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New Israeli Foreign Minister Takes Reins Amid Gaza Conflict, Calls Out Iran: ‘This Is a Third World War’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Israel’s then-Transportation and Intelligence Minister Israel Katz during a test-run of the new high-speed train between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, near Lod, Israel, Sept. 20, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The new foreign minister of Israel was handed his credentials in a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry building in Jerusalem on Tuesday, officially assuming the role as Israel’s top diplomat at a tense time amid the war against Hamas in Gaza.
“We are in the midst of a Third World War against Iran and radical Islam,” said Israel Katz, who had been serving as energy minister. He also previously served as foreign minister from 2019-2020.
Iran is the main international sponsor of Hamas, providing the Palestinian terror group with funds, arms, and training.
In his remarks, Katz thanked outgoing Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who has held the position since the current Israeli coalition government’s formation at the end of last year. He will now take over Katz’s role at the Energy Ministry.
“I have always said that we have a foreign minister full of energy, and now you are going to the Energy Ministry,” Katz said. “We will continue to act together as we have done until today.”
Katz outlined his priorities as Israel’s top diplomat, saying at the top of the list is “the return of the abductees home,” referring to the 240 hostages abducted by Hamas terrorists during their Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel. The surprise attack, in which the terrorists murdered over 1,200 people, sparked the current war in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas.
According to Israel, there are 129 hostages still being held by Hamas — including some believed to be dead — after over 100 were released as part of a temporary ceasefire deal in November.
“We are in painful, difficult, and also hopeful moments of mobilizing the entire country,” Katz said. “This enemy reminds us in his actions of the darkest periods in human history, and we are determined and we will achieve the goals of collapsing Hamas.”
The Foreign Ministry has been at the forefront of the global campaign to bring about the release of the hostages.
“Our commitment as a state and ministry is first of all to return the abductees home with new initiatives, to exert global pressure,” Katz said. “The second thing is to preserve the international legitimacy space for fighting in Gaza and the north and for any development that exists. Also, to exert political pressure on Hezbollah in order to create an outline for the implementation of Resolution 1701, in order to bring about their withdrawal from the northern border.”
Amid the war with Hamas in Gaza to Israel’s south, Israeli forces have been clashing with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group in Hezbollah, to the north. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified in recent weeks. Katz was referring to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 during the Second Lebanon War. It called for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the deployment of Lebanese and UN peacekeeping forces, UNIFIL, in southern Lebanon.
Continuing his point about a third world war, Katz also addressed the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
“The Iranian race to obtain nuclear weapons continues even more vigorously during these times,” the new foreign minister said. “The front that Iran has built here in this region is not only against Israel … This is a Third World War with today’s tools, and we are at the front for the whole world.”
Cohen also addressed the event, speaking of the ministry’s role since the war began.
“We all felt from the beginning of the war how essential the Foreign Ministry is and contributes to the country’s security,” he said. “On Oct. 7, the Foreign Ministry was one of the first to come to its senses. At 8 am, a situation room was opened that has been working around the clock ever since.”
Cohen also highlighted some of the recent efforts by the ministry on behalf of the Oct. 7 hostages and victims.
“I personally stood in five delegations of abductees abroad so that they would be heard with the aim of increasing the political pressure and remaining conscious until the last of the abductees returned home,” he said. “Our ambassadors have done more than 8,000 interviews. The digital activity has more than 2.5 billion exposures. Three months into the fighting we are receiving support as no one thought we would receive.”
Cohen concluded by wishing “my friends, colleagues, and Israel Katz success … I have no doubt that with your many years of experience and early familiarity with the office, you will continue to lead the office at the forefront of the political struggle. Don’t worry. I will be back. We will meet again.”
The post New Israeli Foreign Minister Takes Reins Amid Gaza Conflict, Calls Out Iran: ‘This Is a Third World War’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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