๐️Lonny's War Update- October 706, 2023 - September 11, 2025 ๐️
๐️Day 706 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivity๐️
Report: Despite strike in Qatar, Hamas leadership united on completing ceasefire talks
The Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat reports that following the attempted assassination of senior Hamas officials in Qatar, there is consensus within Hamas’s leadership to complete the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza “in a way that serves Palestinian demands,” according to the report.
The demands, it says, are “a full end to the war and guarantees of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.”
The report adds that in the coming days, contact with the mediators will be reestablished once the security situation stabilizes, allowing negotiations to resume.
Hamas weighs next steps as Doha mediation efforts strain after assassination attempt
While Qatari PM claims Netanyahu 'killed any hope' for hostage deal after Doha strike on Hamas leadership, source says terror group to resume talks with mediators 'in the coming days'
Hamas officials are reassessing their stance on hostage negotiations with Israel following an Israeli airstrike in Qatar targeting senior members of the terrorist group—an incident that has complicated ongoing mediation efforts led by Doha.Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani said his country is now reconsidering its entire role as mediator, casting uncertainty over whether the Israeli operation was meant solely to target Hamas leadership or to deliberately undermine the diplomatic track and distance both Qatar and Egypt from the process.In an interview with CNN on Monday, Al Thani said, “I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those hostages,” the prime minister said. A Hamas source told Ynet that his remarks “should be taken seriously.”According to the source, contacts with Israel are currently frozen. Although there had been an internal push within Hamas to consider constructive steps, the Israeli strike in Qatar has reinforced opposition to any form of compromise, the source added.
With Qatar pausing its involvement, Egypt remains the lead mediator, though there is growing speculation that the United States may pursue direct engagement with Hamas. Despite the current deadlock, both sides are expected to return to the negotiating table, as no alternative path toward a deal appears viable. Hamas sources told Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat that there is broad internal agreement on the need to resume talks—provided they secure Palestinian demands, especially a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The group said it plans to hold renewed contacts with mediators “in the coming days,” once the security situation stabilizes enough to restart negotiations. Hamas officials added that internal consultations would be held discreetly to determine how best to proceed with talks in a way that ensures the group’s core demand—ending the war—is met without repeating past mistakes. A Palestinian source told Ynet that the talks are expected to remain dormant until around Sept. 22, when Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to deliver a pre-recorded speech at the United Nations General Assembly, followed by the return of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the event. That timeline could shape the next phase, potentially leading to either renewed tensions or a limited de-escalation. Shalom Arbel, a former Israeli government liaison to Gaza and Shin Bet officer, said Hamas—an organization that glorifies martyrdom and rarely compromises unless its demands are fully met—could still bend under pressure. “The combination of Israeli military pressure and internal tensions in Gaza is mounting significantly,” Arbel said. “The more pressure increases, Hamas will either double down or signal to Egypt that it wants the war to end.”- Senior intelligence source: Attack in Qatar will help hostages? Completely the opposite
A senior intelligence source addressed claims that Hamas leader in Gaza Ezz al-Din Haddad is "relatively moderate and measured," saying "this is completely opposite from what we know, unless the real goal is to leave only those who, without external pressure from senior Hamas officials, would never sign a deal." Regarding the claim by hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch that "Hamas abroad was an obstacle to a deal," the source said it was "a collection of ignorance, lies and irrelevant statements." link There are many knowledgeable sources who will say the same thing. All the statements by Netanyahu and his yes men, like Gal Hirsch are all based on the same lies that Netanyahu tries to sell. Everyone involved in the negotiations since the beginning of the war know that Netanyahu has always been the biggest obstacle to making any deal. As a senior advisor in the Biden Administration stated a few weeks ago that Netanyahu was 90% responsible for the failures of all of the deals and Hamas 10%. They and the current administration deliberately didn't air this publicly because they believed it would harden Netanyahu's stance even more. Netanyahu continues to be the one killing every deal and this deal, which Trump forced him to agree to was one that Netanyahu couldn't say no. Instead, he sabotaged it with this attack. - Egypt signals cooling ties with Israel after strike on Hamas in Qatar
