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Created to aid in crises abroad, these Israeli nonprofits are applying their expertise at home for the first time

(JTA) — As community manager of his kibbutz in Israel’s south, Asaf Artel, 52, oversees all social aspects of Kissufim’s 120 member families. On Oct. 7, Artel was able to guide Israeli troops while they rescued people from the kibbutz via walkie talkie from inside his safe room, where he spent several hours with his wife and three children.

Fifteen people from the kibbutz were murdered that day; others remain missing. But within 24 hours, Artel and other kibbutz leaders were able to evacuate everyone else to safety, finding refuge at the Leonardo Plaza hotel in the Dead Sea, where they remain.

Their arrival and the ensuing day were “utter chaos,” he said. “Everyone was in trauma, everyone was in pajamas and barefoot. There was lots and lots of crying.”

Then, three days after the attack, the lobby of the hotel was suddenly filled with blue shirts of IsraAID workers. “That was the moment I knew we were in good hands,” Artel recalled.

Artel’s confidence came from personal experience. He had volunteered with IsraAID in 2016, flying to Louisiana following catastrophic flooding there, and had since been recruited for five dispatches to the United States.

Now, he has found himself on the receiving aid of IsraAID’s relief — a reflection of how intensively the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas of Israel’s southern communities has overturned norms in Israel.

After having worked in 62 countries around the world, for the first time in its 22-year history, the organization has mobilized its resources to address a humanitarian crisis on its home soil. It is drawing from its expertise in managing complex emergencies, particularly those involving terror and displacement, to navigate the current situation in Israel.

IsraAID’s CEO, Yotam Polizer, draws parallels between the necessary relief needed in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack and other terrorism-related events, including a 2021 mission he led to evacuate 205 girls from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover as well as a 2014 mission to assist Yazidi victims of ISIS.

“I’m not comparing exactly what they went through to what people in Israel went through, but there are definite similarities,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

IsraAID CEO Yoram Polizer speaks about his organization’s shift to domestic aid after focusing exclusively on international crises since its founding. (Deborah Danan)

Polizer also highlights IsraAID’s proficiency in managing protracted conflict zones, such as Ukraine — one of the 16 countries where the organization is currently operating — and the emerging need for sustained humanitarian engagement.

“Without even talking about the security-political side of things, just purely from a humanitarian perspective, we’ve never had anything like it,” Polizer said, noting that his group is working to aid the families of the murdered, the thousands more who were injured, those with abducted family members, and the estimated 300,000 displaced persons.

The reason, he said, was that IsraAID understands urgent relief efforts are only the start of the process, and that the journey towards recovery and resilience is a “marathon, not a sprint.”

IsraAid is not the only Israeli nonprofit to redirect its activities home. Innovation: Africa usually applies Israeli technology to support solar energy and clean water in Africa; now, it’s deployed to help soldiers power their mobile devices and lights in the field. And NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief, unable to send its volunteers abroad because of the war, has set up medical and dental clinics to serve Israelis evacuated from their homes in the north and south, near the front lines of conflict.

All three groups are members of OLAM, a network of 77 Jewish and Israeli organizations working in the fields of global service, international development and humanitarian aid. OLAM decided to work as one with a different network of Israeli development groups, SID-Israel, because of the unprecedented nature of the current crisis, according to OLAM’s CEO, Dyonna Ginsburg. Neither network had ever played a role during a crisis in Israel before, she said.

“Over the past month, Israeli organizations whose raison d’etre is to respond to crises abroad have rightfully understood the unprecedented and immense needs in Israel, and deployed staff and volunteers at home,” Ginsburg said. “Remarkably, many have done so while continuing their efforts to support those abroad.”

Ginsburg said the moment had provided her with an answer to questions that she had long encountered in her work.

“Before the war, I often encountered people who questioned why Jews or Israelis should invest resources in supporting vulnerable non-Jews who live far away,” Ginsburg said. “Underlying this question is an assumption of a zero sum game: you either give to internal Jewish needs or you support universal concerns. I believe this is a false binary.”

Groups with experience in disasters abroad can bring insights that Israel can benefit from, according to Polizer, who wryly refers to the initial surge of support following humanitarian disasters as “aid festivals.” He coined the term to encapsulate the chaotic influx of well-intentioned individuals who want to help but don’t necessarily know the best ways.

“It’s such a train station of people coming and going. We knew that this would happen,” he said. “Everyone wants to send their grandmother’s socks, you know, as a donation, which is very nice, but not very helpful.”

