado conjunto, ambas misiones afirmaron que Hitler y los nazis iniciaron la guerra al atacar Polonia en 1939 y llamaron a retractarse.
A boat carrying 33 Sudanese migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya’s eastern port of Tobruk, leaving at least 17 people dead and nine missing, U.N. officials said Thursday. The UN refugee agency said only seven people survived the shipwreck.
Media company leaders, including The Associated Press, on Thursday urged Israel to lift a ban that prevents foreign journalists from entering and reporting independently from Gaza. The executives said being on the ground is essential for journalists to verify accounts, speak directly with civilians and report what they witness firsthand.
In Gaza, Palestinians say shortages remain severe more than six months after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stopped most fighting, leaving residents scrambling for delivered water. An Associated Press report describes families in the Muwasi tent camp rationing water from trucks and residents depending on costly bottled supplies amid damage to most of the enclave’s water infrastructure. Doctors Without Borders also accused Israel of using water as a weapon, while Israel’s COGAT denied the allegations.
Mali held a funeral on Thursday for former defense minister Gen. Sadio Camara, who was killed during last weekend’s coordinated militant attack in the country. The ceremony, after two days of national mourning, was attended by junta leader Gen. Assimi Goita and broadcast live on national television.
President Isaac Herzog invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and prosecutors to his residence to try to settle an ongoing corruption case, according to an invitation signed by Herzog’s legal adviser. The invitation came days after Herzog said he would not decide Netanyahu’s request for a pardon and instead urged the sides to reach a settlement.
Mali’s junta leader, Col. Assimi Goita, met Russia’s ambassador in Bamako on Tuesday, his first public appearance since a massive weekend attack by Islamic militants and separatists. Goita gave a televised address vowing military operations would continue, while Russia’s defense ministry denounced the assault as a coup attempt and said it was thwarted by Russian forces supporting Malian troops.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS in Belgrade, urging the Balkan country to pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest because Israel is participating. The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and said Serbia should not broadcast or watch the contest.
London police said a man has been arrested after two Jewish men were stabbed on a street in the Golders Green area of the city, calling it an act of terror. The Metropolitan Police said the attack Wednesday left the men, ages 34 and 76, hospitalized with knife wounds. Police also said counterterrorism detectives are investigating whether the stabbing is connected to recent arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in London.
As residents return to Sudan’s capital Khartoum after months of fighting, unexploded ordnance and landmines left behind by the war are creating a growing danger across the city, the Associated Press reported. Deminers are clearing contaminated areas, but aid groups warn the work could take years amid limited funding and international attention.
Palestinians buried a woman pregnant with twins and two of her children after Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday, while local hospitals said at least 13 people were killed in Friday’s attacks. The toll included eight people killed in Khan Younis after Israel targeted a police vehicle, and Gaza’s health ministry later said Israeli attacks have killed more than 790 people since a fragile ceasefire began about six months earlier.
Officials and visitors from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey gathered in northwest Turkey to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on Saturday, April 25. The ceremony began at 5:30 a.m. local time near a beach where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps first landed in 1915.
President Donald Trump has extended or reached ceasefires involving Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Gaza, but the underlying disputes over Iran’s nuclear program, regional proxies and Gaza governance remain unresolved. In separate assessments of the Iran-related, Lebanon and Gaza truce arrangements, analysts and officials warned that the visible fighting may pause while the broader tensions continue.
Authorities in Tunisia ordered the one-month suspension of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, rights advocates said, in what they called a widening crackdown on civil society. The league, which has links to the National Dialogue Quartet that won the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, said the suspension violates freedom of association and plans to challenge it in court. The move comes as authorities detain journalists and target independent media, including an upcoming court hearing tied to an outlet’s possible dissolution.
Palestinians voted Saturday in the first local elections held in part of Gaza in more than two decades, while tens of thousands voted in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Central Election Commission. The pilot vote in Deir al-Balah drew a largely symbolic turnout as Hamas did not field candidates there, with election officials reporting preliminary overall turnout of 53.4% and 22.7% in Deir al-Balah.
Two young people were arrested in an alleged plot to attack a Houston synagogue and drive through the congregation to “kill as many Jews as possible,” according to authorities and court documents. One is identified in North Carolina court records as 18-year-old Angelina Han Hicks, while the FBI said a juvenile was arrested in the case in Harris County, Texas.
Three professors at Emory University filed a lawsuit Thursday over arrests during a 2024 campus protest about the Israel-Hamas war, alleging the university violated its own free-speech policies by calling police and state troopers to disband the demonstration. The professors said the arrests led to 28 detentions and that the charges against them were later dismissed.
Runners who were struggling to reach the Boston Marathon finish line were helped by fellow competitors during Monday’s race, the Associated Press reported. Ajay Haridasse was lifted and carried about 1,000 feet (305 meters) to the finish by other runners after his legs gave out, and a separate group of racers helped Lan Nguyen reach the end after she could not walk.
A 17-year-old pleaded guilty in northwest London to arson that caused smoke damage at Kenton United Synagogue, then said he did not know the building was a synagogue and bore no ill will toward Jewish people. The case came before Westminster Magistrates’ Court, with police investigating a series of arson attacks targeting Britain’s Jewish community in recent weeks.
A trial began Monday in Alexandria, Virginia, for Mohammad Sharifullah, an Afghan national accused of scouting the route a suicide bomber would take to the Kabul airport before a 2021 attack. The bombing, at Abbey Gate, killed approximately 160 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. service members during the American military's chaotic final withdrawal from Afghanistan. Sharifullah's defense attorney told jurors that the U.S. government "got the wrong man," saying his client gave a false confession.
Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, apologized Wednesday for "harmful" social media posts she made as a teenager, responding after a conservative news outlet published her years of online activity. In an interview with the arts website Hyperallergic, Duwaji, an illustrator, said she felt "a lot of shame being confronted with language I used that is so harmful to others," adding "being 15 doesn't excuse it."
The Senate on Wednesday voted to reject two resolutions by Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to block U.S. arms sales to Israel, but more than three dozen Democrats voted for the measures — a figure that has more than doubled in less than two years as Israeli military campaigns have expanded across Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. The votes failed 40-59 and 36-63, with all Republicans opposed. Democrats also supported a separate resolution to end U.S. military involvement in Iran, which also failed, 47-52.
Two Pennsylvania men pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal terrorism charges stemming from an alleged plot to detonate homemade bombs at an anti-Islam protest outside the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, both from the Philadelphia area, entered the pleas during a brief appearance in federal court in Manhattan on April 15.
Israeli police said they found about 70 Palestinian men hiding inside a garbage truck as it tried to cross from the occupied West Bank into Israel, apparently in search of work. The incident occurred as Israeli forces opened the truck late Monday and took the men for questioning at a West Bank checkpoint, police said.
