News Digest — 9/8/25
Six killed, 6 seriously injured in Jerusalem as terrorists open fire on bus, pedestrians
Six people were murdered Monday (9/8) and 12 were wounded, six of them seriously, when a pair of Palestinian terrorists opened fire on vehicles and pedestrians in Jerusalem’s Ramot Junction.
The two gunmen, residents of the West Bank, arrived at the junction shortly after 10 a.m. — according to some reports, by car — and opened fire at people waiting at a bus stop as well at a bus that had just stopped there.
Police said that a soldier and a number of civilians who were present at the scene fired at the terrorists and killed them.
The military said the soldier was an off-duty squad commander in the military’s new Hasmonean Brigade, a unit for ultra-Orthodox troops. Magen David Adom said four of the victims were declared dead at the scene, while two others were rushed to hospital and later succumbed to their wounds.
At least six others were listed in serious condition, as well as two whose status was moderate and three who were lightly hurt, according to MDA.
The dead were named as Levi Yitzhak Pash, 57, Yaakov Pinto, 25, Yisrael Matzner, 28, and Rabbi Yosef David, 43, Rabbi Mordechai Steintzag, 79, and Sarah Mendelson, 60.
The two terrorists were believed to have set out from the villages of Al-Qubeiba and Qatanna, just west of the junction and over the Green Line. The Israel Defense Forces said troops were encircling the villages, both located on the outskirts of Ramallah in the West Bank.
The military said troops were also dispatched to carry out scans for potential accomplices in the area alongside police.
Houthi Drone Strikes Ramon Airport
The Houthi terrorist rebels launched four UAVs on Sunday (7th) from Yemen at Israel, one of which struck Ramon International Airport north of Eilat.
According to the IDF, three of the drones were intercepted, two of which were outside prior to crossing into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol.
Interception debris fell outside a community on the Egyptian border, within the Ramat Negev Regional Council. No injuries or damages were reported .
The Israel Airports Authority confirmed a fourth UAV struck the arrivals hall at Ramon Airport. “At present, operations have been suspended, and takeoffs and landings at Ramon have been halted. The Airport Authority is working to resume normal activity as soon as possible. “We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available,” the authority said in a statement.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service reported that it treated eight individuals who were hurt as a result of the strike: a 63-year-old man was lightly wounded, fully conscious, with shrapnel wounds to his limbs; a 52-year-old woman fell and suffered minor injuries; two men aged 63 and 28, and a 24-year-old woman were lightly hurt with ear injuries from the blast; three others were treated for shock.
On Sunday (7th), the IDF confirmed: “A short while ago, the IAF intercepted three UAVs that made their way from Yemen.” A short time later, the IDF added, “An additional UAV that was launched from Yemen fell in the Ramon Airport area. The incident is under review.”
Senior Houthi official Hazem al-Asad wrote in a post on X in Hebrew: “The real revenge has not begun…. What is waiting for you will be much worse.”
PM: Oct 7 Terrorist Who Bragged To Parents About Massacring Jews, Killed In Strike
A Hamas terrorist who gained infamy for a recording in which he was heard bragging to his parents about slaughtering Jews during the October 7, 2023 onslaught, was killed in an airstrike last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday (7th).
According to Netanyahu, Israel then called those same parents to tell them their son had been killed.
On Saturday (6th), Hebrew media reports cited Palestinian media in Gaza, identifying the man as Mahmoud Afana, and said he was killed in Deir al-Balah. The name Mahmoud Afana appeared in local media on Thursday (4th) as one of the people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza.
In the Oct. 7 phone call released by Israel in the days following the massacre, the man could be heard excitedly telling his parents that he was in a kibbutz near the Gaza border, and that he alone had killed 10 Jews.
“Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!” he said, according to an English translation.
“Mom, your son is a hero,” he added.
His parents were heard praising him during the call. Identified by his father as Mahmoud, the terrorist said he was calling his family from the phone of a Jewish woman he’d just murdered, and implored them to check his WhatsApp messages for further documentation.
Hamas terrorists massacred some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages during the October 7 onslaught, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.
“We are deepening the maneuver on the outskirts of Gaza City,” Netanyahu said Sunday (7th), referring to the ongoing operations to conquer Gaza City.
“We are destroying terror infrastructure, we are taking down terror towers, and we have established another humanitarian zone to allow Gaza’s civilian population to move to a place of safety and also receive humanitarian aid there” he continued, adding that around 100,000 civilians have evacuated from Gaza City.
