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Israeli rescue team evacuated from Turkey on Miriam Adelson’s plane amid ‘concrete and immediate threat’
(JTA) — One of the Israeli teams dispatched to Turkey to assist after the devastating earthquakes there has headed home after being informed about a “concrete and immediate threat” against them.
United Hatzalah told its team of roughly two dozen personnel in Turkey to end their rescue mission and leave the country, the emergency services organization announced early Sunday. Because of a shortage of available planes to evacuate them, the philanthropist Miriam Adelson donated her private jet to facilitate the evacuation, the group said.
“We knew that there was a certain level of risk in sending our team to this area of Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border but we took the necessary steps in order to mitigate the threat for the sake of our lifesaving mission,” Dov Maisel, the group’s vice president of operations, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we have just received intelligence of a concrete and immediate threat on the Israeli delegation and we have to put the security of our personnel first.”
Maisel said the Hatzalah team had rescued 15 people since arriving shortly after the quakes. The official death toll stands at more than 33,000 and is expected to rise.
More than 500 Israelis have traveled to Turkey to aid in rescue and recovery. The Israeli Defense Forces team, for example, says it rescued 19 people from the rubble, and provided medical care to more than 180 others; it was also responsible for locating the bodies of Saul and Fortuna Cenudioglu, stalwarts of Antakya’s nearly 2,500-year-old Jewish community who died when their apartment building collapsed in the quakes.
The Israeli delegations had gotten the express permission of Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, David Lau, to work through Shabbat as the window for rescues closed. The IDF medical team and the team from a third group, IsrAid, will remain in Turkey.
Israel has at times warned of plots targeting Israelis and Jews in Turkey. Last summer, Israel evacuated its citizens from Istanbul after warning of an Iranian plot against Israelis there. The day before the earthquake, police in Istanbul arrested 15 people they said were part of an ISIS plot targeting synagogues there. The earthquake was most destructive in eastern Turkey, close to the border of Syria, which is Israel’s enemy and home to militant strongholds.
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir Visits Flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir walks inside the Knesset, in Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshipers and drawing condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinians.
The compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under a delicate, decades-old arrangement with Muslim authorities, it is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
Suggestions that Israel would alter the rules have sparked outrage among Muslims and ignited violence in the past.
“Today, I feel like the owner here,” National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to do more and more — we must keep rising higher and higher.”
A statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to be a violation of the status quo agreement at the site and “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation.”
The office of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said such actions could further destabilize the region.
Ben-Gvir’s spokesman said the minister was seeking greater access and prayer permits for Jewish visitors. He also said that Ben-Gvir had prayed at the site.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. Previous such visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted Netanyahu announcements saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the status quo.
Muslim, Christian and Jewish sites, including Al-Aqsa had been largely closed to the public during the Iran war. There was no immediate sign of unrest on Sunday after Ben-Gvir’s visit.
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Netanyahu Visits Troops Fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
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 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Sunday as military operations against Hezbollah-linked targets continue.
Netanyahu toured forward positions alongside Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Eyal Zamir, and Northern Command Commander Rafi Milo, meeting troops and receiving operational briefings from commanders on the ground.
Speaking to soldiers, Netanyahu praised their performance and said operations in the Lebanese security zone were ongoing.
“The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon,” he said, adding that Israeli forces were working to prevent infiltration attempts and neutralize threats such as anti-tank fire and missiles.
He described the northern campaign as part of a broader regional struggle involving Iran and its allies, saying Israel’s adversaries were now “fighting for their survival” following sustained Israeli military pressure.
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Saudi Arabia Restores Full Capacity on East-West Oil Pipeline to 7 Million BPD After Attacks
FILE PHOTO: General view of Khurais NGL recovery plant in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, June 28, 2021. Picture taken June 28, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour./File Photo
Saudi Arabia has restored full oil pumping capacity through the East-West pipeline to about seven million barrels per day, it said on Sunday, days after providing an assessment of damage on its energy sector from attacks during the Iran conflict.
The ministry said energy facilities and the pipeline affected by attacks during the conflict have recovered and restored operational capacity.
Saudi did not specify who launched the attacks, but the kingdom has intercepted many Iranian missiles and drones in recent weeks.
The strikes also disrupted operations at key oil, gas, refining, petrochemical and electricity sites in Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Yanbu Industrial City.
OUTPUT RECOVERY TO HELP SUPPLY CONTINUITY
Saudi said on Thursday the attacks had cut its oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd.
The East-West Pipeline has been Saudi Arabia’s only crude export route amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Iran attacked the pipeline just hours after the ceasefire was agreed.
The ministry said it recovered affected volumes from the Manifa oilfield, where output had previously been reduced by around 300,000 bpd.
Work was ongoing to restore full output at the Khurais facility, after strikes on it reduced Saudi capacity by a further 300,000 bpd, the ministry said.
It said the quick recovery would enhance the “reliability and continuity of supplies to local and global markets.”