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Maccabiah Games in Israel Postponed to 2026 as Iran War Continues

Opening of the Maccabiah Games at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022. Photo: Kobi Gideon / GPO

The 2025 Maccabiah Games scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv next month will be postponed until 2026 because of the Israel-Iran war, it was announced this week.

Often referred to as the “Jewish Olympics,” the international multi-sport event for Jewish athletes is held every four years in Israel. It was set to officially begin on July 8. This week, the official website for the sporting event featured a message on its homepage that said due to Israel’s war against Iran, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, the Maccabiah Games will instead take place in July 2026. “Same values. Same vision. Just a little more time,” read the message.

A total of 8,000 athletes from 55 countries were scheduled to compete in the Maccabiah Games this year in 45 sports, including tennis, rhythmic gymnastics, futsal, volleyball, judo, karate, swimming, ice hockey, and wheelchair fencing. The event is organized by the Maccabi World Union.

Flights to Israel remain grounded and Israel has declared a nationwide state of emergency that will remain in effect until at least June 30 amid the war with Iran that started a week ago.

“Despite our strong desire to hold the Maccabiah in the summer of 2025 as a symbol of hope, we are forced to postpone it due to the complex security situation created by the attack on Iran, the instructions of the Home Front Command, the continued suspension of flights to Israel, and the necessary security measures required of all of us,” Maccabiah Chair Assaf Goren said in a statement.

“Together with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and after considering several alternatives, we realized that although we are almost at the starting line, the most prudent step from a security, safety and logistical perspective is to postpone the event by a year to a quieter and safer time,” he continued.

“Following our operation in Iran and after numerous assessments of the situation, we have concluded that it is inevitable to postpone the Maccabiah until next year,” said Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar. “I thank all the Maccabiah organizers for their willingness and joint efforts, the Jewish organizations around the world, and the sports unions. I am confident that we will gather here next year with a stronger and braver Israel than ever before.”

Following the cancellation, USA Fencing announced that it will accept late entries to the national tournament scheduled to start in Milwaukee in July, and will waive late penalties for athletes who were scheduled to compete in the Maccabiah Games.

First held in 1932, the Maccabiah Games took a 15-year break between 1935 and 1950 because of tensions surrounding World War II and the establishment of the State of Israel. The 2021 Maccabiah Games were also postponed until the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post Maccabiah Games in Israel Postponed to 2026 as Iran War Continues first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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