Eighteen months after helping elect Donald Trump to a second term with hopes he would bring peace to the Middle East, Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan—the nation's largest Arab American community—say the conflict has worsened instead. Inside mosques and at vigils, families wait for word from relatives abroad while mourning those already lost. The conflict that began with anguish over Gaza has widened to Lebanon, where the expanding war has displaced more than 1 million people and killed more than 2,000.
Hundreds of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in Washington, D.C. packed into DSK Mariam Church to sing hymns in Ge’ez, pray and keep vigil as Easter Sunday unfolded. The celebration of Christ’s resurrection—known as Fasika in Amharic—arrives a week after Catholic and Protestant Easter, and for many includes an eight-hour overnight service that ends with the breaking of a 55-day fast.
Nearly 100 protesters were arrested Monday in New York calling on Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to block the sale of thousands of U.S. bombs to Israel, according to the antiwar group Jewish Voice for Peace. Demonstrators briefly tried to stage a sit-in at the Manhattan offices of the two lawmakers before being kept out, then stopped traffic outside and were loaded onto three buses.
The United Nations warned Monday that humanitarian conditions could worsen after fighting erupted in Akobo, a strategic town in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, where opposition forces retook the town after ousting government troops. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, called for a cessation of hostilities and said it is engaging with parties to prevent further escalation.
London police arrested 212 people during a Saturday protest against a ban on Palestine Action, which Britain’s government has labeled a terrorist organization. Metropolitan Police said officers detained protesters aged 27 to 82 after the demonstration in Trafalgar Square organized by Defend Our Juries.
More than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed globally in the past three years, nearly tripling the death toll from the previous three-year period, the United Nations said April 8. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council that the surge reflects the “collapse of protection” amid ongoing wars and restrictions on aid.
A Pakistani man pleaded guilty in federal court to a terrorism charge in connection with a plot targeting a Jewish religious center in Brooklyn, prosecutors said. Muhammad Shahzeb Khan entered the plea in Manhattan on Wednesday, about 18 months after he was arrested in Canada in or near Ormstown, according to the U.S. government.
Rabbi Rachel Isaacs is using Passover week to spotlight a growing effort to strengthen rural synagogues across the U.S., from central Maine to Montana. Isaacs, who leads a center at Colby College, said her work has reached dozens of communities and is meant to help Jewish congregations thrive far from major urban areas.
Two men charged with bringing homemade bombs to a New York City protest outside the home of Mayor Zohran Mamdani were recorded on dashcam audio and video discussing a plan prosecutors say involved killing up to 60 people, according to an indictment released Tuesday.
The two men charged in an alleged March 7 bomb attempt at a New York City protest outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home were recorded discussing a plan prosecutors described as inspired by the Islamic State, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday. Prosecutors said the men traveled from Pennsylvania to Manhattan with homemade explosive devices that they threw during the demonstration, and prosecutors said dashcam footage and other materials show they discussed killing civilians. Both men were detained quickly and are being held without bail.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a $656 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 2019 law allowing victims’ lawsuits to proceed. The appeals judges said the reinstatement followed the “plain import” of the Supreme Court’s decision, reversing a prior ruling that had tossed out the verdicts.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 5 reinstated a $656 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, reviving a lawsuit brought by Americans killed or wounded in attacks in Israel. The decision followed a June Supreme Court ruling that upheld a 2019 law allowing the victims’ claims to proceed in U.S. court, according to the appeals court’s opinion.
Appeals court judges on March 30 reinstated a $656 million judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June that let U.S. victims pursue lawsuits under a 2019 law. The case was brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act by Americans who said they were killed or wounded in attacks in Israel, according to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
A man killed four children in a machete attack inside a nursery school in Kampala, Uganda, police said Thursday. The suspect gained access to the Gaba Early Childhood Development Program by disguising himself as a parent, police said. Parents gathered outside the school after hearing the attack, and police fired in the air to disperse an angry crowd, according to police.
A 7-month-old baby in a stroller was killed by a stray bullet after a drive-by shooting in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Authorities said a man on a moped shot at a group of adults and children gathered at a street corner around 1:20 p.m., and the child was hit while the suspects fled.
Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate a private Palm Sunday Mass, the Associated Press reported on Sunday. The police said they approved a “limited prayer framework” for the church, but the Latin Patriarchate said the move was disproportionate and a barrier to freedom of worship. The incident drew criticism from U.S., French and Italian officials.
A Yemeni lawmaker sued in federal court in San Diego alleging that U.S. military veterans working for a private security firm were hired to assassinate him in 2015 on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. The lawsuit, filed by Anssaf Ali Mayo and unsealed last week, names former veterans and the founder and CEO of Spear Operations Group, a private military contracting firm.
Israel’s police blocked Catholic Church leaders from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate a private Palm Sunday Mass, prompting criticism from the United States and European leaders. The police said they approved a “limited prayer framework” and cited security concerns tied to the ongoing war with Iran, while church officials called the restriction unreasonable. The incident occurred on Monday as Christians marked Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week ahead of Easter.
The Israeli military suspended the Netzah Yehuda battalion after soldiers assaulted a CNN crew in the Israeli-occupied West Bank last week, the army announced March 30. The move came after footage of the incident went viral, including a chokehold of CNN correspondent Jeremy Diamond’s team. In a statement, the military said the battalion would resume service after a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations.
Israel’s parliament passed a law Monday approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure condemned by international officials and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane. The Knesset vote capped a far-right push to escalate punishment for nationalistic offenses, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to cast the measure’s most visible support.
Arab foreign ministers appointed veteran Egyptian diplomat Nabil Fahmy as the head of the Arab League in a virtual meeting on Sunday, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. Fahmy, a former Egyptian foreign minister, will begin a five-year term in July as Ahmed Aboul Gheit’s term ends. The appointment comes as the Middle East reels from escalating attacks tied to the Iran war.
A Moroccan court sentenced rapper Souhaib Qabli, known as L7assal, to eight months in prison for insulting what a judge described as a constitutional body, his attorney said. The case stems from songs critical of Morocco’s 2020 normalization of ties with Israel and of corruption and limits on speech, according to the court ruling and reporting.
Hamas is weighing a new proposal for disarming its fighters in Gaza, a step that U.S. and Israeli officials say is required before broader elements of a ceasefire and rebuilding plan can move forward. The response from Hamas, expected in coming days or weeks, could also affect whether reconstruction efforts resume after months of stalled talks, the Associated Press reported.
A man accused of planning to firebomb the home of Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani was arrested after a weekslong undercover operation led by the New York City Police Department, authorities said. The alleged plot targeted Kiswani, a longtime pro-Palestinian organizer in Brooklyn who leads protests against Israel and the war in Gaza through Within Our Lifetime.
A natural gas explosion in Istanbul’s central Fatih district brought down two residential buildings on Sunday, killing one person, the Istanbul Governor’s office said. Rescue teams pulled out 10 injured people who were hospitalized, including one in critical condition.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Sunday night, injuring at least 10 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The violence came after a funeral in the settlement of Elon Moreh for an 18-year-old Israeli settler killed in a car collision, and followed earlier overnight attacks reported by WAFA. In Gaza, hospital officials said Israeli strikes killed four Palestinians, including three police officers in a vehicle hit in Nuseirat.