After Israeli strike in Doha, Egypt warns it may scale back Gaza ceasefire talks; officials say Cairo’s involvement will remain minimal unless Netanyahu changes course, stressing Egypt’s actions will serve only its core national security interestsEgypt is signaling growing frustration with Israel following an Israeli strike targeting senior Hamas leadership in Doha, which Qatar has called a violation of its sovereignty and a blow to regional mediation efforts, Qatari daily The New Arab reported Wednesday.While Cairo has stopped short of withdrawing from Gaza ceasefire talks, Egyptian officials told the paper the recent escalation could prompt a reassessment of its diplomatic engagement. The comments follow Qatar’s sharp condemnation of Netanyahu after he accused Doha of secretly harboring Hamas leaders under the guise of mediation. Qatar’s foreign ministry rejected the claim, describing it as a “shameful attempt … to justify the cowardly attack” on Qatari soil. Doha stated that Hamas representatives were hosted openly and "within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel." War correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai on Hamas leadership strike Netanyahu’s remarks—delivered in English and referencing the 9/11 attacks—drew particular ire. Qatar called the comparison to al-Qaida “a desperate distortion,” noting that no international mediation ever included cooperation with the terror network. Qatar vowed to continue its role as a diplomatic intermediary and to defend its sovereignty through all available legal and international channels. The country’s legal team, formed in response to the attack, convened this week to explore legal avenues and reaffirm Qatar’s commitment to international law. In Egypt, the fallout has compounded concerns that Israel is ignoring Cairo’s requests for broader humanitarian access to Gaza. According to Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, Egyptian-Israeli communication is now at its lowest point since being reduced to the military coordination committee established under the Camp David Accords. ืืืืื ื-ืชืื ื ืจืืฉ ืืืฉืืช ืงืืืจ, ืืืื ืื ืืืื ื ืชื ืืื, ืืืื ื ืฉืืืชืงืฃ ืืืืื, ืงืืืจ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani (Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Ludovic MARIN / AFP, Oliver CONTRERAS AF) The report added that no progress has been made in talks with the United States to renew a ceasefire, and that Cairo warned Washington any similar attack on Egyptian soil would trigger “devastating consequences.” Egyptian officials reportedly reaffirmed their intent to host and protect Palestinian faction leaders on Egyptian territory. One Egyptian source claimed the strike in Doha may have been a substitute for a previously foiled Israeli operation in Turkey. Meanwhile, Qatari media continued to frame the attack as the result of a years-long Israeli campaign to delegitimize Doha’s role in Gaza, citing senior Israeli figures who accused Qatar of financing Hamas. IDF says some 200,000 Palestinians have left Gaza City as it gears up for offensive
Tens of thousands of Palestinians evacuated Gaza City over the past day, bringing the total number of those who left the area in recent weeks to around 200,000, according to IDF estimates.
Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF began to prepare for a major offensive against Hamas there.
On Tuesday, the IDF ordered all of Gaza City to evacuate immediately ahead of the planned offensive.
Civilians have been instructed to head for an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*5:45am - Ballistic missile from Yemen - intercepted successfully - no reports of injuries or damages
Lebanon says one killed in Israeli drone strike in country’s south
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon says an Israeli strike in the country’s south killed one person.
“An Israeli enemy drone strike targeted a motorcycle on the Ain Baal-Bazuriyeh road, killing one person,” Lebanon’s Health Ministry says in a statement, referring to an area in south Lebanon’s Tyre district.
The statement does not specify if the casualty was a combatant or civilian.
Since a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November, Israel has struck terror operatives it accuses of violating the agreement.
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for bomb attack on armored carrier in West Bank
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s local wing in the West Bank city of Tulkarem takes responsibility for an explosive device attack against IDF troops earlier.
