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2 Jewish community leaders missing in Antakya, Turkish city devastated by earthquakes
ISTANBUL (JTA) – After initially sounding the all clear in the hours after a devastating earthquake Monday, the Turkish Jewish community now says that two prominent members remain missing in Antakya, a city near the Syrian border with a long Jewish history.
The leader of the Jewish community of Antakya, Saul Cenudioğlu, and his wife Fortuna have been missing since their apartment building collapsed in the first of two quakes on Monday morning, according to Cenudioğlu’s niece Ela.
Ela Cenudioğlu described her uncle as “a visionary leader committed to the Jewish community and the values it represents.” She said he had, since his birth in 1941, lived in Antakya, where the family operated a textile business.
Saul “did everything in his capacity to have the small Jewish community of Antakya thrive and connect with the rest of the communities in Turkey and the world,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I deeply hope that he and his wife (who has always been a mother to me) come out of this safely, for all I wish is to see his kind smile and hug him again.”
A grim toll is continuing to mount in Turkey, where the official death toll has already exceeded 5,000 and the WHO warns it could surpass 20,000. More than 1,200 buildings were destroyed in Antakya’s province alone and over 6,000 are estimated to have been destroyed across southern Turkey, and rescue teams are racing against time to identify people who might be buried alive under the rubble.
Saul’s brother, Azur Cenudioğlu, was in Antakya during the quake but managed to get out safely, according to Ynet. About his brother and sister-in-law, he said, “I am going back there to look for them and fear I may not find them alive.”
Antakya’s 100-year-old synagogue was also heavily damaged. Video circulated on social media showing community members retrieving Torah scrolls that appeared to be damaged.
Saving ancient Torah scrolls from the earthquake damaged synagogue of Antakya – home for a Jewish community for 2500 years… #antakyadeprem pic.twitter.com/ZsHzVKdHWZ
— Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (@mchitrik) February 7, 2023
Jews have been present in the city, known in antiquity as Antioch, for millennia, since its founding under the Selucid empire. The city was governed by Antiochus, the villain of the Hanukkah story; is frequently mentioned in the Talmud; and was a major center of Jewish scholarship in ancient times. Once closely associated with the larger Jewish community of neighboring Aleppo, the city’s Jewish population had dwindled to just 14 in recent years.
Now, Turkish Jews say, it’s unlikely that any will remain.
“The end of a 2500 year old love story,” the Turkish Jewish Community’s president, Ishak Ibrahimzade wrote on Twitter.
“Along with our historical Antakya Synagogue, 2500 years of Jewish life came to an end with this great pain…,” the Turkish Jewish community tweeted with a picture of the synagogue’s Torah scrolls being removed from a severely damaged room.
Israeli aid workers from a variety of organizations have landed in Turkey and plan to assist in search, rescue and recovery in the devastated southeastern portion of the country. Many expect to be in the region for weeks to come.
“We’re headed to Gaziantep with emergency relief supplies including water filters, water filtration systems, hygiene kits, mental health and resilience kits,” IsraAid’s spokesperson told JTA. “In the first two weeks we’ll assess the needs on the ground, and explore a wider range, longer term response.”
An immediate concern is providing safe shelter for those who were displaced by the quakes.
“We woke up at 4 a.m. and the house was shaking,” Azur told Ynet. “We left in our pajamas and slippers and were unable to take anything with us. Our prayer shawls and tefillin are all buried under the rubble and we are left with nothing.”
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The post 2 Jewish community leaders missing in Antakya, Turkish city devastated by earthquakes appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran to Completely Close Hormuz if Trump Executes Threats on Iranian Energy, Revolutionary Guards Say
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
Iran will completely shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz if US President Donald Trump executes threats to target Iranian energy facilities, the country’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Sunday.
Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48-hours, suggesting a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week.
In their Sunday statement Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said companies with US shares will be “completely destroyed,” if Iranian energy facilities were targeted by Washington and energy facilities in countries that host US bases will be ‘lawful’ targets.
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Netanyahu in Arad: Iran Has ‘Capacity to Reach Deep into Europe’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking Sunday at the site of a missile strike in Arad, said recent Iranian attacks demonstrate that Tehran poses a threat not only to Israel but to global security, urging stronger international action against the Islamic Republic.
“If you want proof that Iran endangers the entire world, the last 48 hours have given it,” Netanyahu said, referring to recent missile fire on Israeli civilian areas. He said the intent behind the strikes was “to murder civilians,” adding that the lack of fatalities in Arad was “due to luck, not their intention.”
Netanyahu also cited Iran’s missile launch toward Jerusalem late last week. The missile landed near major religious sites, including the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He described the incident as evidence of indiscriminate targeting of symbolic and civilian areas.
In addition, he referenced reports of a long-range missile launch toward Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean, saying it demonstrated Iran’s expanding capabilities. He also claimed Iran had previously targeted European territory, including Cyprus, and warned that such developments place multiple regions at risk.