For many U.S. Jews, the upsurge of attacks targeting Jewish communities has coincided with deep divisions over whether to support or oppose Israeli policies in the war in Gaza. The Associated Press spoke with rabbis, Jewish community leaders and writers about heightened security concerns and the blurred line that some critics say is forming between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
On Wednesday, dozens of dogs and cats arrived in Athens with their owners on a government-organized evacuation flight from Abu Dhabi, Greece said. The special Aegean flight carried 45 pets and 101 people amid disruptions to airline travel from the war in the Middle East.
Boston marked the 250th anniversary of the British evacuation of the city with a Tuesday procession through South Boston, including Revolutionary War reenactment drills and a ceremony at Dorchester Heights. The observance fell on March 17, 1776, when British troops withdrew from Boston, and it included Mass at St. Augustine Chapel and Cemetery before participants marched toward Dorchester Heights.
The U.N. human rights office warned that Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank could amount to “ethnic cleansing,” citing accelerating settlement activity and forced displacement of Palestinians. In a report covering a yearlong period through the end of October, the office said more than 36,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced. Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva rejected the findings as biased.
Shigeaki Mori, a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor and historian who spent decades identifying 12 American POWs killed in the 1945 bombing, has died. He was 88. Editors of the English translation of his work said he died Sunday, and Japanese media reported he died at a Hiroshima hospital.
Communities reeled from two separate violent attacks that unfolded less than two hours apart—one at Old Dominion University in Virginia and another at a synagogue outside Detroit in Michigan. Officials said residents and responders helped stop the Virginia attack from becoming worse, and federal investigators in Michigan said the synagogue assault was targeted at the Jewish community, though they have not yet said it was an act of terror.
Four teenagers arrested after an explosion outside a synagogue in Rotterdam are suspected of terror offenses, Dutch prosecutors said Monday. The blast early Friday caused a small fire but left no one injured, prosecutors said. They ordered the teens held for two more weeks as investigators continue.
Dutch authorities said they were seeking two people suspected of setting off an explosion outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam on March 14. The mayor denounced the attack as aggression against the city’s Jewish community and said Jewish residents feel “fear and anger” and are increasingly targeted by antisemitism.
Brazilian police released three Israeli tourists on Monday after clashes with pro-Palestine residents in the northeastern beach city of Itacare, Bahia state police said. The incident, which began during a Saturday protest that went viral on social media, led to the tourists being detained and officers facing insults and resistance. Itacare is about 1,340 kilometers (832 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro.
Thousands of people protested Saturday in Rome and across Spain against wars in the Middle East and against judicial reforms proposed by Italy’s conservative government, as a national referendum on the changes approaches. Protesters also linked international tensions to a growing domestic political battle ahead of Italy’s next election year, according to the Associated Press.
An Israeli organization discreetly organized mystery flights that evacuated Palestinians from Gaza, Associated Press reported, citing contracts, passenger lists, text messages and interviews. The investigation found that the flights, including a flight carrying about 150 people that landed in South Africa in November, were arranged through a separate company and raised new questions about motives behind the departures.
Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Sunday that Palestinian hospital authorities said killed at least 12 people, including children, a pregnant woman and eight police officers. Hospital officials said a strike hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp and another hit a police vehicle near the entrance to Zawaida, while Hamas’ interior ministry identified the police deaths.
Israeli investigators have found that Ad Kan, an Israeli organization, helped discreetly organize surprise flights that evacuated Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa and other countries, raising questions about the trips’ purpose, The Associated Press reported. The AP said the flights continued after May, with arrivals in Indonesia and South Africa in addition to a November landing in South Africa. AP investigators reported that some passengers said they did not know who was behind the flights, though they boarded after signing up to leave amid the war.
At least 12 Palestinians, including two children and a pregnant woman, were killed Sunday by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said. The strikes occurred as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to see daily violence.
In the hours after an attack at a nearby Temple Israel, staff at Soul Café in Michigan made pizza and kept serving food to help people affected by the chaos, including parents reuniting with children. Rabbi Benny Greenwald, director of a Friendship Circle recovery home, said the response was rooted in “goodness and kindness.” Federal investigators said the FBI is investigating the attack as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.
Ali Darwich, a 33-year-old gay Muslim influencer in Berlin, used an inclusive Ramadan Iftar hosted with friends to call for acceptance across identities and faiths, including gay Muslims. In remarks to The Associated Press, Darwich said he wants a message that no one is “too queer” to break the fast, and he described the isolation he faced after coming out to his mother.
Israel’s military said it has dropped charges against five soldiers accused of beating and sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee in an alleged assault at a wartime prison in 2024. The case, involving allegations that were partially captured on video and later leaked, prompted anger among far-right figures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Human rights advocates criticized the decision as dismissing one of the gravest episodes of abuse in Israel’s network of detention facilities.
In a Thursday ambush at a major synagogue in a Detroit suburb, a man rammed a vehicle into the building and was fatally shot by security, intensifying worries among clergy and worshippers about the safety of religious sites. The Associated Press reviewed notable attacks on houses of worship over the past 15 years across multiple countries, illustrating how widely the threat has spread.
Israel’s military said it is dropping charges against five soldiers accused of beating and sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military prison, a case that has drawn intense scrutiny. The military said the decision came because a leaked video did not show abuse severe enough to support a criminal conviction and because the video had been improperly released to the media.
The United States will intervene in a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice that South Africa filed, arguing the accusations are false and warning a ruling against Israel could undermine international law. In a filing obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. says the allegations are part of a “broader campaign” against Israel and Jewish people “to justify or encourage terrorism against them.”
The United States will intervene in a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice that South Africa brought at the United Nations’ highest court, the U.S. said in a filing. The filing argues that South Africa’s accusations are false and warns that an adverse ruling could undermine international law.
The Associated Press reports that newly released surveillance video appears to show Emir Balat buying a fuse at a Phantom Fireworks store in Pennsylvania on March 2, days before prosecutors allege he and another man brought homemade bombs to a protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence. Prosecutors say Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi were arrested after police said they attempted to set off improvised explosives at a small anti-Muslim rally near Gracie Mansion.
New York authorities said two men accused of throwing homemade explosives during a far-right protest outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence claimed inspiration from the Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint filed after their arrests. Prosecutors said the homemade devices did not explode and that both men were held without bail after a Monday court appearance. The men, Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, face charges including attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.
Three Palestinians were killed Sunday in a violent clash with Israeli settlers near Khirbet Abu Falah, east of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said, bringing to six the number of Palestinians killed in the territory in less than one week. Two of the men died from gunfire and a third from suffocation, which the military attributed to tear gas. All three were buried in a joint funeral. The Israeli military condemned the attack and said it had opened a criminal investigation against the settlers involved.