The terror group says in a statement that it set off the bomb against an armored vehicle near Nitzanei Oz Crossing.
Two soldiers were lightly injured in the incident.
The IDF says it has encircled Tulkarem and has set up roadblocks in the area following the attack.
Explosive attacks against troops in the West Bank have been relatively rare in recent months.
Netanyahu tells Qatar to expel Hamas leaders or bring them to justice: ‘If you don’t, we will’ link The damage that Netanyahu leaves in his wake has become unbearable, unbearable for Israel and unbearable for the world. For years, he has engaged Qatar and encouraged them to continued funding Gaza/Hamas, sending the then IDF Chief at one time and the head of the Mossad at another time to convince them to continue the funding. Qatar, which is definitely a state that sponsors terrorism was afraid that the US would designate it officially as a state sponsoring terrorism which would have had monumental repurcussions for Qatar. Netanyahu gave his promise that he would make sure the Americans wouldn't disignate Qatar as such, and he did. After October 7, when Qatar stepped up to help negotiate hostage releases to be pictured as the good guys instead of the country that gave Hamas so much money and thereby bears some responsibility for October 7, Netanyahu, for his reasons wanted to portray Qatar in a rosey light and said that the situation between Qatar and Israel was complicated, instead of calling them out as the host of most of Hamas' diaspora leadership and the biggest funder of Hamas. Some of those reasons were most probably tied to the fact that some of his close advisors were on the Qatar payroll, something that he most likely knew.
However, for Netanyahu, things can shift on a dime when it suits him.
The latest hostage deal that was on the table and very close to fruition came from Trump who forced Netanyahu's hand to agree with the deal, despite Netanyahu's great desire to keep the war going. The deal would end the war and bring home all the hostages on day one. Along with that, it would likely mean the fall of Netanyahu's government. Ben Gvir definitely would leave the government. The question would be if Smotrich would also leave. Up until a few weeks ago, that answer would have been no as all polls since the beginning of the war, except for one showed that Smotrich's racist party would not reach the minimum threshold for election to the Knesset (4% of the total vote). As such, Smotrich had nothing to gain and everything to lose if he bolted the government. In the last 2 weeks, the polls show him just going over the threshold which may embolden him to bolt the government believing it will get him more votes. With the Haredi parties out of the coalition but still supporting the government, Netanyahu's hold on his seat would be extremely tenuous and he would have very little choice but to call for early elections. This is not the big issue as he has been preparing for early elections. He would, of course love to maintain his coalition until the official date for new elections in October 2026 but that is probably too big a stretch. His plan, in my opinion has been to hold early elections at the end of the first quarter of 2026. If his government fell now, he would have to hold elections in January, 2-3 months earlier than his plan.
With Trump twisting his arm, he was looking for an out without killing his relationship with Trump. He most likely saw the attack on the gathering of the senior Hamas leadership as an opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone. First, with the attack on Qatar land would most likely kill Trump's deal for multiple reasons. If the attack was successful, who would be on the Hamas side to negotiate, but more important, it would destroy any good faith that Trump may have had with Hamas. A major part of the deal was Trump's personal promise that he would not allow Israel to return to fighting even if the negotiations took longer than the 60 day ceasefire. How could Hamas ever believe Trump again after being 'set up' for the kill with their gathering to discuss Trump's deal, and the fact that Trump's close ally and friend, Netanyahu would attack then on the land of another of Trump's allies and friends, Qatar, without Trump having knowledge or giving the green light for such an attack. And the icing on the cake for Netanyahu would be the killing of senior Hamas leaders who he has vowed to eliminate at some point in the future for their roles in October 7. This would have been a major PR coup for Netanyahu's election campaign.
