Israel kills 53 in Gaza as fallout from Qatar strike continues

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Israeli attacks in Yemen on Thursday killed 46 people and injured 165 others, the country's Houthi-run Health Ministry said.

Israel bombed the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the northern province of al-Jawf, the latest in a series of attacks on Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza.

The attack followed an 30 August strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several ministers, in the first such assault to target senior officials.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military said it intercepted two launches from Yemen, a missile and a drone, operations the Houthis claimed responsibility for later.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Qatar will continue diplomatic efforts to end Israel's war on Gaza but cautioned that it will not tolerate attacks on its territory, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the UN Security Council.

Israel's attack on Doha earlier this week was an attempt to sabotage efforts to broker a ceasefire with Hamas, he said.

"The current leaders of Israel are arrogant and they believe that they enjoy impunity," he told the 15-member council in New York.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that a deal to exchange French prisoners in Iran for an Iranian woman held in France is approaching its final stages.

"We have carried out a great deal of activity, and I can now say that we have reached the point where the exchange of the French prisoners in Iran is now approaching its final stages," Araghchi said in a televised interview, without elaborating further.

(AFP)

Israel is preparing for as many as 17 countries to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN gathering later this month, according to Israeli news outlet Yedioth Ahronoth.

France, the UK, Australia, Canada and Belgium have all declared plans to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly as part of a French-Saudi initiative push for a two-state solution.

The report did not mention which other countries could make the move.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that enriched nuclear material remained "under the rubble" of facilities damaged during the recent war with Israel.

In a televised interview, Araghchi said "all of our material is... under the rubble of the bombed facilities", adding that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was assessing the condition and accessibility of the material in order to submit a report to the country's Supreme National Security Council.

(AFP)

Hamas accused the United States on Thursday of complicity in Israel's deadly attack on its negotiators in Qatar, lambasting Israel for seeking to kill off Gaza truce talks.

Tuesday's unprecedented Israeli strikes on a Gulf state sent shockwaves through a region long shielded from conflicts and halted already floundering Gaza talks.

"This crime was... an assassination of the entire negotiation process and a deliberate targeting of the role of our mediating brothers in Qatar and Egypt," Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised statement.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Germany's government has decided to back a France-led proposal for a two-state solution but has no plans to recognise a Palestinian state, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Germany is planning to support a UN resolution on Friday adopting the declaration, led by France and Saudi Arabia, the people said.

The resolution supports the creation of a Palestinian state and a right to return for refugees.

Qatar is urging the UAE to take diplomatic measures against Israel including closing its embassy in Tel Aviv following Israel's airstrike in Doha on Tuesday, according to Haaretz.

Decisions about how to respond to the attack are expected to be taken soon, diplomatic sources told the Israeli outlet.

Abu Dhabi is said to be increasingly frustrated with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who it believes is exploiting the Abraham Accords to pursue destabilising policies in the region.

The Gulf state earlier this month threatened to exit the normalisation pact if Israel annexes Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank.

The number of people in Gaza killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday has risen to at least 53, medics tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

Of these, 39 people were killed in Gaza City as Israeli forces continued to bombard the north of the strip.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar's capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement that was agreed by all 15 members, including Israel's ally the United States.

"Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar," read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.

"Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority," it said.

(Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a controversial settlement expansion plan that would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.

"There will never be a Palestinian state. This place is ours," Netanyahu said during a visit to the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank where thousands of new housing units would be added.

"We will safeguard our heritage, our land, and our security."

Last month, the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final approval from a Defence Ministry planning commission.

(Reuters)

More than 300 former EU diplomats and officials have urged the bloc to suspend cooperation with Israel over its onslaught on Gaza.

In a letter published after the opening of the UN General Assembly, the signatories called on the EU to "immediately impose targeted sanctions on the Israeli government and suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement".

This comes a few days after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen issued her strongest statement yet against the Israeli government and recommended member states suspend part of the cooperation agreement and impose sanctions on extremist ministers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday that there would be no Palestinian state, speaking at a signing ceremony for a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

"We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us," Netanyahu said at the event in Ma'ale Adumim, an illegal Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem.

(AFP and TNA staff)

The Foreign Press Association condemned Israel on Thursday for continuing to deny independent access to foreign journalists nearly two years into the war in Gaza.