Tunisian authorities detained three members of the Global Sumud Flotilla steering committee Friday as the country's National Guard financial crimes unit opened an inquiry into suspected money laundering, fraud, and the alleged misuse of donation funds, organizers said. The arrested activists — Wael Naouar, Jawaher Channa, and Nabil Channoufi — are members of both the flotilla's international steering committee and its Tunisian organizing body.
War Child UK will release "Help(2)" on Friday, a benefit compilation album featuring unreleased songs from Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Wet Leg, and Pulp, to raise funds for children affected by conflict in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. The album is the follow-up to the charity's 1995 compilation "Help," which reached No. 1 on the British charts and raised more than £1.25 million (approximately $1.938 million) for children in war-torn Bosnia.
Mental health experts and child psychologists are urging parents to have open, age-appropriate conversations with children about war as fighting involving the United States, Israel, Iran and its proxies continues to generate distressing images and news coverage, according to guidance compiled by Save the Children, the American Psychological Association and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Even indirect exposure to conflict can affect how children think, feel and behave, specialists say. "Sometimes adults think if they don't talk about something that is difficult, than it doesn't exist. But we know that's not the reality in children's lives," said Rebecca Smith, global head of child protection at Save the Children, an international aid and advocacy organization. "Ignoring or avoiding the topic of conflict can lead to children feeling lost, alone and scared. ... It is essential to have open and honest conversations with children to help them process what is happening."
Gaza’s ceasefire has weakened as Israel has closed crossings and halted entry and exit for humanitarian workers, Palestinians and an Israeli military office said, amid U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran. Residents said the closures during Ramadan have disrupted markets and left people rushing to stock up on food and supplies. The United Nations and aid groups have warned that hunger remains in the enclave and that limited access threatens supplies.
Ramadan in Gaza City has brought sorrow to many families grieving relatives killed in Israeli strikes, as the holy month arrives with relatives buried under rubble and daily life squeezed into tents and makeshift shelters.
Europe is preparing tougher migration measures as a Greek island sees illegal crossings rise, with Frontex deploying new surveillance efforts aimed at the sea route between Libya and Crete. Crete recorded about 20,000 arrivals of irregular migrants last year, following a threefold increase, even as irregular migration to Europe fell in 2025, Frontex data show. Officials say the longer Libyan route is becoming the deadliest pressure point as wars and instability across Africa fuel departures.
La familia de Francesca Albanese, relatora especial de la ONU para Cisjordania y Gaza, demandó al gobierno del presidente Donald Trump por las sanciones de Estados Unidos impuestas el año pasado, según su demanda presentada en un tribunal federal de Washington. En el escrito, el esposo y una hija menor de Albanese argumentan que las penalizaciones violan la Primera Enmienda al sancionar sus opiniones. La Casa Blanca no respondió a solicitudes de comentarios y un portavoz del Departamento de Estado declinó opinar sobre un litigio en curso.
A new Gallup poll finds U.S. public sympathies in the Israel-Hamas war have shifted sharply toward Palestinians, leaving the shares for each side nearly even. Gallup said 41% of Americans now sympathize more with Palestinians, while 36% sympathize more with Israelis, following a change from a largely pro-Israeli tilt three years ago.
Jerusalem photographer Leo Correa described how he captured Ramadan Friday prayers at sunrise as Palestinians crossed the Qalandia checkpoint to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. Correa said the photo was taken at about 7 a.m., when women gathered to enter the checkpoint under early morning light. He also described Israeli restrictions that limit Friday entries from the West Bank, with eligibility tied to age and gender.
The family of UN human rights investigator Francesca Albanese has sued the Trump administration in U.S. federal court, arguing that U.S. sanctions imposed on her for criticizing Israel’s conduct during the Israel-Hamas war violate the First Amendment, according to a lawsuit filed Feb. 26. The U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza says the sanctions have harmed the family’s ability to live and work in the United States, while the State Department has dismissed the case as baseless “lawfare.”
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four commanders of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces accused of atrocities in Darfur, including actions that U.N. experts said showed “hallmarks of genocide.” The designations follow a U.N.-backed report on mass killings and other abuses in El Fasher after an 18-month siege, when the RSF took over the North Darfur capital.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in an interview published Monday, said antisemitism is “a very real problem” in both the Democratic and Republican parties and urged leaders to call it out regardless of political side. Speaking to Associated Press reporter Steve Peoples, Shapiro also described how the April 13, 2025, attack on his home left him with “emotional scars” and said he has faced rising threats tied to his faith.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee's remarks that Israel has a right to much of the Middle East sparked condemnation Sunday from 15 Arab and Muslim countries, which called his comments "dangerous and inflammatory." Huckabee said in a Friday interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that "It would be fine if they took it all," in response to Carlson's reference to biblical passages suggesting descendants of Abraham would receive land including parts of modern-day Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. The U.S. Embassy said Sunday that Huckabee's comments were taken out of context and that there is no change to U.S. policies on Israel.
In a speech to Jewish teen leaders at BBYO in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he leans on his faith as antisemitism rises and the Israel-Hamas war divides politics in the United States. Shapiro, who observes Shabbat and keeps kosher, also described dealing with new incidents of antisemitism and said he will not “live in fear” or “back down.”
President Donald Trump said nine countries agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package and five countries agreed to deploy troops for an international stabilization force at an inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting in Washington on Feb. 19. Trump also said the United States is pledging $10 billion for the board, though he did not specify the use of the funds. The talks hinged on whether Hamas would disarm, a sticking point that could affect a fragile Gaza ceasefire plan.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered Friday at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan since a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas began in October. Israel restricted Palestinian entries from the occupied West Bank to 10,000 people, allowing only men over 55, women over 50, and children under 12.
President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace held its inaugural meeting in Washington, where FIFA President Gianni Infantino promised to help rebuild Gaza with a $50 million soccer stadium. The pledge came alongside other pledges for a Gaza relief package, as nine governments announced $7 billion and five said they would deploy troops for an international stabilization force.
President Donald Trump's Board of Peace announced at its inaugural meeting in Washington that member countries had pledged $7 billion to rebuild the Gaza Strip. But in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians live in displacement camps or the rubble of their destroyed homes, the pledges stirred little hope. "They're all liars," said Faraj Abu Anze, among thousands in a sprawling tent camp on the Mediterranean coast. "We see nothing of that on the ground."
President Donald Trump announced at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine countries agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package and that five countries agreed to deploy troops for an international stabilization force. The administration also said the U.S. would pledge $10 billion for the board, though it offered no details on how the funds would be used. The meeting, held as a Gaza ceasefire remains fragile, also underscored the administration’s challenge of disarming Hamas.
President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace held its first meeting in Washington on Thursday, where FIFA President Gianni Infantino pledged $50 million for a new soccer stadium for the Gaza Strip. The announcement came alongside other pledges toward a Gaza relief package, including governments promising $7 billion and five others saying they would deploy troops for an international stabilization force.
Leila Shahid, the first female Palestinian ambassador, has died in France at age 76, the Associated Press reported. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas praised her in a statement carried by WAFA, saying she was “a model of diplomacy committed to the values of freedom, justice and peace.”
