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‘Desperately, desperately waiting’: Orthodox group holds prayer service as chairman’s son is MIA near Gaza
(JTA) — When a large Zionist Orthodox group gathered virtually on Monday to pray for Israel, the group’s executive chairman, Doron Perez, wasn’t there — one of his sons had been wounded in battle, and another was missing in action.
“Thank God, their son Yonatan has returned home,” Rabbi Danny Mirvis, the deputy CEO of World Mizrachi, an umbrella body for Zionist Orthodox organizations, said at the beginning of the gathering, in a mix of Hebrew and English. “Yonatan was shot in the leg whilst engaged in heroic military activity. Thank God, he’s OK.”
But, Mirvis continued, “We are desperately, desperately waiting to hear from their son Daniel. Based on unconfirmed reports — and I stress this is currently unofficial and unconfirmed — but it seems like, in most likelihood, he is missing in action. We have not heard from him since Shabbat morning and there are increasing concerns about his whereabouts and wellbeing.”
Before the group began reciting psalms for the welfare of Israel, Mirvis read aloud the two men’s Hebrew names.
The moment was a stark illustration of how the invasion of southern Israel, and its staggering toll of killed, wounded and captured Israelis, has rippled throughout the Jewish world. The event that it kicked off included the chief rabbis of a number of countries.
“We are united in prayer, in love, in support and solidarity for Am Yisrael and Medinat Israel,” Mirvis said, using Hebrew terms for the people of Israel and the state of Israel. Continuing in the mix of the two languages characteristic of traditionally observant Jewish gatherings, he added, “There are so many individuals, so many families who need our moral support and our prayers at this time, it’s just too many to absorb and to truly digest.”
The live stream was one of the first large-scale events organized by Orthodox Jews in the Diaspora since the invasion on Saturday. The Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, during which Orthodox Jews abstain from using electricity, ended Saturday night in Israel and on Sunday night in Diaspora countries. Because they were off their phones and computers, many Orthodox Jews only learned of the true scale of the events — hundreds murdered, thousands injured, 100 taken captive — as they emerged from the holiday.
Monday’s event was one of many across the Orthodox world that aimed to cope with a day of historic Jewish tragedy. The Jerusalem branch of the Satmar Hasidic movement, which traditionally rejects Zionism, issued a declaration marking Monday as a “day of prayer” that would include liturgy generally associated with the High Holidays — including the “Avinu Malkeinu” prayer and the recitation of God’s 13 attributes of mercy. The declaration called to “awaken the abundant mercies of the heavens.”
The World Mizrachi program, following Mirvis’ remarks, began in Hebrew with Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, David Lau, who recited Psalm 120, which begins with God telling King David, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
Lau followed that with Psalm 20, which begins, “May the Lord answer you in time of trouble, the name of Jacob’s God keep you safe. May He send you help from the sanctuary, and sustain you from Zion”
A mix of readings and pleas for divine relief informed much of the session. There were readings from the chief rabbis of Britain, South Africa, the Conference of European Rabbis and the CEO of the Orthodox Union. Rabbi Dovid Fendel, who leads a yeshiva that mixes religious study and military training in Sderot, an embattled city on the border of the Gaza Strip, called for the reoccupation and resettlement of Gaza, 18 years after Israel withdrew its troops and settlements from the territory.
Also featured in the event was a scroll bearing the names and photos of those known to be killed, accompanied by a recording of “El Malei Rachamim,” a traditional prayer for the dead.
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The post ‘Desperately, desperately waiting’: Orthodox group holds prayer service as chairman’s son is MIA near Gaza 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.