Now, as the success of the attack is very questionable and the possibility that most, if not all of the senior leaders survived the attack, Netanyahu's PR success is looking more as a failure, so he needs to turn it around and threaten more attacks and alienating more and more countries. At this time, making Qatar out as less than a friendly player is a political move for Netanyahu on the home front. He really thinks that the Israeli voter is so stupid that we will forget everything he has done to build up Qatar in the eyes of the world because it suited him then, and now it no longer suits him so he will get us all to forget his failures. That won't happen. Sure, it typically was the case that Israeli voters had very short memories. October 7 changed all that. Netanyahu is on a rampage and is showing the world that Israel (actually Netanyahu) has absolutely no restraint anymore. With successes of attacks on Iran and Yemen, he is feeling that he can attack anywhere he wants to serve his PR machine and his political survival. He is truly the most dangerous man in Israel and perhaps the entire Middle East.Qatar decries Netanyahu’s ‘reckless’ warning that Israel will act against Hamas chiefs if Doha doesn’t
Qatar hits back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a strongly worded statement, describing his remarks about the Gulf country’s hosting of a Hamas office as “reckless.”
Netanyahu earlier warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.”
Qatar to host emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Israeli strikeDOHA, Qatar — The Qatari capital will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit next Sunday and Monday to discuss the Israeli attack on Doha that targeted Hamas leaders on Tuesday, according to an invitation by Qatar’s news agency.
Report: Israel struck Hamas in Qatar after ditching similar operation in NATO member TurkeyThe Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reports, citing Egyptian sources, that Israel struck Hamas’s headquarters in Qatar after deciding not to pursue an operation in Turkey, where many Hamas leaders also reside.
According to the sources, Netanyahu’s government chose to act in Qatar out of the belief that the Trump administration could handle the issue with Qatar, unlike with Turkey, because of its NATO membership.
The report did not elaborate on the timing of the planned operation in Turkey.
In heated phone call, Trump told Netanyahu that Qatar strike was unwise — WSJ
US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his decision to target Hamas inside Qatar wasn’t wise, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing senior administration officials.
Trump made the comments during what the Journal describes as a heated phone call on Tuesday after the attack, which the US president was angry to hear about from the American military rather than Israel.
According to the newspaper, Netanyahu responded that he had a brief window to launch the strikes and took the opportunity. A second call between the men later on Tuesday was cordial, with Trump asking Netanyahu if the attack had proven successful, the Journal reports, adding that the premier said he didn’t know.
The report also quotes a senior administration official who says Trump is increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu, feeling that the prime minister unilaterally takes moves that box him in and which conflict with his aims in the Middle East.
- According to the reports of Palestinians and Human Rights Organizations, Israel has put over 900 road blocks (yellow gates) at the entrance to villages all over the West Bank. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are blocked from movement. The freedom of movement is a basic human right. If I were a Palestinian, I would organize hundreds and thousands of us together to collectively remove these road blocks and give us back the freedom of movement. If one person or ten people did it, the Israelis could arrest them, but if hundreds, thousands, whole communities did it together – they couldn’t arrest all of them. This is an act of organized civil disobedience against an illegal occupation. - Dr. Gershon Baskin - Sept 11, 2025
- Israeli officials said to doubt success of strike on Hamas leaders in Doha
Top defense officials cited as having opposed strike’s timing; Israel, US reportedly promised Doha that Hamas wouldn’t be hit in Qatar; Trump ‘not thrilled about whole situation’Israeli officials appeared on Wednesday to increasingly cast doubt on the success of the previous day’s strike in Qatar targeting the leaders of the Hamas terror group’s politburo, with a series of anonymous quotes to Hebrew-language outlets.
The Kan public broadcaster said in an unsourced report that Israel had informed the United States that the chances that the strike had been successful had decreased significantly.
“Right now there’s no indication that the terrorists were killed,” an anonymous source was quoted telling Channel 12 news. “We continue to hope they were assassinated, but optimism is fading.”
Similar sentiments were reported by Kan, which quoted an official as saying that the final results needed to be seen but that it was possible the strike had not achieved “the desired result.”
