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I’m far from the front lines, but like all Israelis, I am feeling Hamas’ attack firsthand
SHITIM, Israel (JTA) — Like many Israelis, I woke up on Saturday in a stupor after celebrating late into the night of the festive holiday of Simchat Torah. I had been attending a four-day festival with hundreds of young Israelis and internationals in the small southern community of Shitim, one hour south of Eilat.
Waking up on the final day of our gathering after a joyous week celebrating Sukkot, I had plans to return to my personal routine after completing the lengthy High Holiday season.
Instead, I woke up hearing tears and panicked conversations in the tents surrounding me. Something was obviously wrong.
Within a few minutes of checking my messages and the news, it became clear that there would be no routine for the foreseeable future as Israel instead faces its most crushing military disaster since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and its most significant civilian catastrophe perhaps since its founding.
I was far from where Hamas militants had flooded into Israel. But all around me in the community of several hundred gathered for the event, I met young Israelis in the breakfast area desperately trying to reach parents who live in kibbutzes on the Gaza border area.
Others were personally connected to young Israelis missing after an attack at another music festival, at Kibbutz Re’im near the Gaza border. Media reports show a scene of utter carnage at that festival.
People shared their phones to show viral social media posts, including images and videos of Israelis allegedly captured and presumably held in the Gaza Strip, and boastful claims of astonishing victories for the Hamas-led attackers. Social media is filled with posts from people searching for missing family members and, distressingly, comments by friends and family members recognizing their loved ones in those videos and photographs. Reports are streaming in about soldiers killed in combat.
The army and police advised against any travel in our area, and across the country. Yet those attending who were called up for reserve duty nonetheless departed to locations including Gaza, the northern front and the West Bank, as Israel braces for the possibility of additional conflict on multiple fronts.
Other civilian guests in our area chose to seek refuge in the southernmost city of Eilat, out of an abundance of caution, while the local regional council offered hospitality for those who wanted to shelter in private homes. I chose to stay in place, as it feels unsafe to travel in the direction of Gaza towards my home in Tel Aviv, which has seen a barrage of rockets.
I called to check in on a close friend of mine who serves as a reservist and had already made his way to a base where he is awaiting further orders. “The mood here is positive for now,” he told me. He added, referring to the protest movement that has gripped Israel since the beginning of the year, “All the political divisions discussed in the media have evaporated. There is complete unity here for the task ahead and there is nowhere I would rather be now.”
Other friends of mine in the mixed city of Jaffa, where some violence occurred during Israel’s military operation in Gaza in 2020, report that the streets are calm for now. Sheefra Blume, who recently immigrated from the United States, invited local residents of a communal WhatsApp group in Jaffa for a shared meal to support one another.
Because her building lacked a proper shelter, Blume planned to spend the night with a friend whose building was better equipped. But, she told me, “I am not considering leaving Israel.”
Official statements from Israel’s political and military branches are currently vague, as an assessment and counterresponse are in the works. It seems reasonable to expect that after Israel’s worst military disaster in 50 years, the coming response will also be unprecedented in its scope and damage.
As the holiday sun set, a nervous country transitioned to the start of an unexpected war and the beginning of a mass week of national mourning and hard questions.
For me, the next few days are uncertain, as I am not yet sure when it will be advisable to return to the center of the country, and to my routine. Emotionally, I fear that it will be impossible. And I know that many others have it far worse.
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The post I’m far from the front lines, but like all Israelis, I am feeling Hamas’ attack firsthand appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Sanctions on Iran to Be Reimposed, France’s Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool
European powers will likely reimpose international sanctions on Iran by the end of the month after their latest round of talks with Tehran aimed at preventing them were deemed not serious, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
Britain, France, and Germany, the so-called E3, launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose UN sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to delay the “snapback mechanism.”
The offer by the E3 to put off the snapback for up to six months to enable serious negotiations is conditional on Iran restoring access for UN nuclear inspectors – who would also seek to account for Iran‘s large stock of enriched uranium – and engaging in talks with the US.
When asked in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 whether the snapback was a done deal, Macron said:
“Yes. I think so because the latest news from the Iranians is not serious.”
E3 foreign ministers, the European Union foreign policy chief, and their Iranian counterpart held a phone call on Wednesday, in which diplomats on both sides said there had been no substantial progress, though the door was still open to try and reach a deal before the deadline expired.
The 15-member UN Security Council will vote on Friday on a resolution that would permanently lift UN sanctions on Iran – a move it is required to take after the E3 launched the process.
The resolution is likely to fail to get the minimum nine votes needed to pass, say diplomats, and if it did it would be vetoed by the United States, Britain, or France.
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UAE Could Downgrade but Won’t Cut Diplomatic Ties if Israel Annexes West Bank, Sources Say
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-US President Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed display their copies of signed agreements as they participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Middle East neighbors, in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US, Sept. 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Brenner
The United Arab Emirates could downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government annexes part or all of the West Bank, but it is not considering the option of severing them completely, according to three sources briefed on the Gulf Arab state’s deliberations.
