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Stalwart of Antakya Jewish community confirmed dead in Turkey quake as search continues
(JTA) — The fate of Saul Cenudioglu, the president of the small Jewish community in Antakya, remains unknown, while his wife Fortuna was confirmed dead Thursday morning after an Israeli search team pulled her body from the wreckage of their apartment building.
The two were believed to have been buried when their building collapsed in the first of two massive earthquakes that struck southeastern Turkey on Monday, sparking a humanitarian disaster.
So far the death toll is nearing 20,000 across both Turkey and Syria. The grim toll is only expected to rise as the window for rescues is rapidly closing three days after the quake.
Fortuna’s body was found by a team from the Israel Defense Forces that was combing the devastated city as part of the Israeli relief delegation and had been dispatched to the Cenudioglus’ address.
Over 500 Israeli rescue workers have arrived in Turkey and are working alongside the more than 30,000 relief workers who have descended on the affected zone since Monday. Jewish nonprofits from around the world are also gathering donations and preparing to distribute aid to the affected areas and the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes in the quakes.
An initial report said that Saul Cenudioglu’s body had been retrieved along with his wife’s. He has not yet been identified, according to the Turkish Jewish Community.
Saul Cenudioglu was born in Antakya in 1941, back when the city had a much larger Jewish community.
His niece Ela, who was born and raised in Antakya but now resides in Istanbul, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he was a “visionary leader committed to the Jewish community and the values it represents.” She said the family had a textile business in the city.
“He 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 added.
Jews have been present in the city, known in antiquity as Antioch, for nearly 2,500 years, since its founding under the Seleucid Empire. The city was once 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, associated closely with the larger Jewish community of neighboring Aleppo.
Though several hundred Jews lived in the city at the time of Cenudioglu’s birth, by last year their number had dwindled to only 14, the youngest of whom was over 60. Many of them worked in shops in the city’s famed Long Bazaar.
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.
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The post Stalwart of Antakya Jewish community confirmed dead in Turkey quake as search continues appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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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.”