Two sources from the defense and intelligence community told Ynet that, in the outlet’s words, they were “pessimistic regarding the lethality of the strike on most of the targets, and perhaps all of them.” A battle damage assessment was ongoing, the report said.
The bold Israeli airstrike targeted a meeting of Hamas’s top leaders on Tuesday as they were said to be gathered to discuss a new US-sponsored hostage-ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
The gathering was believed to include all of the terror group’s top leadership outside Gaza, including the leader of Hamas’s Gaza units, Khalil al-Hayya; Zaher Jabarin, who leads Hamas in the West Bank; Muhammad Darwish, the head of Hamas’s Shura Council; Nizar Awadallah; and Khaled Mashaal, the head of Hamas abroad.
While Israel confirmed the strike, dubbed “Operation Summit of Fire” by the Israel Defense Forces, and awaited the outcome, Hamas insisted none of its leadership cadre had been killed.
The terror said in a statement that while its top leaders survived the strike, five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya — Hamas’s leader for Gaza and its top negotiator — as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya’s office.
Hamas leaders on October 7 were praying in Doha, Qatar while watching the massacre unfolding on television. I suspect some of these leaders were targeted today by Israel.
Hamas, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, has offered no proof that al-Hayya and other senior figures had survived.
Amid rising criticism of the strike on the international stage as well as within Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz appeared on Wednesday to rebuff censure of the decision to go after Hamas figures in US-allied Qatar, saying Israel would not allow the group to find safe haven anywhere.
While Katz did not address indications that some of the Hamas leaders were not killed in the strike, he said that anyone who took part in the October 7, 2023, massacre will “have justice served.”
“Israel’s security doctrine is clear — its long arm will act against its enemies everywhere,” he said in a statement. “There’s nowhere they can hide.”
The Kan public broadcaster reported Tuesday that IDF’s envoy for the hostage negotiations, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, had opposed the strike taking place at this time, and that reservations were also heard from IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior officials within the Mossad intelligence agency.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had not been notified in advance of Israel’s strikes against Qatar and expressed dissatisfaction with the attack against an American ally, in a somewhat rare rebuke of Israel and the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“I’m just, I’m not thrilled about the whole situation,” Trump told reporters. “We want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.”
US President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks to reporters outside the restaurant Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Washington on September 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP)In another sign that Washington was perhaps taken by surprise, Qatari sources toldWashington Post foreign affairs columnist David Ignatius that Israel and the US had promised them that officials from the terror group would not be targeted on Qatari soil.
According to Ignatius, Qatar sought assurances after Zamir said on August 31 that “the bulk of Hamas’s ruling leadership that remains is abroad, and we will reach them too.”
He said the pledges were given last month, indicating that the Mossad and White House did so within hours of Zamir’s comments.
Tuesday’s strike “came as a total surprise,” a Qatari official was quoted telling the columnist
Comments describing the strike from Israeli officials noted the involvement of the military and the Shin Bet, but not the Mossad, which would normally play a key role in a sensitive operation against terror figures outside of Israel or its immediate environs.
Mossad head David Barnea has played a leading role in indirect talks with Hamas on ending the Gaza war and freeing hostages, which have been mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US.
IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) speaks at an assessment alongside Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, August 31, 2025. (IDF)Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Turkish and Egyptian interlocutors had warned Hamas’s political leadership to tighten security around their meetings in the weeks before Israel’s attack, citing interviews with officials from Israel, the US, Qatar and other Arab countries.
According to the report, 10 Israeli jets were deployed to fire long-range munitions at the house in the Qatari capital where Hamas’s political leadership had gathered for the meeting.
The jets fired the missiles from outside Qatari airspace and also did not breach the airspace of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, the broadsheet reported.
US officials confirmed to the newspaper that Israel informed the US of the attack minutes before the launch, and did not disclose the target.