The first meeting of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace took place Thursday, with members pledging $7 billion in aid for Gaza and outlining plans for international troops, police and reconstruction. The gathering offered an early test of whether the board can help advance a fragile ceasefire agreement while fighting continues and Hamas has not disarmed.
Members of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday urged that a Gaza ceasefire deal become permanent and criticized Israeli efforts to expand control in the West Bank, warning the moves could undermine prospects for a two-state solution. The comments came ahead of President Donald Trump’s first “Board of Peace” meeting, a Trump initiative that some countries fear could complicate or rival the U.N.’s role.
Palestinians in Gaza are preparing for Ramadan under a fragile ceasefire deal but say daily hardships and losses from the Israel-Hamas war have blunted the month’s customary sense of celebration, including in crowded and damaged areas such as Gaza City and Khan Younis. “There is no joy after we lost our family and loved ones,” Gaza City resident Fedaa Ayyad said.
A Palestinian family displaced in Gaza marked the first day of Ramadan on Wednesday under a fragile ceasefire, gathering meals from a charity kitchen instead of celebrating with the food and family gatherings that traditionally define the month. Waleed al Zamli, a father of 11 now sheltering in a tent camp in Muwasi, said the loss of his home, his job, and a family member to the conflict have stripped the religious observance of joy. "This year, there's no happiness," he said.
SYDNEY — Naveed Akram, accused in the Dec. 14 mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, appeared in court Monday for the first time since being released from the hospital. The 24-year-old was taken via video link from the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Center.
Dana Eden, an Israeli television producer known for co-creating the espionage thriller “Tehran,” was found dead in Athens, Greece, on Feb. 16, Israeli broadcaster KAN said. A Greek police official said initial indications suggested she took her own life, with no suspicion of foul play.
Israeli prosecutors said Monday they plan to charge a settler in the July killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, a confrontation captured on video. The move would open a rare prosecution of violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, where rights groups say accountability is uncommon.
Greece said Monday it will try to obtain photos that appear to show the final moments of 200 Greeks executed by a Nazi firing squad in Athens during World War II after the previously unknown images appeared on an online sale site. Greece’s Culture Ministry said experts will visit a collector in Ghent, Belgium to examine the authenticity and legality of the photos’ origin.
A strike by workers at Kenya’s main airport delayed flights on Monday, disrupting travel plans and leaving some passengers stranded at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, the Associated Press reported. Kenya Airways urged customers to check their flight status, citing disruptions including delays in air traffic control operations. The airport’s operator said it was taking contingency measures while it tried to resolve the strike.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that members of his newly created Board of Peace have pledged $5 billion toward rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza. He said board members will formally announce the pledges at their first meeting in Washington on Thursday, and he said Indonesia has indicated it could ready troops for a potential stabilization mission.
The UN says more than 6,000 people were killed over three days in late October when Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces launched an offensive on the city of el-Fasher in Darfur. The UN Human Rights Office said the violence included atrocities that may amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, including sexual violence, executions and detention of civilians.
Indonesia’s military said it expects up to 8,000 troops to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission. The Indonesian National Armed Forces said it has finalized a proposed troop structure and a timeline, even though the government has yet to decide when the deployment would take place.
One of Gaza’s last functioning large hospitals condemned Doctors Without Borders’ decision to suspend most services at Nasser Hospital, citing the presence of civilian police installed for security. The dispute surfaced as Palestinian officials said Israeli fire killed at least 11 people in Gaza over the previous day, with fighting continuing despite a ceasefire deal.
Israel will begin a new land registration process in a large part of the occupied West Bank, a government decision announced Sunday that Palestinians say could amount to “de facto annexation.” The plan would restart “settlement of land title” proceedings that have been frozen since the 1967 war, requiring people who claim land to submit ownership documents.
Gaza residents and heritage workers are trying to preserve what remains of historic religious and cultural sites as the Israeli military offensive against Hamas has left much of the enclave in ruins. In Gaza City, people have been assessing damage to landmarks including the Great Omari Mosque, while organizations carry out limited “rescue work” at badly hit locations as full restoration faces obstacles.
A diplomat overseeing a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza warned that continued violations are threatening a Palestinian transitional committee expected to oversee postwar governance and reconstruction. Nickolay Mladenov said the committee cannot begin its work unless Hamas hands over institutional control, and he called for more aid and improved security.
A man from India pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to hire a hitman to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. citizen who lives in New York City, the Justice Department and prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Nikhil Gupta coordinated the plot with an Indian government employee. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton warned foreign actors to avoid plotting killings in the United States.
Thousands of Greek farmers drove tractors to parliament in central Athens on Friday for an overnight rally protesting what they say is the government’s failure to address problems threatening their ability to produce crops. Police blocked central streets and escorted a tractor motorcade to Syntagma Square in front of parliament.
The African Union opened its annual summit on Saturday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as youth across the continent expressed anger at what they see as a “bloc of old leaders.” The meeting comes amid military coups, disputed elections and protests linked to economic hardship worsened by foreign aid cuts.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said it has suspended some noncritical operations at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after patients and staff reported seeing armed, masked men inside parts of the facility. MSF said the decision was made because security breaches posed “serious” threats to its teams and patients and followed an increase in those reports since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in October.
Israel asked a court on Thursday to revoke citizenship for two Palestinian men convicted of terrorism offenses, in what the government said would be a first test of a 2023 law. The request ties the cases to alleged payments connected to the Palestinian Authority, and would allow expulsion to the West Bank or Gaza, court documents show.
Hundreds of Buddhist monks led by Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara ended their 108-day Walk for Peace from Texas to Washington with a ceremony Wednesday at the Lincoln Memorial, drawing thousands. The group covered about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) over 15 weeks, and the final stretch included visits near George Washington University and on Capitol Hill.
Bangladesh held its first parliamentary election since mass protests toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in 2024, with voting largely peaceful on Thursday and turnout reaching more than 47% by 2 p.m. the Election Commission said. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was projected to lead initial results, while Hasina’s Awami League—barred from the vote—rejected the election as a farce.
The group of 19 Buddhist monks who walked about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) from Texas to advocate for peace arrived in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, finishing their 15-week trek with a visit to the Washington National Cathedral. Large crowds greeted the monks along the way, and more than 100 Buddhist monks and nuns joined them at the cathedral for an interfaith gathering hosted with Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde’s help.
For nearly a year, Palestinian resident Hanadi Abu Zant in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has been unable to pay rent after losing her work permit to enter Israel for jobs, underscoring how restrictions imposed after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack have narrowed livelihoods for tens of thousands of people. The Associated Press visited Tulkarem, where Abu Zant hid in a mosque when her landlord called police, fearing she could be forced out of her home.
The U.N. peacekeeping chief warned Tuesday that South Sudan is sliding toward a “dangerous precipice” as political deadlock between the government and opposition escalates into wider violence. Jean-Pierre Lacroix urged the U.N. Security Council and international community to push both sides back to dialogue ahead of a long-delayed presidential election.