"Israel must stop killing journalists in Gaza and give the foreign press free and independent access to the territory," said the association, which has more than 350 members working for foreign media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

"This continued and institutionalised delay in the process is a mark of shame on Israel and its allies, who have too often chosen not to speak up in defence of basic press freedoms," the board of the association said in a statement.

Lebanon's cabinet granted a licence to Starlink, the Elon Musk-led firm, to provide internet distribution services in the country, the state news agency NNA said on Thursday.

The United States imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Yemen's Houthis on Thursday in what the Trump administration said was Washington's largest such action aimed at the Iran-aligned group.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it was issuing sanctions against 32 individuals and entities as well as four vessels in an effort to disrupt the Houthis' fundraising, smuggling and attack operations.

Among the targets are several China-based companies that Treasury said helped transport military-grade components, as well as other companies that help arrange for dual-use goods to be shipped to the Houthis.

The sanctions also target petroleum smugglers and Houthi-linked shipping companies, Treasury said.

Ireland will not take part in next year's Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to participate, Irish broadcaster RTE said on Thursday, arguing that doing so would be "unconscionable" because of the conflict in Gaza.

RTE said a number of EBU members had raised concerns about Israel's taking part during a meeting in July.

"RTE feels that Ireland's participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza," the broadcaster said in a statement.

"RTE is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, and the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages," it added.

Hamas said on Thursday that Israel's attack on its negotiators in Qatar was aimed at killing off Gaza ceasefire talks and accused the United States of being an "accomplice".

"This crime was... an assassination of the entire negotiation process," Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said during a televised press conference.

"We affirm that the US administration is a full accomplice in this crime," he added.

United Arab Emirates condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "hostile remarks" against Qatar, adding that any attack on a Gulf state is an attack on the Gulf's "joined security system," UAE official Afra Al Hameli said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or "bring them to justice, because if you don't, we will".

Netanyahu's warning came a day after Israel attempted to kill Hamas political leaders in an airstrike on Doha, escalating its military campaign in the Middle East and prompting a flurry of international condemnations. 

Hamas said the Israeli attack that targeted its leaders in Doha on Tuesday would not alter the Palestinian group's terms on ending the war in Gaza.

Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum, in a televised speech on Thursday, said the attack targeted its negotiation delegation while they were discussing U.S. President Trump's ceasefire proposal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

Last month, Israel approved plans to begin building the highly controversial E1 settlement between Maale Adumim and East Jerusalem, which would effectively cut the West Bank in half.

Israel's Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.

Gaza's health ministry reported that 72 deaths and 356 new injuries were admitted to hospitals over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from Israel's war in the enclave to 64,718 in addition to 163,859 injuries since October 7, 2023.

Thousands are believed to be buried beneath the rubble.

EU lawmakers on Thursday called to sanction two "extremist" Israeli ministers and curb trade ties over the war in Gaza, backing up a push from European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen.

The EU chief said Wednesday in her keynote annual address to the European Parliament that she would propose those steps - putting the ball in the court of the bloc's member states.

But it will be very difficult to get the measures through given deep divisions between the European Union's 27 countries over Israel's war in Gaza.

Italy has told Israel to respect the rights of Italians taking part in an activist flotilla that is seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, after the latest boat was attacked with incendiary devices in Tunisian waters.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told parliament on Thursday that Italy would be monitoring the flotilla and providing consular and diplomatic assistance to the 58 Italians taking part, including some lawmakers.

"Our embassy in Tel Aviv, under my instruction, talked to the Israeli authorities about the respect of the rights for all the fellow citizens who are part of the flotilla including among them several members of parliament," Tajani said. "I also called Foreign Minister (Gideon) Saar to personally make him aware of the matter."

He spoke hours before other boats participating in the flotilla were due to set sail from Siracusa, Sicily.

#GlobalSumudFlotilla Le barche siciliane arrivano a Siracusa in attesa di salpare verso Gaza pic.twitter.com/ZWjyunwlyK

— Local Team (@localteamit) September 11, 2025

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 new agency.

The Israeli army on Thursday said it struck targets belonging to Hezbollah in eastern and southern Lebanon in a series of raids.