Trump said Tuesday that he had been tipped off by the US military about the Israeli strike in Doha and that he immediately directed US special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform Qatar of what was coming — “which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.” Link
Canada says it’s ‘evaluating’ its ties with Israel following Qatar strike
Canada is “evaluating” its relationship with Israel after yesterday’s strike in Qatar, Foreign Minister Anita Anand says.
She adds that the strike was “unacceptable.”
Canada is expected to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
- Report: Arab states poured nearly $15 billion into US universities
New data show Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have funneled billions into American higher education over five decades, much of it undisclosed, raising concerns of foreign influenceU.S. universities have received more than $14.6 billion in contributions from Arab governments and institutions since 1981, led by Qatar, according to a new report that raises concerns about transparency and foreign influence on American higher education.The findings, released Thursday at the start of the new academic year, are based on official disclosures that colleges and universities are required to file with the Department of Education. The report was compiled by the Jewish Virtual Library, a project of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, which is broadly supportive of IsraeAccording to the data, Qatar alone has given $6.6 billion to U.S. universities, followed by Saudi Arabia with $3.9 billion and the United Arab Emirates with $1.7 billion. Smaller sums came from Jordan, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. In total, 13,847 donations were made to 290 institutions across 49 states.More than 70% of the money — about $10.7 billion — was reported with no specified purpose. Some contributions appeared in unusual forms, such as eight identical gifts of $99,999,999 each from Qatar to Cornell University, with no stated goal. The report shows the donations have come in waves. Contributions rose sharply after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, then accelerated again beginning in 2020. Roughly a third of all the funds arrived in the past four years. The single largest year was 2023, when Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, sparking the war in Gaza. That year saw nearly $1.5 billion in donations — more than any other year on record. Universities with Gulf campuses received the largest shares: Cornell University collected $2.3 billion, mostly for its medical school in Doha; Carnegie Mellon received $1.05 billion; Georgetown, $1.02 billion; Texas A&M, $1.01 billion; Northwestern, $770 million; the University of Colorado, $640 million; and Harvard, $358 million. Some individual donations stood out. The University of Missouri–Kansas City reported a $284 million gift from Kuwait to cover tuition for thousands of students in a single semester. MIT disclosed $43 million from Saudi Arabia, listed under “no purpose.” The top 12 universities received almost 60% of all Arab funding. The donations supported fields such as medicine, engineering and international relations, often tied to campuses in the Gulf. The report noted that several gifts were anonymous, with tens of millions of dollars lacking any detail. Public universities, including Texas A&M and the University of Colorado, were among the recipients, raising questions about the role of taxpayer-supported schools. The report warned that the funding lacks transparency and could influence academic priorities, with some universities hiring scholars supportive of boycotts against Israel. It also suggested the money could pose national security risks. Researchers highlighted flaws in the Education Department’s reporting system, including errors, duplications and even deleted entries, suggesting the true scale of foreign donations may be larger. They recommended stricter disclosure rules, lowering the reporting threshold from $250,000 to $50,000, publishing donor identities and purposes online, imposing financial penalties for noncompliance and considering restrictions on gifts from nondemocratic states.Pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University, in May (Photo: AFP, INDY SCHOLTENS) By comparison, contributions from China and Russia were far smaller during the same period. Qatar was the only foreign country to exceed $6 billion in donations. Jewish and Israeli contributions to U.S. academia were also much lower in scale. While the Jewish Virtual Library framed the report as part of its broader mission to strengthen U.S.