Two babies were among at least 53 people dead or missing after an inflatable migrant boat sank off Libya, the U.N.’s migration agency said on Monday. The boat with 55 African migrants left the western town of Zawaiya shortly before midnight Thursday, then capsized north of Zuwara on Friday morning.
Israeli strikes Monday killed three people west of Gaza City, according to Shifa Hospital. The Israeli army said it was striking targets in “a precise manner” after Israeli troops came under fire in Rafah, which it said violated a Gaza ceasefire.
Greece detained 313 people in a raid on the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki campus after riot police were attacked by a mob hurling more than 100 Molotov cocktails, authorities said.
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing reopened this week after a two-year war-driven shutdown, but few people have been allowed through as negotiators try to manage a fragile ceasefire process. Palestinian officials and travelers described hourslong Israeli questioning and mistreatment, while Israeli officials said they had no reports of abuse by Israeli forces. The crossing closed again Friday and Saturday, underscoring the uneven rollout.
President Donald Trump plans to convene the first meeting of his “Board of Peace” in Washington this month, proposing a session on Feb. 19 at the U.S. Institute of Peace. The meeting is expected to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza, according to two Trump administration officials.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to begin a four-day state visit to Australia on Monday, as the government says he is traveling to meet Jewish communities grieving the December Bondi Beach attack. Critics say his presence will deepen divisions amid the war in Gaza, where they allege Australian police could seek an arrest. Protest rallies are expected in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra as Herzog’s trip unfolds.
The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened on Sunday after a two-day closure, allowing a limited number of Palestinians to travel for medical treatment, Egyptian state media reported. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 17 medical evacuees and 27 companions began crossing into Egypt, with the same number expected to head into Gaza. Israel did not immediately confirm the figures.
Israel’s security cabinet approved measures aimed at strengthening Israeli control over the occupied West Bank and reducing the Palestinian Authority’s limited powers, the Associated Press reported. The decisions were announced Sunday by the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the steps dangerous, while Jordan’s foreign ministry condemned them as an attempt to impose illegal sovereignty.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Zubayar Al-Bakoush, an alleged participant in the 2012 Benghazi attack, has been taken into U.S. custody and will face prosecution. The Justice Department said Al-Bakoush arrived at a Virginia airfield after what FBI Director Kash Patel described as a “transfer of custody” and was to be charged in Washington, including murder, attempted murder and arson.
Israel’s justice ministry charged a dozen people, including Israeli soldiers, with systematically smuggling goods into Gaza, according to the country’s prosecutor. The indictment alleges the defendants helped Hamas during wartime and were aware the items could reach the militant group’s operatives.
Melania Trump met Wednesday in Washington with freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel and his wife, Aviva Siegel, whose captivity story is featured in her new film. The first lady said the couple met with her in New York in January 2025, after Aviva Siegel was freed, and that the meeting was captured on camera for the movie.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated three women after they crossed the Rafah border crossing back into Gaza, according to accounts provided to The Associated Press. The women said the screening happened at an Israeli-controlled facility on the Gazan side, where they described humiliation, threats and pressure to become informants.
Israel’s police detained local officials and businesspeople suspected of siphoning off wartime aid donated after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, Israeli authorities said Monday. Investigators said they tracked the suspects’ alleged diversion of millions of dollars and announced a fraud inquiry involving donations that poured in after the attack.
Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan said Monday that restricted access to Jonglei has left thousands at risk of losing lifesaving medical care and food assistance as fighting between government and opposition forces spreads. They described service suspensions and disruptions that have also left displaced families increasingly dependent on limited aid, while the United Nations raised concern about growing displacement.
As Bangladesh nears a national election on Feb. 12, members of the country’s Hindu minority say they are living in fear as attacks and communal violence rise, including a killing last month that drew international attention. An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has ordered an investigation, while human rights groups and Hindu leaders describe a broader surge in violence that they link to polarization, the reemergence of Islamists and what they call a culture of impunity.
Palestinians were allowed into Gaza from Egypt late Monday after the Rafah border crossing reopened, with a small number of medical evacuees also moved into Egypt, the AP reported. The reopening was tied to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire but remained constrained, with Monday’s crossings falling well short of a stated target for each direction. Violence continued across Gaza on the day of the reopening, with Gaza health officials reporting an Israeli navy strike that killed a 3-year-old.
Palestinians in Gaza are watching with hope as workers lay groundwork to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a key route for medical travel and for people leaving and returning during the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Israel said the crossing is scheduled to resume Monday, initially with tightly limited numbers. The plan comes after an Israeli strike killed at least 30 Palestinians, including children, according to hospital officials, and as Israel moves to end Doctors Without Borders operations in Gaza by Feb. 28.
Palestinian citizens in Israel have pressed authorities for more security as police say recent killings were driven by gang violence and, in at least one case, confusion of identity. Demonstrations in towns and cities across Israel have intensified after multiple shootings, including the killing of a 15-year-old in Kafr Yasif.
In Kafr Yasif, Israel, Palestinian citizens protested gang and family-feud violence after a motorcycle gunman killed 15-year-old Nabil Safiya in a shooting police later said was mistaken identity. The shooting, which residents and activists say highlights an escalating security crisis for Arab communities, comes as demonstrations swept Israel, including thousands marching in Tel Aviv.
Palestinos en Gaza vieron el domingo preparativos para la reapertura del paso fronterizo de Rafah con Egipto, que Israel afirmó que está programada para el lunes como parte del cese el fuego con Hamás. En el primer día de operación, el cruce abriría a un número reducido de personas y no habría cruce de mercancías, dijeron funcionarios y residentes a The Associated Press.
The Trump administration has approved new arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth $9 billion, the State Department announced late Friday. The approvals were made public after the department notified Congress earlier Friday, as U.S.-Iran tensions rise and as the administration pursues a Gaza ceasefire plan.
Israel turned over the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Thursday, a Gaza Health Ministry official said, days after Israel recovered the remains of the last Israeli hostage. The Red Cross said it helped facilitate the transfer.
NEW YORK — Police said Thursday that Dan Sohail, 36, was charged with attempted assault as a hate crime after he drove his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn, damaging doors but injuring no one. Officials said Sohail had tried to connect with the Hasidic community and that video showed him dancing with congregants during a prior visit. City leaders announced stepped-up security around houses of worship after the crash on Wednesday night.
President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” aimed at shaping Gaza’s future has attracted support from some countries for the United Nations, while major powers and others declined to expand the concept beyond the Gaza ceasefire. In remarks and statements tied to the Security Council and the broader U.N. system, U.N. officials and allied governments said international peace and security remain the Security Council’s responsibility.
President Donald Trump’s effort to create a “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza’s next steps has drawn some support for the United Nations even as major powers and allies have rejected a broader international mandate for the idea, the Associated Press reported. The backlash followed U.S. language and plans that framed the board as a possible rival to the UN system and, in its charter, gave Trump a leading role with veto-like authority over the board’s actions.
