News Digest — 8/11/25
Netanyahu, Trump Discuss Israel’s Gaza Plan Defeating Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Donald Trump on Sunday (10th), the Prime Minister’s Office announced.
The two world leaders discussed Israel’s plans to take over the remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza City with the goal of ending the war by freeing the remaining hostages and defeating Hamas.
The remaining strongholds were identified by Netanyahu in a press conference on Sunday (10th) as being located in Gaza City and the central camps.
In his press conference, Netanyahu outlined the day after plan for Gaza, which will include Israel maintaining overriding security responsibility and the establishment of a civilian administration.
He did not elaborate on the role of the civilian administration or what Israel’s security responsibilities would entail.
These press conferences came amid Israeli and international criticism of the security cabinet’s decision to approve a widened operation in Gaza City.
Gaza will be demilitarized and a security zone will be established on Israel’s border, the prime minister also said.
Hamas Terrorist Disguised As Journalist Confirmed Killed By IDF
The IDF has eliminated Hamas terrorist Anas al-Sharif in Gaza City on Sunday (10th). Al-Sharif, who also worked as a reporter for the Al Jazeera network served as the head of a Hamas cell and was involved in the planning of rocket attacks. Another Gaza-based journalist, Mohammad Karika, was also reported killed in the strike.
The IDF confirmed the elimination, stating that al-Sharif “operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist” and was a Hamas commander responsible for rocket-planning-attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. The IDF said that intelligence materials and numerous documents recovered in Gaza in the past linked him to Hamas, despite Al Jazeera’s attempts to distance itself from his terrorist activities.
These documents included personnel rosters, terrorist training course lists, phone books, and salary records that proved al-Sharif’s operational role within Hamas and his integration into the Qatar-based network.
According to Palestinian reports, five people were killed in total in the strike, which targeted a tent in Gaza City. All were journalists working for Al Jazeera.
The IDF previously identified al-Sharif, born in 1996, as a veteran Hamas member since 2013, affiliated with its East Jabaliya Battalion. He had served as a terrorist in the elite Nukhba unit and as a commander in Hamas’ special operations company.
Geert Wilders Tells Netanyahu ‘Millions Of People In Europe Support Him’ During Phone Call
Dutch politician Geert Wilders spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday (10th), telling him that “there are millions and millions of people in Europe supporting him and his brave actions to free both Israel and Gaza from the terrorism of Hamas,” which he confirmed on his personal X account on Sunday (10th).
This support comes despite “criticism from weak politicians and biased media,” Wilders claimed.
Netanyahu’s “fight is our fight since we cherish life and freedom, while they love death and destruction,” he added, concluding by writing Am Israel Chai.
Last Sunday (3rd), the right-wing Dutch politician posted his support for the hostages held by Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip, saying that “victims don’t hold hostages. Savages do.”
“Heroes support the hostages. Traitors support Hamas and call for sanctions. What side are you on?”
Wilders also criticized and mocked France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state in a post on X on July 25th.
In the post, Wilders highlighted the southeastern coastline of the country’s provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region in red and wrote: “Here will be the new Palestinian state. Big parts of France are already Islamic anyway.”
“Good luck, French President Emmanuel Macron and France! Happy suicide!” – his post concluded.
Wilders also had “words” for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in remarks he posted on X following the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.
Holocaust Survivor, 91, Succumbs To Injuries Weeks After Iranian Missile Strike On Central Israel
Holocaust survivor Olga Weissberg, 91, died at her home Saturday (9th), nearly two months after being seriously injured in an Iranian missile strike on the central Israeli city of Rehovot. She was laid to rest Sunday evening (10th) at the city’s cemetery.
Weissberg was injured June 15 when two ballistic missiles fired from Iran struck Rehovot in a predawn barrage. One missile hit the campus of the Weizmann Institute of Science, damaging buildings but causing no casualties there. Another landed in a nearby residential area, heavily damaging civilian apartment buildings.
37 people were hospitalized from the strike: two in serious condition, 12 in moderate condition and 23 in minor condition. Nearly a month later , on July 13, one of the injured, a Filipino national, Leah Mosquera, died from her injuries.
Another victim, an 85-year-old man injured in the attack died weeks later from his injuries.
The missiles struck just before 3 a.m., causing severe damage to several apartment buildings, shattering windows and damaging shops within hundreds of meters. Fires broke out in multiple locations. Search and rescue teams from the fire service, Home Front Command , police and Magen David Adom ambulance service went door-to-door, evacuating residents from damaged homes.
Canadian Leaders Condemn Beating Of Montreal Jewish Father In Front Of His Children
Canadian political leaders from every level of government condemned the Friday (8th) beating of a Montreal Jewish man in front of his children, with Montreal MayorValeri Plante saying Saturday (9th) that the Montreal Police Service was investigating the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension incident.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday (9th) that he offered support to law enforcement in their efforts to catch the attacker.
“The attack on a Jewish father in Montreal on Friday (10th), in front of his own children, is an appalling act of violence,” Carney said on X. “Everyone in Canada has an inalienable right to live in safety.”
Carney offered his thoughts to the victim, who had been seen being pummeled on the ground in a video published on social media by hassidic activist Mayer Feig. Feig’s video showed the attacker on top of the Jewish man, repeatedly punching him in the face until the father managed to push the perpetrator away with his legs. As one of the three children attempted to help his father to his feet, the attacker flung the victim’s kippa into a fountain.