-Israel ties, the figures themselves are drawn from the Department of Education’s official database, making them authoritative. Wave of resignations The report’s release comes amid mounting turmoil on U.S. campuses over antisemitism and protests linked to the war in Gaza. On Thursday, Northwestern University President Michael Schill announced his resignation after months of political pressure and public criticism over his handling of anti-Israel demonstrations and complaints from Jewish students. Schill had been called to testify before Congress, where Republican lawmakers accused him of failing to protect Jews on campus. Jewish organizations also demanded his ouster. The Trump administration, which has intensified scrutiny of higher education, froze roughly $790 million in federal research funding to Northwestern in recent months, leading to the layoffs of hundreds of staff members. Schill’s departure adds to a wave of resignations by presidents and senior administrators at elite universities since 2023, driven by recurring allegations of antisemitism and persistent government pressure. At Harvard University, President Claudine Gay stepped down after a contentious congressional hearing in which she struggled to condemn calls for violence against Jews. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned following similar backlash to her testimony, which critics said was overly permissive toward antisemitic rhetoric. Columbia University President Minouche Shafik quit in August 2024 after months of fierce campus protests over the Gaza war, including a large encampment that drew police crackdowns and hundreds of arrests. Her interim successor, Prof. Katrina Armstrong, was also forced to resign within months amid continued unrest. link Qatar and others' funding of campuses in the US and Europe was a long term plan to use their money to influence at levels much higher than their international status. By giving so much money to various universities, these Gulf States were able to use that money to set up new departments of study and/or change the educational direction of existing departments. They directed educational hiring to bring in their people to change curriculums and make socio-political changes as the goal. Qatar, as a supporter and sponsor of The Muslim Brotherhood and extreme Islam, deliberately over the course of many years developed a network of supporters in campuses across the US, Canada and Europe. On October 7, the day of the massacre, it was no accident that so-called 'spontaneous' demonstrations of support sprung up on campuses around the US. This well oiled and well financed network was preparing patiently for years waiting for some eruption to begin their well orchestrated 'spontaneous' movements of support. None of it happened in a vacuum and none of it was spontaneous. The networks had huge funding and were able to capitalize on their resources and engage and enlist 'innocent' impressionable students who were presented with a David and Goliath situation where Israel is the Goliath and Hamas (not the Palestinians) is the David. Despite the horrific pictures and videos that came directly from Hamas, these networks owned the narrative and were able to distort the reality and the facts of what was happening and the situation just got worse. Israel had given up on the 'hasbara' (information, PR) for years, cutting all hasbara budgets from the various government ministries, especially the consulates and embassies around the world. These pro Hamas networks had an entirely open field to rewrite the narrative and create facts from fiction, turn horror into self defense and justify the barbarism of the Hamas terrorists. The Israeli government remained impotent and still remains impotent til today. The only people who have gone into public diplomacy have been Israeli citizens and Israel lovers who had to pick up the gauntlet that the government abandoned along with everything else. We are now almost 2 years into the war and the government still has done next to nothing to change the narrative. It has become even more difficult to change the narrative when we are committing war crimes in Gaza, so there is very little area to claim the higher road. Of course, we are not perpetrating the same types of atrocities that Hamas perpetrated on us on October 7 but there is no ability to claim Israel is the David against a Palestinians Goliath and this has changed the relations of Israel with the rest of the world. Several dead in Israeli strike on Houthi media building, rebels’ TV reports
An unspecified number of people have been killed and wounded in Israeli strikes on a building housing the Houthi armed forces’ media operation, rebel television says.
“Martyrs, wounded and several homes damaged as a result of the Israeli attack on the Moral Guidance Headquarters,” Al-Masirah television reports.
Israel has said the Houthi propaganda headquarters was among the targets of today’s strikes.
War’s longest flight: 10 jets took part in Yemen strikes, dropping 30 bombs on 15 targets
The Israeli Air Force strike in Yemen today marks the longest flight carried out by the IAF since the beginning of the war, with fighter jets flying over 2,350 kilometers (1,460 miles) to the targets, according to the military.
The strike involved over 10 IAF fighter jets dropping some 30 munitions on 15 targets in Sanaa and in the al-Jawf area north of the capital, the IDF says.
En route to carrying out the strike and on the way back to Israel, several aerial refuelings were carried out.
Today’s strike is not the most distant attack of the war, as Sanaa is located only some 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) from Israel, with the jets taking a detour to avoid Saudi airspace. The most distant strike carried out by the IAF in the war was conducted at Iran’s Mashhad Airport in June, some 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) from Israel.