A Palestinian man stranded in Egypt for two years says Israel’s planned reopening of the Rafah crossing offers his first chance to reunite with his wife and children in Gaza. Raed Belal, 51, said he is ready to leave Egypt as soon as he is allowed, after Gaza’s borders were largely sealed following Israel’s war against Hamas.
The Trump administration is considering placing its proposed Board of Peace in a Washington building that previously housed the U.S. Institute of Peace, according to four administration officials. The building is tied to legal fights over the federal government’s takeover and the institute’s independence, and its name and status remain in legal limbo.
Palestinians in Gaza have been largely cut off from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing since Israel seized it in May 2024, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it could reopen soon under a U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan. The reopening, which Israel is expected to control, would focus first on limited numbers of medically injured Palestinians leaving for treatment abroad, with preparations under way in coming days, according to an Israeli official and other people familiar with discussions.
Israel brought home the remains of the last hostage in Gaza on Monday, closing a key element of the ceasefire deal with Hamas and setting the stage for a more complicated second phase, the Associated Press reported. The remains of police officer Ran Gvili were recovered in northern Gaza and brought to Tel Aviv, after the country’s first phase returned all remaining hostages.
The remains of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage recovered from Gaza, were announced Monday, ending a yearslong hostage saga that had stalled Israel’s ceasefire negotiations with Hamas. Israeli officials said Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer, was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and his body was held in Gaza until it was recovered after an extended search.
Gaza's Rafah border crossing reopened Monday as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, though the reopening remained limited to only 50 medical evacuees plus escorts and 50 Palestinians able to return home. The crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel, had been shuttered since Israeli troops seized it in May 2024.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A bereaved father in Shifa Hospital said he could not accept his 15-year-old son’s death after an Israeli strike killed him and his 13-year-old cousin as they searched for firewood. Yusuf Zawara said he was trying to wake his son, wiping blood from his face while the boy lay dead on a morgue floor, as winter cold and a lack of power continue to compound daily survival in Gaza. The incident came amid a broader dispute over Israel’s targeting decisions and Gaza casualty figures.
Israel said it has begun a “large-scale operation” to locate its last remaining hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili, as U.S. and other mediators pressed Israel and Hamas to move to the next stage of their ceasefire. The statement came as Israel’s Cabinet discussed whether to open the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top U.S. envoys met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on next steps.
US envoys met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday and urged him to move into the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, according to Netanyahu’s office and a U.S. official. The talks also focused on recovering the remains of the last hostage in Gaza and on next steps for demilitarizing the territory.
Divisions emerged Wednesday over U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace as its ambitions grew beyond Gaza, with some Western European countries declining to join, some staying noncommittal and a group of Muslim-majority countries agreeing to sign on. Trump said countries invited to join are expected to proceed this week as he seeks to formalize the board on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
El presidente estadounidense Donald Trump está ampliando el alcance de una “Junta de Paz” para Gaza, mientras varios países europeos y otros actores expresan dudas o se niegan a participar, según reportes divulgados esta semana. En Jerusalén, el desarrollo marcó un contraste con Israel, que dijo que se unirá, y con el papel de figuras de alto perfil anunciadas por la Casa Blanca.
President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated a “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying it would help lead efforts to maintain a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas. Trump said he believed “over 50” countries could join, though his launch included officials from 19 countries. The announcement came amid questions from several U.S. allies about whether they would participate and about how the board would work.
Desperate Palestinians at a garbage dump in Gaza’s Khan Younis area dig with their bare hands through plastic items to burn to ward off cold and damp winter conditions, as war continues into a truce period, according to the Associated Press. The AP report described the scene in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis on Thursday amid skepticism about a new “Board of Peace” announced by U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Israeli forces on Tuesday targeted United Nations facilities in east Jerusalem tied to UNRWA, as crews bulldozed UNRWA offices in Sheikh Jarrah and fired tear gas at a vocational school in Qalandia, the Associated Press reported. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the destruction and called for the compound to be returned to U.N. control. More than 300 young refugees were receiving job training at the Qalandia school, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli ministers and settler leaders inaugurated a new settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank on Monday, celebrating its rapid transformation into a recognized settlement called Yatziv, formerly Shdema. The site sits adjacent to the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour, overlooking the town across a West Bank valley. Finance Minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich said at the ceremony that they intend to remain there permanently and will not establish a Palestinian state there.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” originally envisioned as a small group to oversee a Gaza ceasefire plan, has expanded into a broader effort that the administration says could address global conflicts, according to letters sent to world leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he agreed to join the board, despite previously criticizing a committee overseeing the Gaza ceasefire.
President Donald Trump’s threats tied to Greenland are complicating the next steps in his plan to end the Israel-Hamas war, including efforts to create a U.N.-backed “Board of Peace” with an initial mandate for Gaza. The Associated Press reported on Jan. 20 that European allies have declined or withheld commitment, and that some U.S. officials are weighing ways to limit the impact of Trump’s Greenland dispute on other foreign-policy priorities.
President Donald Trump has invited more than a dozen countries to join a new “Board of Peace for Gaza” intended to guide next steps as a Gaza ceasefire enters its second phase, an Associated Press report said Sunday. Hungary and Vietnam said they have accepted, and officials in other countries described receiving invitations as the U.S. prepares to release a formal roster.
Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers attacked the Bedouin hamlet of Khirbet al-Sidra in the West Bank overnight, setting homes and cars on fire, injuring Palestinians and activists. The Associated Press obtained security-camera footage timestamped around 10 p.m. Saturday showing fires and what it described as gunfire and settlers moving through the village. Israel’s military said troops were dispatched and were searching for people who attacked the area.
Israel’s government objected to a White House announcement naming leaders who would oversee next steps in Gaza as the ceasefire enters its second phase. In a statement Saturday, Israel said a Gaza executive committee “was not coordinated with Israel” and was contrary to its policy, and it told the foreign ministry to contact Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza is taking shape with ambitions to extend beyond the Israel-Hamas war, according to letters he sent to world leaders inviting them as “founding members.” The invitations, posted as other governments confirmed receiving them, describe the board as a new “International Organization” that could become a “Transitional Governing Administration,” and they point to a possible broader remit that would touch other crises.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” that would oversee the next phase of the Gaza peace plan has sent invitations to Israel, EU leaders, Russia, Belarus and other countries, an Israeli official said Monday. France said it does not plan to join “at this stage,” while Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has differences with the U.S. but that relations would not be harmed. In a separate response, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed the effort as a “raw deal” and called for it to be canceled.
Israel’s military has drawn a “yellow line” in Gaza after a ceasefire in October, but Palestinians say the markers are at times invisible or placed differently than maps show. The Associated Press reported that Israeli troops have killed Palestinians near the line, including children, and that residents live in fear of being shot after crossing or lingering close to it. The reporting is based on Gaza Health Ministry figures and interviews with Palestinians and Israeli military statements.