Moreover, even volunteers with relevant expertise tend to offer short-term assistance, often leading to more harm than good, a scenario that Polizer has witnessed in disaster zones all over the world and one that is currently unfolding in Israel. He cites post-trauma mental health support as the most prominent example of this.

“There are a lot of people — even professionals — with great intentions who are coming in and talking to these people who are deeply, deeply traumatized. If that’s done very short term, or if it’s a one time intervention or debriefing process, you could actually do a lot of harm. You could create triggers for people.”

Polizer also highlights missteps made by the aid community, noting a tendency to rush into making assessments and mapping out short and long term needs.

“I’ve seen a lot of organizations all over the world who come in and write it all down and then send a full report of what is needed. But by the time they get the support, the funding, and the procurement, things have changed already, the reality has changed.”

In a perverse stroke of luck, some of those mistakes have been avoided simply because there wasn’t a heavy influx of aid groups in Israel following the attack. In the wake of humanitarian disasters, the typical protocol usually involves U.N. agencies such as OCHA, along with various international aid entities, establishing a cluster system to streamline and coordinate the response to various needs.

But that can only happen when neither the government nor the civil society has the ability to meet the basic needs of the population. In such cases, the government itself would need to request the aid, which in this case it didn’t. (JTA confirmed with Mashav, the Foreign Ministry’s development arm, that Israel had not put out such a call.)

Still, in many cases, Polizer notes, such organizations would decide to help nonetheless. Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen is bolstering IsraAID’s efforts with direct aid — in the form of providing meals — for Israel’s asylum-seeking community and the local Bedouin population that have been affected by the war. But apart from that, most of IsraAID’s partnership organizations, such as UNICEF and the WHO, are sending money in lieu of on-the-ground aid.

“A lot of them are actually sending us funding, so they’re supporting us,” he said. “They said, ‘OK, we can’t respond, they don’t need our help but we will strengthen the capacity of an organization like IsraAID.’ So we of course appreciate that.”

Around 20 NGOs are currently operating in Gaza, where the humanitarian needs are acute as Israel prosecutes its war on Hamas. The majority of Palestinians living in Gaza have been displaced from their homes in the last month, according to the United Nations.

“The other side of course is that a lot of them are focusing on the Gaza side of things,” Polizer said. “I can’t comment on whether it’s also a political decision to decide not to respond.”

He added, “I think for a lot of them it actually makes sense that we are responding and that we are the leading humanitarian organization in Israel in that space.”

The key to mitigating the common issues associated with overzealous civil or aid response, he said, is building a collaborative and trust-based recovery approach that works hand in hand with the community, and that keeps on reevaluating the needs of the hour and “filling in the gaps.”

He cites establishing an ad hoc school for the residents of Nir Yitzhak who are currently in a hotel in Eilat as the most recent example of addressing an unexpected need. The community’s leaders asked IsraAID to help open a school because the kids are “losing it,” he said.

“There was no structure for the school. So we put a tent out that is near enough to the bomb shelter. But it’s freaking hot. So you need an air conditioner. So we procured two mobile air conditioners,” he said.

“Another gap is that we don’t have teachers, because either they were drafted to reserves, or worse, they were kidnapped or murdered. Unfortunately we’re hearing these stories all the time.”

In such cases, IsraAID takes responsibility for sourcing both the teachers and the necessary funds to cover their salaries as an interim solution until Israel’s education ministry can pay their wages. “Sometimes it’s about finding really quick solutions and minimizing the bureaucracy,” Polizer said.

Immediate relief efforts prioritize children, recognizing their particular susceptibility to trauma. Yet this focus is twofold, he said: by supporting children, it also grants parents the space to “breathe and start taking stock of their lives and look at the next steps.”

Artel agrees. “Before you can make a routine, you need an education system. Because when that doesn’t work, it takes all of us out of routine. That’s what we’re doing now and it automatically releases so much of the pressure.”


The post Created to aid in crises abroad, these Israeli nonprofits are applying their expertise at home for the first time appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire

Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.

Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.

Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.

Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”

As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.

“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.

Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.

The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.

Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.

Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.

Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel

People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas

Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.

“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.

“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.

Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.

The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.

In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.

“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.

In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.

Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.

In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.

“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”

Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.

Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.

To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.

In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.

Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.

Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.

The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.

The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns

Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak

The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.

Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.

With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.

The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.

Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.

Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.

According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.

With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.

In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.

The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.

Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.

The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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