The UAE is one of just a few Arab states with diplomatic relations with Israel and downgrading ties would be a major setback for the Abraham Accords – a signature foreign policy achievement of US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.
Israel‘s government has recently taken steps that could presage annexation of the West Bank, which was captured from Jordan along with East Jerusalem in a war in 1967. The United Nations and most countries oppose such a move.
For Netanyahu, whose coalition relies in part on right-wing nationalist parties, annexation could be seen as a valuable vote winner before an election expected next year.
NOT ALL TIES LIKELY TO BE CUT, SOURCE SAYS
Abu Dhabi warned Netanyahu’s coalition this month that any annexation of the West Bank would be a “red line” for the Gulf state but did not say what measures could follow.
The UAE, which established ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, was considering withdrawing its ambassador in any response, the sources told Reuters.
The sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abu Dhabi was not considering completely severing ties, although tensions have mounted during the almost two-year-old Gaza War.
A source in Israel said the government believed it could repair its strained ties with the UAE, a major commercial center seen as the most significant of the Arab states to establish ties with Israel in 2020. The others were Bahrain and Morocco.
No other Arab state has since established formal ties with Israel, which also has diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan, and direct contacts with Qatar, though without full diplomatic recognition. Once-thriving business ties between the UAE and Israel have cooled due to the Gaza war and Netanyahu has yet to visit the Gulf state five years after establishing ties.
ISRAELI COMPANIES BARRED FROM UAE AIRSHOW
In a sign of growing tension with Israel, the Gulf state last week decided to bar Israeli defense companies from exhibiting at the Dubai Airshow in November, three of the sources said. Two other sources, an Israeli official and an Israeli defense industry executive, confirmed the decision.
Israel‘s defense ministry said it had been made aware of the decision but did not elaborate. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi said discussions over Israel‘s participation in the week-long trade show were continuing.
Israel‘s media were the first to report the move to block the firms from the UAE‘s flagship aerospace and defense event.
The UAE foreign ministry did not respond to questions on whether it was weighing downgrading diplomatic ties with Israel.
The spokesperson at the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi said that Israel was committed to the Abraham Accords and that it would continue to work towards strengthening ties with the UAE.
Emirati foreign ministry official Lana Nusseibeh had told Reuters and Israeli media on Sept. 3 that any annexation of the West Bank would jeopardize the Abraham Accords and end the pursuit of regional integration.
That warning preceded Israel‘s air strike on Qatar last week, which targeted Hamas leaders, an attack that Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, condemned.
At an emergency meeting of Muslim nations in Qatar, convened in response to the strike, a communique was issued urging countries to review diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.
As part of the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu promised to hold off annexing the West Bank for four years. But that deadline has passed and some Israeli ministers are now pressing for action.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this month said that maps were being drawn up to annex most of the West Bank, urging Netanyahu to accept the plan. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, also backs annexing the territory.
TIES WITH ISRAEL DETERIORATED AFTER 2023
After establishing ties, the UAE and Israel built a close relationship, focusing on economic, security, and intelligence cooperation. This followed years of discreet contacts.
But differences began emerging after Netanyahu returned to power in 2023, leading the most right-wing government in Israel‘s history. Abu Dhabi has condemned repeated efforts by Ben-Gvir to alter the status quo of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa compound to allow Jews to be able to pray there. The site is sacred to Muslims and Jews and at present non-Muslims can visit but cannot pray.
The UAE has also criticized Israel‘s policies in the West Bank, including the expansion of settlements, and its military campaign in Gaza, and said an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel was necessary for regional stability. Netanyahu this month declared there would never be a Palestinian state in the wake of Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
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Gaza Aid Driver Kills Two Israeli Military Personnel at Jordan Border Crossing
Israeli police officers stand next to their cars at the scene of a fatal shooting at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Sept. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
A driver bringing humanitarian aid from Jordan for Gaza opened fire and killed two Israeli military personnel at the Allenby Crossing into the West Bank on Thursday before being killed by security forces, authorities from both nations said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for what Israel denounced as a “terror attack” at the only gateway for Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan.
“The driver accused of the operation is Abdul Mutalib al-Qaisi, born in 1968. He is a civilian who began working as a driver delivering aid to Gaza three months ago,” Jordan’s foreign ministry said.
Israel‘s ambulance service said the two Israelis succumbed to their wounds while the attacker was shot dead by security personnel.
Jordan said an investigation would be opened, calling the shootings a threat to its humanitarian role in Gaza.
Israeli chief of staff Eyal Zamir advised the government to halt the entry of humanitarian aid from Jordan until the completion of an inquiry into the incident, and the implementation of revised screening procedures for Jordanian drivers, the military said.
Earlier this month, Palestinian terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting on the outskirts of Jerusalem that killed six people.
In September 2024, a gunman from Jordan also killed three Israelis at the Allenby Crossing before being shot dead by security forces.