On Friday evening (8th), opposition leader Pierre Poilievre urged anyone with relevant information to contact the police.
“This is appalling and unacceptable,” Poilievre said on social media. “No family should have to live in fear in Canada. We must stop the anti-Semitism that has exploded in our communities.”
Mount Royal Liberal Party Parliament Member AnthonyHousefather urged the SPVM to move quickly to catch the attacker and to keep the public apprised of their progress.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said on X Saturday (9th) that he was “deeply shocked by the violent assault,” hoping that justice would “be served.”
Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi accused Carney of weak leadership that allowed brutal behavior to fester, noting that his Montreal suburb had invested in increasing its public security budget to protect citizens.”
Canadian Jewish groups also expressed dismay about the failure of authorities to stem the continued trend of violence against Jewish citizens.
“What else needs to happen for authorities to take note of the rise in antiSemitism? Words are not enough,” Federation Combined Jewish Appeal (CJA) said in a Sunday (10th) statement. “There must be concrete steps taken to ensure the safety of our community.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said on social media on Saturday (9th) that: “thoughts and prayers” were no longer enough and that “authorities must hold the attacker accountable, and leaders at all levels of government must confront this dangerous escalation.”
The West Should Stand With Israel- Mick Hume
Since the Islamist terrorists of Hamas started the war with the antiSemitic pogrom of Oct. 7, from the start, many turned the truth and moral judgment on its head to accuse Israel of committing genocide by waging war against the genuinely genocidal death cult of Hamas. Everything is now twisted to cast Israel in the role of bloodthirsty aggressor. Every lie broadcast by Hamas (aka “the Gaza health ministry”) is repeated. Supposedly serious commentators repeat blatant blood libels about Israel deliberately shooting Palestinians queuing for food and “using starvation as a weapon of war.”
There is plenty of evidence to show that, in fact, Israel has done more than any army in history to limit civilian casualties, that Israel is probably the first nation at war to try to feed rather than starve its enemies, and that Hamas is ultimately to blame for all the suffering in Gaza. Indeed, unlike the Israelis, the Islamists really do have a policy of deliberately causing – and celebrating – the death of Palestinian civilians.
Those who started the war with the slaughter of families and festival goers are being rewarded for it by supposed leaders of Western civilization. Thus Macron, Starmer and the rest are giving Hamas a prize for launching a pogrom, a reward for mass rapes, a bouquet for butchering Jews. Little wonder that Hamas announced soon afterward that it has no interest in discussing any peace deal until Israel surrenders.
The European elites have convinced themselves that they are on “the right side of history” by aiding Hamas in its jihad to reduce the number of Jewish states to nil. Whatever Western leaders might imagine, Islamists are not interested in any dream of a peaceful “two-state solution.” Hamas demands one state, an Islamic caliphate “from the river to the sea.” That means wiping the Israeli state off the map.
To the elites who despise our own Western civilization, history and democracy, Israel is their hate figure because it dares to stand up and fight for its national sovereignty and people, and defend to the end the principles that the West has abandoned. We should make clear that, in the real world, we stand foursquare with the Israelis, not only in their demand for the return of the remaining hostages, but in their determination to do what is necessary to defeat Hamas. (European Conservative)
The Arab World Reassesses Hamas And “Armed Resistance” After Oct. 7 – Yohanan Tzoreff
• A broad Arab discussion is developing regarding the outcomes and implications of the war Hamas initiated on Oct. 7. Alongside the deepening recognition of Israeli power, a prominent question arises about the future of armed resistance and the future of the militias, given the severe blow to Iran’s “axis of resistance.” What is the point of continuing armed resistance if it only causes harm and does not serve its founding purpose?
• Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas figure, recently published a series of articles calling on the Muslim Brotherhood to undertake profound soul-searching, arguing that the movement’s failures outweigh its successes. Since the Arab regimes view Hamas as part of the Brotherhood, they feel justified in ignoring the destruction taking place in Gaza and even conspiring against the Islamic resistance movements, portraying them as their declared adversary.
• Yousef proposes that Hamas and the Brotherhood “explicitly renounce armed violence in domestic and all other arenas where weapons are used in the name of Islam,” so Islam will not be branded as a religion of terror and to prevent foreign intervention.
• The implications of this and similar messages from Muslim thinkers is that the legitimacy Hamas once enjoyed has significantly diminished since the Oct. 7 massacre. It crossed the boundaries of what was considered a legitimate act of “resistance” and is now perceived as advancing a foreign agenda in the Arab world. The belief that the Oct. 7 attack would help the factions of the Brotherhood regain eroded power has been disappointing, as the results of the attack have been, in fact, the opposite.
• The Palestinian Authority (PA) sees it as Hamas’ war – not the Palestinians – and refuses to assist it, and even wishes for its elimination as a military entity. Similar positions aiming to exclude Hamas from governance are expressed by prominent Arab commentators. Their view is that Palestinians must remember that eventually they will have to live with Israel. This may suggest an expanding acceptance that Israel is not a temporary reality among those who previously denied it.
• As it becomes clearer that friction with and resistance against Israel does not destabilize it but rather strengthens it and its influence, Israel’s adversaries are compelled to reassess their positions. Now, many influential voices in the Arab world, including those close to Hamas, are calling on it and ideologically-aligned militias to lay down their arms and cease armed resistance.
The writer is a senior researcher at INSS.