"A short while ago, IAF aircraft attacked infrastructure inside a Hezbollah strategic weapons production and storage site in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

"The IDF also attacked Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the Zrariya area of ​​southern Lebanon," he added.

"The presence of this targeted terrorist infrastructure is a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. The IDF will continue to work to eliminate any threat to Israel."

Ryanair may not return to Israel when violence related to the Gaza war recedes, Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Thursday, saying the airline was being "messed around" by airport authorities there.

"I think there's a real possibility that we won't bother going back to Israel... when the current violence" recedes, O'Leary told journalists in Dublin.

The airline earlier this summer said it would not return to Israel until October 25 at the earliest.

O'Leary said that Ryanair objects to the fact that Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport charges it the higher rate for use of the main terminal when the cheaper low-cost terminal is closed for security reasons.

"Unless the Israelis kind of get their act together and stop messing us around, frankly, we have far more growth elsewhere in Europe," he said.

The Israeli airstrikes in Yemen that killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 130 others also caused damaged to Yemen's national museum and other historical sites in its capital city, the Houthi Ministry of Culture said Thursday.

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 called on the UN cultural agency UNESCO to condemn the attack and to intervene to help protect this historical building and its artifacts.

Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria said on Thursday that Israeli teams should be banned from sports in the same way that Russian sides broadly were in 2022 after the country's invasion of Ukraine, highlighting a "double standard".

The presence of a team named Israel-Premier Tech at the Vuelta a Espana cycling grand tour has led to huge protests in Spain, whose government has described Israel's offensive in Gaza as "a genocide".

"It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard," Alegria told Spanish radio station Cadena SER.

"Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022," she added.

"No team, no club from Russia participated in an international competition, and when the individuals participated they did it under a neutral flag and without a national anthem."

The Dutch government plans to ban imports of goods produced in Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories over Israel's plans for the West Bank and its military offensive in Gaza, the foreign minister told parliament.

David van Weel told parliament late on Wednesday he had instructed his department to draft a government decree on the import ban, saying the measure would be implemented as soon as possible.

The Netherlands is a leading global buyer of Israeli goods, but Van Weel did not say what volume of goods are currently imported from Jewish settlements.

The Saudi Fund for Development will give Syria 1.65 million barrels of crude oil, Saudi state TV reported on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia and other regional powers have been renewing ties with Syria after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, ramping up financial aid and reconstruction support as part of broader regional normalisation efforts.

Syria said Thursday that its forces dismantled a cell affiliated with Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, a key ally of ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

"Specialised units in cooperation with the general intelligence service... were able to arrest a terrorist cell belonging to the Hezbollah militia that was active" in the Damascus countryside, an interior ministry statement said, quoting a local commander.

"Preliminary investigations showed that the cell members underwent training in military camps in Lebanese territory, and were planning to carry out operations inside Syrian territory that threaten national security and stability," the statement said.

Forces seized ammunition and weapons including Grad-type rockets, launchers and anti-tank missiles, it said, adding the case was referred to the judiciary.

Norway's foreign ministry said on Thursday that it believes a Libyan coast guard vessel on August 24 fired upon a Norwegian-flagged ship, the MV Ocean Viking, which conducts migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean.

The incident had put the vessel, crew and others on board at risk, the Norwegian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested that the incident be investigated to determine what happened, and that Libyan authorities implement measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again," Norway said.

Lebanon said an Israeli strike in the country's south on Thursday killed one person, the latest raid despite a ceasefire with militant group Hezbollah.

"An Israeli enemy drone strike targeted a motorcycle on the Ain Baal-Bazouriyeh road, killing one person," the health ministry said in a statement, referring to an area in south Lebanon's Tyre district.

Footage shared online showed the aftermath of the strike.

مشاهد متداولة لغارة إسرائيلية استهدفت دراجة نارية في بلدة عين بعال بقضاء صور جنوب لبنان#نكمن_في_التفاصيل pic.twitter.com/lek94aIKnh

— Independent عربية (@IndyArabia) September 11, 2025

Two airstrikes were also reported in east Lebanon near the Syrian border. They came as French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Lebanon for talks with senior officials.

At least two Israeli airstrikes were reported Thursday in east Lebanon close to the Syrian border.

