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Melbourne synagogue evacuated on Shabbat as tensions over Israel-Hamas war flare in Australia
(JTA) — A synagogue in the Australian city of Melbourne was evacuated on police order on Shabbat as pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated nearby.
The Friday evening Shabbat services were halfway over at Central Shul in Caulfield, a heavily Jewish neighborhood, when the police and synagogue security team advised everyone to leave as a precaution, according to a letter from the synagogue’s president and rabbi on Sunday. About 150 people were present at the time, they said.
“A synagogue is a safe haven, a place of refuge, calm and peaceful, filled with prayer, song and inspiration. Shabbat, by its very definition is a day of rest, reflection and serenity,” they wrote.
“Sadly, this Friday night, for our community, that feeling of refuge, calm and serenity was shattered. The freedom to practice our religion without fear or intimidation was jeopardised.”
Hours later, violence erupted between pro-Palestinian protesters and a pro-Israel faction in adjacent Princes Park, where a previously scheduled rally had been relocated in part because of its proximity to a burger shop that had burned in a fire earlier that day. Local authorities said they had no evidence that the fire was spurred by racial animus, but the Palestinian-Australian shop owner said he thought his business had been targeted after he was filmed leading chants at a different pro-Palestinian demonstration.
About 400 people were involved, 200 on each side, according to local police, who used pepper spray to break up the fight. Police said one man was pepper-sprayed and removed from the area under breach-of-peace provisions and another man reported receiving minor injuries after being hit by a rock. They said they would review security camera footage to see whether any other criminal offenses had taken place.
Pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside the Sydney Opera House, Oct. 9, 2023. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
The violence comes amid a spate of incidents related to the Israel-Hamas war in Australia. Immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, participants in a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney chanted “Gas the Jews”; the local government apologized. Last week, a Jewish man in Sydney said he had been hospitalized after being attacked when he removed a pro-Palestinian poster. And on Saturday, a woman was caught on tape yelling, “F— the Jews” after a pro-Palestinian rally in the Sydney suburb of Coogee.
On Sunday, separate rallies to free the 240 people Hamas is holding hostage and to call for a ceasefire drew thousands of people in Sydney.
Melbourne had been comparatively quieter until this week. Now, police say they plan to increase patrols in Caulfield, home to about 40% of the Jews who live in the city of 5 million.
James Paterson, a lawmaker from the center-right Liberal party, was among a number of local politicians to denounce the incident and the choice of location for Friday night’s demonstration.
“Of all the places in Melbourne to hold a pro-Palestinian rally, they chose Caulfield. In a park next to a synagogue. This is a calculated attempt to intimidate the Jewish community with predictable consequences,” he tweeted. “And on Shabbat. Victoria Police never should have allowed this protest to proceed and must use the full force of the law to crack down on those responsible for these violent scenes.”
Local Jewish leaders also expressed distress about the incident. “There is something very wrong in this city,” tweeted Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission. “Scenes I never imagined I’d see. Princess Park. Caulfield. Melbourne will never be the same.”
The synagogue president, Phil Goldman, and rabbi, Shmuel Karnowsky, said in their letter that they were proud of how quickly and without protest their
But, they wrote, “it left a terrible feeling in our hearts. To think that here in Melbourne, we might feel so threatened that we could not complete a Friday night Shule service, is unacceptable. There is understandably a huge sense of disappointment, frustration and anger. It cannot happen again.”
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The post Melbourne synagogue evacuated on Shabbat as tensions over Israel-Hamas war flare in Australia 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.