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Jews, Israelis Targeted in Europe Amid Escalating Middle East Conflict

Fire of Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot is seen following the Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Jewish communities across Europe have been targeted in a growing wave of antisemitic incidents amid rising tensions in the Middle East, prompting Jewish leaders to demand stronger government action and greater protection as hostility escalates across the continent.

Last week, posters accusing prominent Jews of “lobbying for genocide,” featuring their names and photos, were displayed in several public areas across Brussels, Belgium.

Among those targeted were the European Jewish Association’s Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Vice Chairman Alex Benjamin, and Director of EU Relations Ruth Isaac.

“When your face is glued to a wall under the label ‘genocidal,’ you are being dehumanized. This is not protest — it is persecution. And it chillingly echoes some of the darkest moments in Europe’s past,” Margolin said in a statement.

“It is becoming tragically clear that Jews are once again unsafe on this continent. We are no longer asking, we are demanding action,” he continued.

In a post on X, the EJA also condemned the incident, stressing that “this is not political activism — this is incitement, plain and simple.”

“We’ve already seen where this kind of incitement can lead,” the statement read. “In recent weeks, Jews have been attacked and murdered, targeted simply for being Jewish or for their perceived connection to Israel.”

The organization called on Belgian authorities and EU leadership to take immediate action by promptly removing the posters, launching a criminal investigation into those responsible, and issuing a clear and unequivocal public condemnation of the incident.

On Friday, Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli advised the local Jewish community to leave the country, accusing Brussels of failing to safeguard their security amid escalating “Islamist threats.”

The Israeli official said the country is “being held hostage by Islamist packs chanting in support of Hamas and Hezbollah.”

“Belgium has surrendered. The country has lost its sovereignty and is no longer able to protect its Jews,” Chikli said in a post on X.

In Moldova, meanwhile, the local Jewish community faced a disturbing antisemitic attack over the weekend. In the capital city of Chisinau, dozens of graves at the Jewish cemetery were vandalized, with swastikas spray-painted throughout the site.

This latest antisemitic outrage is part of an escalating pattern across the country, including hateful slurs and threats against the Jewish community, as well as antisemitic graffiti vandalizing synagogues.

“The escalation in the Middle East is accompanied by a wave of antisemitic incidents across Europe, underscoring the urgent need for increased vigilance to protect Jewish communities on the continent,” Moldova’s Chief Rabbi Pinchas Zaltzman said in a statement.

“The direct conflict between Israel and Iran is fueling global waves of hatred and antisemitism. Unfortunately, Moldova is not immune to this trend,” he continued.

In Greece, an Israeli tourist was attacked last week by a group of pro-Palestinian activists after they overheard him using Google Maps in Hebrew while navigating Athens.

When the attackers realized the victim was speaking Hebrew, they began physically assaulting him while shouting antisemitic slurs.

Although local police arrived promptly, a large crowd had already gathered outside the restaurant where the victim had sought shelter.

At first, authorities mistakenly arrested the victim, accusing him of the attack. However, after video footage clarified the situation, they apologized and took him to the nearest hospital.

In Germany, Stefan Hensel, the antisemitism commissioner for the northern city of Hamburg, was also targeted in an antisemitic attack.

While driving home with his daughter, Hensel was listening to Israeli music when a car pulled up beside him and the occupants began shouting insults, calling him a “child killer” and “damned Israeli,” German media reported.

When Hensel refused to get out of the car as demanded, the attacker even attempted to force him off the road.

Local police launched an investigation into the attack. However, according to Hamburg authorities, there were “no grounds for their arrest.”

Peter Tschentscher, the First Mayor of Hamburg, described the attack as “another serious offense in a growing series of antisemitic incidents since 2023,” in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.

“This is shocking and shameful, especially given Germany’s historical responsibility toward Israel and Jewish life in our country,” Tschentscher said. “The Senate stands firmly with the Jewish communities and is committed to strengthening and protecting Jewish life in Hamburg.”

The post Jews, Israelis Targeted in Europe Amid Escalating Middle East Conflict first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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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.

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