“They have now the capacity to reach deep into Europe,” Netanyahu said. “They are putting everyone in their sights.”
He further accused Iran of threatening international maritime routes and energy supply lines, saying Tehran was attempting to “blackmail the entire world.”
Calling for coordinated international pressure, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States were acting together and urged other countries to follow.
“The call is not only for the security of America and Israel, but for the security of the entire world,” he said, adding that more global involvement was needed.
Responding to reporters, Netanyahu said Israel’s military response is focused on Iranian leadership and infrastructure rather than civilians. “We’re going after the regime… the IRGC, their leaders, their installations, their economic assets,” he said.
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Iran Threatens to Retaliate Against Gulf Energy and Water After Trump Ultimatum
Symbolic mock-ups of Iranian missiles are displayed on a street, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 22, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran said on Sunday it would strike the energy and water systems of its Gulf neighbors in retaliation if US President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to hit Iran’s electricity grid in 48 hours, escalating the three-week-old war.
The prospect of tit-for-tat strikes on civilian infrastructure could deepen the regional crisis and rattle global markets when they reopen on Monday morning.
Air raid sirens sounded across Israel from the early hours of Sunday, warning of incoming missiles from Iran, after scores of people were hurt overnight in two separate attacks in the southern Israeli towns of Arad and Dimona.
The Israeli military said hours later that it was striking Tehran in response.
Trump threatened overnight to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war. He made the new threat as US Marines and heavy landing craft are heading to the region.
But while attacks on electricity could hurt Iran, they would be potentially catastrophic for its Gulf neighbors, which consume around five times as much power per capita. Electricity makes their gleaming desert cities habitable, and most of them produce nearly all of their drinking water by purifying it from the sea.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X that critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Middle East could be “irreversibly destroyed” should Iranian power plants be attacked.
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards said it would also mean the shipping lane where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally transits along Iran’s southern coast would remain shut.
“The Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed and will not be opened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt,” the Guards said in a statement.
More than 2,000 people have been killed during the war the US and Israel launched on February 28, which has upended markets, spiked fuel costs, fueled global inflation fears and convulsed the postwar Western alliance.
‘TICKING TIME BOMB OF ELEVATED UNCERTAINTY’
“President Trump’s threat has now placed a 48-hour ticking time bomb of elevated uncertainty over markets,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, who expects stock markets to fall when they reopen on Monday.
Oil prices jumped on Friday, ending the day at their highest in nearly four years.
Markets already under severe strain from blockaded shipping were further rattled last week when Israel attacked a major gas field in Iran, and Tehran responded with strikes on neighbors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, raising the prospect of damage hindering energy output even if tankers resume sailing.
Iranian attacks have effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, causing the worst oil crisis since the 1970s. Its near-closure sent European gas prices surging as much as 35% last week.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump posted on social media around 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT) on Saturday.
Iranian media quoted the country’s representative to the International Maritime Organization as saying the strait remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to “Iran’s enemies.”
Ali Mousavi said passage through the waterway was possible by coordinating security and safety arrangements with Tehran.
Ship-tracking data shows some vessels, such as Indian-flagged ships and a Pakistani oil tanker, have negotiated safe passage through the strait. But the vast majority of ships have remained holed up inside.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters said on Sunday if the US hit Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure, Iran would attack all US energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure in the region.
Striking major Iranian power plants could trigger blackouts, crippling everything from pumps and refineries to export terminals and military command centers.
IRAN EXPANDS RISKS WITH LONG-RANGE MISSILES
The United States and Israel say they have seriously degraded Iran’s ability to project force beyond its borders with their three weeks of intensive air strikes.
But Tehran fired its first known long-range ballistic missiles with a range of 4,000 km (2,500 miles) on Friday towards a US-British Indian Ocean military base, expanding the risk of attacks beyond the Middle East.
An Iranian strike also landed near Israel’s secretive nuclear reactor about 13 km (8 miles) southeast of the city of Dimona.
The war has been taking place alongside a confrontation on a separate front between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, backed by Iran, with Israel saying on Sunday its troops had raided a number of the armed group’s sites in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah said it had attacked several border areas in northern Israel. Israeli emergency services said one person was killed in a kibbutz near the border, the first fatality in Israel killed by fire from Lebanon since the escalation began.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel since it entered the regional war on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon.
Israel said it had instructed the military to accelerate the demolition of Lebanese homes in “frontline villages” to end threats to Israelis, and to destroy all bridges over Lebanon’s Litani River which it said were used for “terrorist activity”.
Pope Leo appealed for an end to the conflict. “The death and suffering caused by this war are a scandal to the whole human family,” he said.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week found 59% of Americans disapprove of US strikes against Iran, while 37% approved. The war has become a major political liability for Trump ahead of November elections for Congress.