The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.

Without mentioning US President Donald Trump, a lawmaker from the far-right Religious Zionism party calls for Israel to go ahead with annexing the West Bank before the next elections are held in defiance of the American leader.

“The Jewish people’s sovereignty over the Jewish homeland does not depend on any external source. Even one as loving and friendly as can be,” MK Zvi Sukkot writes on X.

“Faced with European countries’ insane recognition of a Palestinian terror state, we must apply sovereignty [over the West Bank] already in this term,” he adds.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump declares that he “will not allow Israel will to annex the West Bank,” in his first-ever public comments on the matter.

“It’s not gonna happen,” he stresses when asked to confirm reports that he had assured Arab and Muslim leaders of the stance during a multilateral meeting on Tuesday on the UN General Assembly sidelines.

Trump says he spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the issue.

“There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now,” the US president adds.

BREAKING: Trump:

I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. No, I will not allow, not going to happen.

It’s been enough, it’s time to stop now. pic.twitter.com/SwZjuRqE9j

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 25, 2025

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir congratulates former general David Zini on his candidacy for Shin Bet chief being approved by a senior vetting panel, the military says.

In a call with Zini this evening, Zamir says he is “confident that Zini will bring his personal abilities, leadership and the experience he has gained as a combat commander in the IDF also to Shin Bet,” according to an IDF readout.

Additionally, Zamir noted that “the cooperation between the organizations is critical to the security of the state and that the IDF, and he personally, will stand behind him as much as necessary for him to succeed in his position.”

Zini also thanked Zamir for the years of service in the IDF under his command, the military says, adding that the pair agreed to meet soon.

Zini had been dismissed from the military by Zamir for holding talks regarding the Shin Bet chief role with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind his back.

Spain announced last week that it would cancel a $207 million deal to purchase the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Litening 5 system, financial newspaper Globes reports, making it the third major contract that the Spanish government has canceled with Israeli arms companies.

The cancellation comes after Madrid approved a total arms embargo on Israel as part of a package of measures aimed at halting what Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called “the genocide in Gaza.”

The decree prohibits all exports to Israel of defense material and dual-use products or technologies, and the import of such equipment to Spain.

Rafael describes the Litening advanced targeting pod as being “the world’s most widely used, combat-proven targeting and navigation pod,” which excels at what it does due to its target detection, recognition and identification sensors.

Last month, Rafael signed a  €358 million ($415 million) deal with the German Air Force for advanced targeting technology for fighter aircraft, including 90 Litening 5 targeting pods.

The deal for the Litening 5 system is the third such deal that Spain has reneged on in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, it canceled a contract worth nearly $825 million for the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems, derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems.

It also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at $337.5 million, was first reported by the press in June.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds his first meeting with a world leader since landing in New York for his United Nations General Assembly address with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.

Netanyahu praises Pena for his country’s “consistent opposition to anti-Israel bias at the UN, the International Criminal Court and other international bodies,” reads a statement from Netanyahu’s office.

The two “discussed expanding cooperation between Israel and Paraguay in a range of fields, including security, technology, energy and more,” according to the statement.

Netanyahu thanks Peña for his “unwavering” support of Israel and for his “firm stance” against antisemitism and terrorism, “expressed among other things through Paraguay’s designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations,” the statement adds.

Peña also expressed his staunch support of Israel by moving Paraguay’s embassy to Jerusalem last year.

A ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen at Israel a short while ago was intercepted by air defenses, the military says.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries. Sirens had sounded across central Israel.

The missile fire comes hours after the IDF struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Iran-backed group’s previous attacks on Israel.

Sirens sound in central Israel following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen.

The IDF says it is working to shoot down the projectile.

The attack comes hours after the IDF struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Iran-backed group’s previous attacks on Israel.

A ballistic missile has been launched from Yemen at Israel, the military says.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

The Senior Appointments Advisory Committee has approved the candidacy of former IDF general David Zini for the director of the Shin Bet security agency, the committee says in a statement, effectively guaranteeing his appointment to the position.

With the committee’s approval, the cabinet can now vote to appoint Zini, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pick, to the post.

A six-page letter signed by retired Supreme Court president and committee chairman Asher Grunis and two senior committee members explains that there was no disqualifying conflict of interest in Zini’s appointment.

The committee rejects the claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was barred from proposing a candidate because the Shin Bet was actively investigating his advisors for their ties to Qatar.

It also finds that although Netanyahu offering the position to Zini in his car without first consulting the IDF chief of staff violated custom, it did not constitute “a breach of integrity.”

The committee also rejected claims that statements by Zini and his family member rendered him unqualified for the position.

The committee acknowledges that there were cases in which Netanyahu “asked candidates for head of the Shin Bet to carry out actions not befitting a democratic system of government. However, says the committee, the authority to propose a candidate rests with the prime minister.

“The committee unanimously found no ethical or conflict-of-interest barrier to appointing Major General David Zini as Head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and confirmed that the Prime Minister is legally entitled to propose him,” concludes the committee.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Adviser Ron Dermer are meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff today at their hotel in New York to discuss US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and free the hostages, Channel 13 reports.

Trump’s team is pushing Netanyahu to agree to Trump’s plan, according to Channel 12. Trump presented his plan to eight Arab and Muslim leaders on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was a key player in Trump’s 2020 Deal of the Century peace plan and the Abraham Accords, is heavily involved in creating the framework.

“Continuing the war will isolate Israel even further, but accepting the plan and ending the war will extricate Israel from isolation and enable progress in more positive directions in the region, with US backing,” a US source tells Channel 12.