Netanyahu said that Hamas is firing at women and children to keep them from leaving.
“We want to focus on the terrorists themselves, and allow the civilian population to get out,” he concluded.
‘Enough Is Enough:’ Thousands March Against Anti-Semitism In London
Nearly two years after the October 7 Hamas attacks and the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, thousands of demonstrators marched through central London on Sunday (7th) to denounce rising anti-Semitism in the UK and around the Jewish world.
The event began at Hallam Street and paused outside Broadcasting House, the headquarters of the BBC. There, activist comedian Josh Howie addressed the crowd, calling on the government to “defund the BBC.”
“The BBC is a danger to Jews,” he said. “The BBC is no longer an arbiter of truth. Here is a fact for you, BBC: Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas started a war. There is no famine. There is no genocide.”
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis was among the high profile figures who led the march, alongside Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA) Chief Executive Gideon Falter, Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg, Minister for Levelling Up Michael Gove, shadow attorney-general David Wolfson, actress Louisa Clein and social media personality Dov Forman.
In remarks to the Jewish Chronicle Mirvis said: “It is so sad, so tragic that it is necessary for us to do this. But just have a look at all the thousands of people. We’ve got an incredible Jewish community, and what is very significant is we’ve got lots of non-Jewish friends who have come out in great numbers here today.”
“I’m so impressed by the resilience, the strength, and the fortitude of our community at this time.”
Gove added: “It is absolutely vital that people from every background stand with the Jewish community at this time. There has been an unprecedented level of hatred and prejudice directed toward the Jewish community – both on our streets and online.”
“We must send a clear message that we are against prejudice and hate and in favor of tolerance and inclusion. History teaches us that the safety of the Jewish community is closely tied to how free, open, and strong a society is.”
One in five Britons holds anti-Semitic views, a YouGov poll commissioned by Campaign Against Anti-Semitism also revealed on Sunday (7th).
Recent incidents have included the forced removal of a Jewish Chaplain and his family from a university campus, a swastika spray-painted on the home of a Chabad rabbi, and feces smeared on the walls of a synagogue in north London.
Prior to the march, Falter said the UK was undergoing a profound shift: “Something is happening in our country. Civil discourse and reasoned debate are giving way to sectarianism and extremism. Stages are being given to those who glorify terrorism, and take away from those who do not conform.”
“Jews are being chased down the street, Jews are being targeted for racist pranks. Jews are being harassed on public transport. Jews are being targeted on campus. These extremists are bullies – and the only way to defeat a bully is to stand up and say, ‘enough’.”
The procession passed the Cenotaph and ended at Parliament Square. Participants carried placards, Union Jacks, and Israeli flags. Among those present were representatives of Christian Action Against Anti-Semitism and the UK’s Iranian community.
Despite the grave message, parts of the march had a celebratory atmosphere, with Hebrew songs ringing out along the route. Many participants chanted for the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza – 48 are still believed to be captive more than 700 days after their abduction.
Exposing The Distortion Of Law And Truth In The Accusation That Israel Is Committing Genocide – Maj. (ret.) John Spencer and Arsen Ostrovsky
Recycled accusations of “genocide” are once again hurled at Israel by activists masquerading as “scholars.” We have interviewed IDF commanders and soldiers on the ground, visited aid staging and distribution centers, and studied operational orders. From this vantage point, the accusation of genocide is not only false but obscene, a distortion of truth and complicity in Hamas’ propaganda campaign.
Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide is not a vague political term but a tightly defined legal crime: acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The critical element is specific “intent to destroy.” Nothing we have seen in Gaza remotely approaches proof of genocidal intent or action.
The war is ugly, painful, and devastating, but it is fought by Israel in self-defense and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. Israel’s objective has never been to wipe out the Palestinian people. Its stated and demonstrated aim has been to dismantle Hamas’ military and governing capacity, prevent further terrorist atrocities, and return the hostages.
Unable to prove genocidal intent, accusers instead point to the tragic effects of war: civilian deaths, destroyed buildings, food insecurity. They then argue that these outcomes prove genocide. But that is not how international law works. If devastation or high casualties alone proved genocidal intent, nearly every war in history could be branded genocide – stripping the word of meaning.
Israel has implemented measures unmatched by any modern military to mitigate civilian harm: advance warnings, leaflets, phone alerts, humanitarian corridors, pauses for evacuation, and canceling legitimate strikes when civilian risk was too high. At the same time, Israel has facilitated unprecedented humanitarian assistance, while Hamas still governs territory, fires rockets into Israeli towns, and holds hostages.
