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7 members of India’s Bnei Menashe community killed in rocket attack near synagogue
(JTA) — Seven members of the Bnei Menashe Jewish community were killed Monday in a rocket attack near a synagogue in the Indian state of Manipur, according to an Israeli parliamentary body.
The attack, which occurred amid ongoing interethnic conflict in the eastern Indian state, was not meant to target Jews, said a press release from the Israeli Knesset’s Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Committee.
This is the third instance in recent months in which the community in the Manipur area — composed of practicing Jews who hope to emigrate to Israel — has been affected by the conflict. Two synagogues and ritual baths had already been burned down due to the conflict. One community member was killed in May.
The violence in Manipur, a state east of Bangladesh that borders Myanmar, began in May. It stemmed from student protests against an effort to grant “scheduled tribe” status to the Meitei community, which makes up more than half of the state’s population of more than 3 million. That status comes with special employment and education benefits reserved for other minority tribal groups, who say the Meitei community already benefits from extensive representation. The Bnei Menashe belong to the Kuki tribe. In the past, members of the Jewish community in Manipur have been targeted because they are dual minorities — both Kuki-Mizo and Jewish.
The Bnei Menashe believe they are descended from the Israelite tribe of Menasseh, one of the “lost tribes” of ancient times. That claim was endorsed in 2005 by Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, who affirmed the Bnei Menashe’s status as a “lost tribe,” though some researchers and officials cast doubt on those claims. Due to their “lost tribe” status, Bnei Menashe Jews have undergone formal Orthodox conversion following their immigration to Israel, which began in the 1990s.
Some 5,000 members of the Bnei Menashe community have immigrated to Israel, including almost 1,500 in the past five years, according to the press release. Another 5,500 still live in India and are waiting to immigrate. About 4,000 live in Manipur, and another 600 live in the neighboring Mizoram region.
The Absorption Committee, chaired by lawmaker Oded Forer, held a discussion Tuesday on Bnei Menashe immigration and the community’s integration in Israel’s job market.
“The State of Israel must promote the immigration of the members of the community who remain in India,” Forer said, according to the press release.
He said the Knesset had not prioritized the immigration of the Bnei Menashe community, which he called a “historical mistake.”
“Last night the community of Bnei Menashe buried seven people who were killed as a result of a bomb falling near the synagogue,” said Tzvi Khaute, coordinator of the Bnei Menashe in Israel for Shavei Israel, a nonprofit that has facilitated and advocated for the community’s immigration, according to the press release. “I am begging thart this community be allowed to immigrate to Israel. Every day that they stay in India and do not immigrate to Israel, they risk their lives.”
Other figures remarked on the challenges facing Bnei Menashe community members who want to immigrate to Israel — including undergoing an Orthodox conversion and finding employment after they arrive — but said the need to get them to Israel was paramount.
“There are riots in northern India, but the very identification of the Bnei Menashe community as Jews does not pose a danger,” said Michal Wheeler Tal, director of the Southeast Asia section of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, according to the press release. “We recommend that the community that remains in India immigrate to Israel, but with a low profile, in order to avoid being criticized for intervening in the internal affairs of the state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will help in every way to bring the members of the community to Israel.”
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The post 7 members of India’s Bnei Menashe community killed in rocket attack near synagogue appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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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.