President Donald Trump’s administration has announced members of a new Palestinian committee to run day-to-day affairs in Gaza, along with an executive committee of international experts to supervise efforts tied to a U.S. Gaza ceasefire plan, the White House said. The appointments also include an international stabilization force and steps that the White House said would include disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of Gaza. The announcement came as the plan entered what the White House described as its second phase.
The White House released names of some officials involved in overseeing next steps in Gaza after a Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision met for the first time in Cairo on Friday, according to the announcement. The committee’s leader, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, said he would work to improve conditions quickly, with reconstruction and recovery expected to take about three years.
New York City nurses entered the fifth day of a major strike Friday with contract talks resuming at Mount Sinai hospitals at a mediator's request, while overnight negotiations with NewYork-Presbyterian broke down with little progress after running past midnight.
The White House says it is moving into the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, with new steps that include creating a transitional Palestinian governing committee and starting reconstruction work. U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff announced the shift on Wednesday, but the White House and other mediators provided few details about how the committee would be formed or what powers it would have. (AP)
Israel will posthumously honor the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk with an award for combating antisemitism at a conference in Jerusalem later this month, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The conference, the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, will take place four months after Kirk was assassinated while speaking at an American university.
WASHINGTON — The United States announced Wednesday that the Gaza ceasefire brokered under President Donald Trump is entering its second phase, which calls for disarming Hamas, beginning reconstruction of the war-ravaged territory and installing a technocratic committee to administer daily affairs under American supervision. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff made the announcement in a post on X following more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Egypt, Turkey and Qatar — the three other mediators of the deal — welcomed the move and identified Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority deputy minister, to head the new transitional administration.
JACKSON, Miss., Jan. 14, 2026 — A synagogue congregant who was 17 when the Ku Klux Klan bombed Beth Israel Congregation in 1967 watched the historic church burn again after an early Saturday fire. At 75, Beverly Geiger Bonnheim said it was “horrifying and disbelieving” to see the blaze, and she questioned what history would bring next.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement Tuesday with Betar US, a right-wing Jewish group she accused of conducting an illegal pattern of harassment against pro-Palestinian activists in the New York City metropolitan area. The agreement requires the group to stop activities that threaten or intimidate Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian activists at protests and on social media, with a $50,000 penalty for any violation.
The United States said it is moving into the next phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan brokered with President Donald Trump, involving disarming Hamas, rebuilding Gaza and naming Palestinian experts to administer daily affairs, under U.S. supervision. The announcement followed a statement from Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff that the deal was entering its second phase.
Strong winter winds collapsed walls onto tents for Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing at least four people, hospital authorities said Tuesday, and a 1-year-old boy died of hypothermia overnight. The Associated Press reported that Israel’s military also said it exchanged fire Tuesday with people spotted near troops in southern Gaza, killing at least two in western Rafah.
Israeli drone strike killed three Palestinians who crossed the ceasefire line near central Gaza’s Morag corridor, hospital officials said Monday. Israel’s military said the three approached troops and posed an immediate threat and later found weapons and intelligence-gathering equipment. The strike came as Gaza awaited an expected announcement this week on a new governance committee tied to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan.
Hamas said it will dissolve its existing Gaza government once a new Palestinian technocratic leadership committee takes over the territory, as called for in a U.S.-brokered peace plan. The group did not say when the change would occur, while negotiations continue over a broader ceasefire framework and deaths in Gaza remained reported.
Over two dozen families from the Bedouin village of Ras Ein el-Auja have fled their homes in the central West Bank in recent days, residents said, citing growing harassment by Jewish settlers from nearby unauthorized outposts. The residents said the harassment included settlers entering homes and disrupting daily life.
Israeli settlers beat and injured a Palestinian man during an attack on a plant nursery in the northern West Bank, according to witnesses and video footage reviewed by The Associated Press on Jan. 10. The man, identified by family members as 67-year-old Basim Saleh Yassin, was hospitalized with broken bones and other injuries, and workers later fled as attackers approached, the witnesses said.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has been chosen to direct a U.S. “Board of Peace” meant to oversee the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. The announcement came as Palestinian hospital officials and family members reported at least eight more deaths from Israeli strikes.
An Israeli strike in Gaza on Monday hit a tent housing displaced people, killing a 5-year-old girl and her uncle and wounding two other children, hospital officials said. The strike occurred in the Muwasi area northwest of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, officials at Nasser Hospital said, though the report could not independently verify the details.
From Zen sittings in an Episcopal church in Pasadena to meditation groups in Jewish, Unitarian Universalist and Catholic settings, Americans are increasingly bringing ancient contemplative practices into modern religious life. The Associated Press reports that congregations are adapting techniques drawn from Buddhism, Hinduism and other traditions—alongside Christian contemplative practices—to meet the needs of a fast-paced world, while some also debate concerns ranging from cultural appropriation to skepticism about spirituality.
Zohran Mamdani began his first full day as New York City mayor with a subway commute from Queens to Manhattan, greeting riders and aides as he reviewed briefing materials. Within hours of entering City Hall, his administration also moved to revoke multiple executive orders issued late in former Mayor Eric Adams’ term, setting off backlash from some Jewish groups over policies tied to Israel.
Zohran Mamdani began his first full day as New York City mayor with a subway commute through Manhattan, while images of the ride circulated online. Less than a day after his inauguration, he also revoked executive orders issued by former Mayor Eric Adams, including two tied to Israel-related policy—sparking backlash from some Jewish groups.
Faith leaders say “sound baths” — sessions that use instruments and chanting to create immersive, meditative experiences — are moving beyond yoga studios and crystal-healing businesses and into churches, temples and synagogues. The Rev. Kyohei Mikawa, Rabbi Jonathan Aaron and other clergy describe how the practice is adapting to their different traditions as congregations seek spiritual experiences and community.
A group of about two dozen Buddhist monks, walking from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to promote peace, reached Georgia on day 66 of their trek, the Associated Press reported Dec. 30. The monks planned to walk from the town of Morrow to Decatur that day and invited the public to an afternoon Peace Gathering in Decatur. The journey, which began Oct. 26, has drawn more than 400,000 followers on Facebook.
A group of about two dozen Buddhist monks reached Georgia on Tuesday, day 66 of a walking trek across much of the United States to promote peace, pressing on despite injuries sustained last month when a truck struck their escort vehicle outside Houston. The group, which set out from Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26, planned to walk Tuesday from the town of Morrow to Decatur, on the eastern edge of Atlanta, where they invited the public to a Peace Gathering that afternoon.
“Mo” creator Mo Amer and other Arab and Muslim American filmmakers are shaping new television narratives that portray their communities as multidimensional rather than as stereotypes, an Associated Press report says. In interviews and discussions highlighted by the article, creators and researchers trace that shift to post-9/11 media dynamics—and to a drive for “grounded” storytelling that writers say feels authentic. The coverage also points to ongoing limits in Hollywood decision-making power and the impact representation can have on audiences.
