RSS
Israel Closes Embassies Worldwide, Jews Abroad Urged to Be Vigilant Following Iran Strikes
Smoke billows following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Gideon Markowicz ISRAEL
Israel has closed its embassies worldwide and is urging citizens to remain vigilant and avoid displaying Jewish or Israeli symbols in public, amid fears of Iranian retaliation following a series of Israeli strikes on Iran.
According to statements posted on embassy websites on Friday, Israel suspended consular services and urged citizens to cooperate with local authorities if threatened, without indicating how long the closures would last.
“In light of recent developments, Israeli missions around the world will be closed and consular services will not be provided,” the statement said.
Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran overnight on Friday, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat, as nuclear negotiations between the United States and Tehran appear on the brink of collapse.
The Israeli strike killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and significantly weakened the country’s ability to retaliate, raising concerns of the risk of a broader conflict in the Middle East.
After Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned, of “severe punishment,” the country deployed a wave of drones toward Israel, followed by two barrages of ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted.
However, Jerusalem and many observers fear that Tehran may retaliate by targeting Jewish and Israeli interests worldwide, especially given Iran’s compromised ability to strike directly at Israel.
Iran has a long history of orchestrating violence against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad, including support for terrorism and assassination plots in the West.
Tehran has regularly called for Israel’s destruction and supported terrorist groups worldwide — including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen — by providing funding, training, and weapons.
US President Donald Trump suggested that Iran had brought the attack upon itself by rejecting Washington’s demands in nuclear negotiations to limit the country’s uranium enrichment program.
He urged Tehran to reach a nuclear deal, warning that “the next attacks already planned will be even more brutal.”
In response to Israel’s warnings of potential attacks on Jewish communities abroad, Jewish sites worldwide are strengthening their security measures.
Following a security cabinet meeting on Friday and a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that Germany is increasing security measures for Jewish and Israeli sites.
The German leader also urged both Israel and Iran to avoid actions that could further escalate tensions, while emphasizing Israel’s right to defend its existence and the security of its citizens.
“Germany is ready to use all diplomatic means at our disposal to influence the parties to the conflict,” Merz said in a statement. “The goal must remain that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden has stepped up visible security around the Great Synagogue of Stockholm and other Jewish sites.
In the United States, the Secure Community Network, a leading Jewish security organization, has called on Jewish communities to “remain on heightened alert and maintain robust security measures.”
“SCN stresses that, while there is currently no credible or specific threat against the Jewish community, this development occurs amid an already intensified threat environment,” the organization wrote in a post on X.
“This environment is fueled in part by Iranian-linked actors, designated foreign terrorist organizations, violent extremists, and politically motivated groups – entities which continue to incite violence globally, including against Jewish civilians and communal facilities, often under the pretext of perceived grievances related to Israel’s war with Hamas and related military or political developments,” the statement read.
In New York City, police ramped up security at Jewish and Israeli sites amid the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict.
“The NYPD [New York Police Department] is tracking the situation in the Middle East. Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to Jewish, Israeli & other sites throughout NYC,” the department posted on X. “We’re coordinating with our federal partners & we’ll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC.”
The post Israel Closes Embassies Worldwide, Jews Abroad Urged to Be Vigilant Following Iran Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.