On the battlefield, the IDF has employed precision munitions, aborted strikes when children were visible, and deployed ground forces at great risk to its own soldiers precisely to minimize harm to civilians. This is the opposite of genocide.
John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. Arsen Ostrovsky is an Israeli-based human rights lawyer who is CEO of the International Legal Forum and a Senior Fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security. (Substack)
As Pro-Palestinian Flotilla Heads To Gaza, Israel Should Counter By Sending Survivors, Hostage Families, and Border Residents – Ben Dror Yemini
Greetings to all those sailing on the flotilla to Gaza. We are convinced that if you truly knew the reality, the honest among you would join protests against the Islamo-Nazism that threatens you just as much as it threatens us. Hamas broadcasts have aired explicit calls “to kill all Jews and Christians to the last one.”
On Hamas’ children’s television programs, they repeatedly teach sometimes through a Mickey Mouse lookalike – that their ultimate vision is “the extermination of all Jews.” Israel is not committing genocide, Israel is trying to prevent the genocide Hamas openly declares.
Fathi Hammad, a senior Hamas leader, admitted:”We use women and children as human shields.” Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ former leader, said: “We need the blood of women, children and the elderly.” These are Hamas’ stated policies. Israel regrets deeply that civilians are harmed – but they are harmed because of Hamas, not Israel.
Hamas and other jihadist groups represent Islamist imperialism that murders primarily Muslims who refuse to submit to its rule. Their vision is to impose strict sharia-based laws, which allow the total erasure of basic human rights. They themselves say, “raise the flag of Islam over the Vatican” while destroying Christianity and Christians worldwide. Is that truly the cause you want to help?
Survivors of the Nova music festival massacre, residents from Gaza border communities, families of hostages, and freed hostages should board Israeli boats to meet the flotilla, aimed with their personal stories. (Ynet News)
UN Report Reveals $263 Billion In Losses Suffered By Jews Expelled From Arab Countries Since 1948
A new comprehensive study set to be presented at the UN reveals the immense scope of losses endured by Jewish communities in Arab countries. The Jewish population in those nations plummeted from one million to just 12,000. “It’s time to recognize the history of all the people of the region, only then can a true bridge toward reconciliation and peace be built,” the report states.
Ahead of the opening of the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, 11 detailed reports documenting the fate of Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa were released Sunday (7th}. The reports, prepared by the international organization Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), expose for the first time the scale of devastation: the dramatic decline and, in many cases, the complete disappearance of Jewish communities thousands of years old, accompanied by massive property losses.
The reports record the losses of Jewish refugees from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and Aden. They were compiled over five years by JJAC, drawing on personal testimonies, statistical data, and archival material from 22 archives in Israel, Canada, France, Switzerland, Britain and the United States.
Each of the 11 reports traces the story of ancient Jewish communities that lived in the Middle East and North Africa for millennia, some 1,000 years before the rise of Islam. They endured centuries under Muslim rule as “dhimmis,” a subordinate legal status for non-Muslims, lived through Ottoman and colonial rule, and later suffered persecution under Arab nationalism and Islamism, before fleeing, immigrating, or being expelled.
The research, to be presented at the UN for the first time, will be unveiled during a dedicated panel on the opening day of the Human Rights Council session, under the title: “Seeking Truth, Justice &Reconciliation – Jewish Refugees from the Middle East.” The panel is being held on September 8 in Geneva.
“As the Middle East faces an increasingly complex and fragile reality, and as the global call for justice and peace grows louder,” the report states, “it is time to recognize the history of all the peoples of the region, including the Jewish communities that lived in the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years. Only then can reconciliation and peace be built.”
“The scale of losses endured by Jewish communities across the region is enormous and has received almost no recognition in the international discourse on refugees in the Middle East,” said Rabbi Elie Abadie, co-president of JJAC.
“In the era of historical reconciliation, inspired by the Abraham Accords, it is time to face history with honesty and courage. Only through truth, justice, and mutual recognition can the peoples of the region move toward a future of dignity and sustainable peace,” added JJAC co-president Sylvain Abitbol.
“The story of the Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa is one of a persecuted minority uprooted from its homelands, which suffered immense losses in personal property – homes, businesses, possessions – as well as communal Jewish assets such as synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and cultural, social and spiritual treasures.”
