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Officials Investigate Suspected Arson Outside Jewish Museum of Maryland and Baltimore Synagogue
Scorch marks found outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland on Aug. 5, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
US federal and Baltimore City officials have teamed up to investigate a suspected arson attack that took place on Sunday night outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland and its neighbor, the B’nai Israel Synagogue, which, according to its website, is the only remaining active synagogue in the East Baltimore/downtown area.
“We are in the very early stages of the investigation,” Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge told Baltimore’s FOX45 News on Wednesday. “Through the course of the investigation, officers will be able to determine if the incident will be investigated as a hate crime.”
The Maryland Republican Jewish Council said that on Monday, a worker from the construction crew renovating the Jewish Museum of Maryland discovered scorch marks on the ground outside the museum. Surveillance camera footage showed that on Sunday night, a person pulled up to the museum in a vehicle, put something on the ground outside the museum’s gate, set the item on fire, and then left in the vehicle.
The museum is located between two historic synagogues on Baltimore’s Lloyd Street: the B’nai Israel Congregation and the Lloyd Street Synagogue. The latter opened in 1845, making it the oldest synagogue in Maryland and the third oldest standing synagogue in the US. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The fire was set outside of the Jewish Museum of Maryland but also right next to the B’nai Israel Synagogue, which reportedly shares a security gate to the south of the museum.
David Folderauer, the director of security for the Baltimore Jewish Council, told FOX45 News the fire caused “minor damage” that “should not impact the renovations” at the museum, which has been closed for the past year. Folderauer added that while the motive for the suspected arson attack remains unclear, “this can only be viewed as antisemitism.”
The Maryland Republican Jewish Council released a statement on Wednesday condemning the arson attack. The council’s treasurer, Andrew Koch, has been a member of B’nai Israel Congregation for over 10 years.
“I’m very disturbed and outraged that someone deliberately set something on fire outside my religious home and the Jewish Museum of Maryland, which highlights the rich Jewish history of downtown and East Baltimore,” said Koch, who is also the treasurer on B’nai Israel’s Board of Trustees. “It’s blatant that this was an attempt to intimidate the small Jewish community of downtown Baltimore.”
Koch further said in a Facebook post: “This case of arson was without a doubt antisemitic in nature. It was a hate crime … The virulet [sic] hatred towards Jews that has exploded off the charts in the US since last October has now reached my synagogue, which is the only remaining active synagogue in downtown Baltimore.”
The Baltimore Police Department said that its ongoing investigation will determine whether authorities will pursue the incident as a hate crime.
The post Officials Investigate Suspected Arson Outside Jewish Museum of Maryland and Baltimore Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.
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Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect
i24 News – US President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”