UAE bars Israel from Dubai Airshow; Jerusalem said to believe Qatar strike is the reason
The United Arab Emirates has informed the Israeli defense establishment that Israeli industries will be barred from participating in the Dubai Airshow in November, a Defense Ministry spokesperson tells The Times of Israel, confirming Hebrew media reports.
According to the reports, the organizers of the event — one of the world’s largest aerospace and defense exhibitions, held in the UAE’s capital every two years — sent a message this morning to the Defense Ministry and to relevant company managers in Israel.
While the official statements said the decision was due to security considerations, senior officials in Israel claim the reason behind the ban is the Israeli Air Force’s strike in Qatar yesterday against the top leadership of Hamas, Ynet reports. Gulf countries have since expressed their condemnation of the attack and solidarity with Qatar.
The Defense Ministry declines to comment on the stated or suspected reasoning of the ban.
Egypt warns US targeting Hamas leaders on its soil would have ‘devastating consequences’
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, citing its sources, reports that Cairo has made clear to the Americans that any attempt to strike Hamas officials in Egypt — similar to Israel’s action in Qatar — “would have devastating consequences.”
According to the report, Egypt also conveyed its willingness to host leaders of Gaza-based terror groups, including Hamas, and provide them with protection while they are on its territory. link
- Belgian festival nixes performance of German orchestra due to Israeli conductor
Another incidence of embargoes against Israel. Embargoes not only products but include academics, culture, sport, research, the arts and anything that requires multi- nation cooperation and/or agreements. There are countries that are cancelling any sports event that has Israeli teams and even only having Israeli players. This cancellation is a prime example of the embargo of Israelis in that it is only the conductor while the entire orchestra is German. Two weeks ago a music festival arranged by 2 Israeli brothers and some friends in Spain was cancelled due to the negative publicity which inspired the local police to introduce additional demands on the group that were never included in their original permits. Every day we are seeing more countries enact formal and informal barriers to Israeli participation in all kinds of events, businesses, sports, etc. and anyone who recognizes what we are doing in Gaza can fully understand why these measures are being taken. Netanyahu and his cronies are absolutely guilty of war crimes in Gaza and beyond and feel invulnerable and are without restraint. These feelings of invulnerability and the associated lack of restraint are bringing us operations such as the attack on Qatar land against the Hamas senior leaders. It was done in total disregard for the role the Qataris are playing to get our hostages home, total disregard for the relationship between Qatar and the US, and total disregard for any implications and/or ramifications on the worls stage as a result of the attack, let alone the fact that the attack may very well have killed Trump's hostage deal, which could be the impetus for Netanyahu pushing for this attack. He has no feelings for the hostages and their lives can be sacrifices as payment for Netanyahu's political survival. In this war, with the crimes being committed in Gaza, everything is connected and all of our troubles internationally can all be traced back to Netanyahu, the most dangerous man in Israel today. Report: Houthis to begin launching missiles at multiple cities simultaneously to hinder interception
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, citing a well-informed military source, reports that yesterday’s Israeli strike in Sanaa will lead to a change in the tactics of the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen.
According to the source, the Houthis could target sites in several Israeli cities at once, attempting to disrupt Israel’s air defense capabilities.
Israeli strikes damaged Yemen’s national museum, historical sites in Sanaa, Houthi ministry saysSANAA, Yemen — The Israeli airstrikes in Yemen that killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 130 also caused damage to Yemen’s national museum and other historical sites in its capital city, the Houthi Culture Ministry says.
The status of the artifacts inside the museum is still unclear, but thousands of historical artifacts are at risk of damage, according to the ministry. Associated Press photos and video footage from the site of the strike showed damage to the building’s facade.
The ministry calls on the UN cultural agency UNESCO to condemn the attack and to intervene to help protect the historical building and its artifacts.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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