Footage shared online showed plumes of smoke in the Shaara area on the outskirts of Janta and Qousaya in the Beqaa region, in a rugged and uninhabited mountainous area, according to Alaraby TV.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

Israel continues to conduct strikes on parts of Lebanon despite the 27 November 2024 ceasefire deal. It often claims it is targeting Hezbollah weapons sites and other militant infrastructure as well as officials, vowing to stop the militant group from rebuilding itself.

الطيران الحربي الاسرائيلي يشن غارات على منطقة الشعرة في البقاع شرقي #لبنان pic.twitter.com/nUaCeBzNCH

— Joyce El Hajj (@JoyceElHajj) September 11, 2025

Turkey has started training and providing consultancy and technical support for Syria's army under an agreement signed last month, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.

Under the military cooperation accord signed between the two countries' defence ministries in August, Turkey has said it will provide Syria's armed forces with military training, weapons and logistical tools.

The source, speaking at a briefing in Ankara, also said that reports of Israel carrying out attacks against Turkish equipment stationed in Syria were false and that there were no changes to Turkey's personnel or equipment in northern Syria.

Qatar said it would hold funerals on Thursday in the capital Doha for those killed in an unprecedented Israeli strike that targeted Hamas figures in the Gulf country earlier this week.

"The Ministry of Interior announces that the funeral prayer for the martyrs of the Israeli targeting... will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, September 11, 2025, at Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, and they will be buried in the Mesaimeer Cemetery," it said in a statement on X.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza City is displacing residents, with nowhere to go.

"Israeli Military operations in Gaza City are displacing people. People have no place to go. No place is safe in Gaza. No one is safe. Ceasefire now," UNRWA wrote on X.

The Israeli army says up to 200,000 people have so far left Gaza City, located in the enclave's north. Israel has announced plans to fully occupy the territory.

Israeli Military operations in Gaza City are displacing people. People have no place to go.

No place is safe in #Gaza.

No one is safe.#Ceasefirenow pic.twitter.com/EQ1u26BuIK

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) September 11, 2025

The Qatari government has established a legal team mandated to take legal measures against the recent "unlawful and unjustified" Israeli attack on Qatar and its sovereignty, a Qatari minister has said.

"In its first meeting today, the team reviewed every available option and reaffirmed Qatar’s unwavering commitment to international law, its determination to safeguard its sovereignty, and its firm resolve to defend its rights through all legitimate and principled means," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi wrote on X on Wednesday.

The Council of Ministers has established a Legal Team mandated to take all legal measures against the recent unlawful and unjustified Israeli attack on Qatar and its sovereignty. In its first meeting today, the team reviewed every available option and reaffirmed Qatar’s… pic.twitter.com/rvJohBbKlh

— د. محمد الخليفي (@Dr_Al_Khulaifi) September 10, 2025

The Pentagon on Wednesday said it approved a security assistance package for Lebanon with an estimated value of $14.2 million.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority package would build the Lebanese Armed Forces' capability and capacity to dismantle weapons caches and military infrastructure of non-state groups, including Hezbollah, the Pentagon said.

Qatar's prime minister intensified his criticism of Israel over its attack targeting Hamas leaders in his country, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "killed any hope" of releasing hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

The comments from Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani ahead of appearing at the United Nations on Thursday underscored the wider anger among Gulf Arab countries over Israel's strike, which killed at least six people.

"I was meeting one of the hostage’s families the morning of the attack," Sheikh Mohammed told CNN in an interview aired late Wednesday. “They are counting on this (ceasefire) mediation, they have no other hope for that.”

Sheikh Mohammed added: “I think that what Netanyahu has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those hostages."

Israel's army said it had intercepted a missile on Thursday fired from Yemen, a day after Israeli forces carried out air strikes there that killed 35 people and wounded more than 130.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted," Israel's army said on Telegram.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the missile attack on Israel, but the Houthi rebels have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

The Houthi armed forces' media operation in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, was hit by Israel Wednesday, along with a Houthi complex in Jawf province, the group said.

Thirty-five people died and 131 were wounded, Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi posted on X, adding it was not a final toll. The toll included 28 dead and 113 wounded in Sanaa, and seven dead and 18 wounded in Jawf, which borders Saudi Arabia, Alasbahi said.