However, Netanyahu is uncomfortable with the fact that Trump’s plan does not require Hamas to disarm and Gaza to be demilitarized as conditions for the war ending, but only post-war, reports Channel 12. He also does not like the provision that the new mechanism for governing Gaza will operate under the authority of the UN Security Council, Channel 12 reports.

The framework also includes the Palestinian Authority running parts of the Gaza Strip, the Kan public broadcaster reports. Sources close to Netanyahu tell the outlet that Israel will likely have to consent to the PA controlling at least some of the Strip after the war, something the premier has insisted he will not allow to happen.

Meanwhile, reports Channel 12, the Palestinian representatives to the UN are working to arrange a walkout during Netanyahu’s speech tomorrow, which they hope will be joined by Arab, African and even some European countries.

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered at a scenic overlook on Beirut’s coast this evening and projected images of the group’s former longtime leader of the Iran-backed terror group and his successor on the iconic arched Raouche rock to commemorate their deaths in Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago.

The move came despite an apparent attempt by Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to halt the planned light show.

Salam issued a circular earlier this week pointing to “the recent recurrence of the exploitation of national monuments for propaganda purposes and to hold activities in which partisan and political slogans are raised.”

He directed public bodies to “strictly prohibit the use of public land and sea areas, archaeological and tourist landmarks, or those that bear a unifying national symbolism before obtaining the necessary licenses and permits from the relevant authorities.”

Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of the terror group, was killed in a series of massive Israeli strikes on a site in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, 2024, that destroyed an entire block under which Nasrallah was meeting with an Iranian general and some of his top military commanders.

Days later, Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in another series of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Salam says in a post on X that a gathering permit was issued by the governor of Beirut to the organizers of the demonstration, but “clearly stipulated that the Raouche rocks shall not be illuminated at all, whether from land, sea, or air, and no light images shall be broadcast on them.”

He says he has asked the ministers of interior, justice and defense to take “appropriate measures, including arresting the perpetrators and referring them for investigation” and that the incident “negatively impacted [Hezbollah’s] credibility in dealing with the logic of the state and its institutions.”

A Hezbollah representative, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group’s procedures, confirms that the organizers had only requested permission for the gathering.

He says it was unclear which agency had authority to give permission for the light show on the rock and that they considered it was covered by “freedom of expression” under Lebanon’s constitution.

The event is a show of force by the Shiite terror group and political party, which suffered serious blows in last year’s war with Israel and has been under domestic and international pressure to give up its remaining arsenal since then.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned senior US military officers from around the world to a meeting in Quantico, Virginia, next week, five officials tell Reuters, a rare gathering of US military leadership in one location.

It is not clear why Hegseth has ordered the generals and admirals to meet in one place on such short notice, and two of the officials say this has created uncertainty among the expected attendees.

Senior military officials, in some cases, command thousands of troops. Most have detailed schedules weeks in advance, which have now been upended.

“People are scrambling to change their plans and see if they have to attend,” one US official says, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

It is unclear how many officials will actually attend the event, but it is rare to have so many senior officials in the same room at the same time.

Asked for comment, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell says only: “The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week.” Parnell’s office does not respond to questions about the number of officers, the purpose of the meeting or why Hegseth called so abruptly.

Trump has ordered the department to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress.

The US has troops around the world, including in distant locations like South Korea, Japan and across the Middle East– which are commanded by two, three and four-star generals and admirals.

The reason for the meeting is “probably more mundane than people think… (but) the lack of clarity isn’t helping,” the official says.

The members of the European Broadcasting Union are slated to hold a vote in early November to decide whether Israel should be allowed to participate in the 2026 Eurovision, slated to be held in Vienna, as a growing chorus of countries calls for the Jewish state to be kicked out due to the ongoing war in Gaza.

A letter sent today by the EBU to its members, first published by the Austrian Krone newspaper, notes an “unprecedented diversity of views” on the topic of Israel’s participation, after EBU vice president Petr Dvorak held discussions on the issue with member broadcasters over the past two months. Following those discussions, the EBU “recognized that it would not be possible to reach a consensual position on KAN’s participation,” the letter reads.

Since it has “never faced a divisive situation like this before,” the letter continues, the EBU board members “agreed that this question merited a broader democratic basis for a decision, whereby all members should be given a voice,” scheduling such a vote for early November, ahead of a December deadline for countries to determine their participation.

In response, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster issues a statement expressing “hope that the Eurovision Song Contest will continue to maintain its cultural and apolitical character.” It notes that the competition has “stood as a symbol of unity, solidarity and fellowship,” and warns that booting Israel from the contest “could be a step with wide-ranging implications,” without elaborating.

Kan points out that the EBU rules “clearly state that extraordinary decisions of this type require a majority of no less than 75% of the participants in the General Assembly.”

Asked by The Times of Israel if a supermajority of its 68 members would be required to kick Israel out of the contest, the EBU confirmed an online vote scheduled for early November but said it had “nothing further to add at this time.”

Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland have all said that they will drop out of next year’s Eurovision if Israel is allowed to compete, and a number of other countries have threatened to follow suit. France, Germany, Austria and Australia have rejected the boycott calls.

An Israeli rights group says a prominent Gaza doctor and hospital director held in an Israeli jail has faced harsh mistreatment and medical neglect, warning his health is deteriorating.

Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI) says Hossam Abu Safiyeh, head of Kamal Adwan Hospital until last year, was being kept in “harsh detention conditions” without legal proceedings.

Abu Safiyeh was detained after Israeli troops raided his hospital in December 2024.

The army later said he was suspected of “being a Hamas operative,” but has informed him of no charges, according to the group.

PHRI says its lawyer visited him today at Ofer prison, north of Jerusalem in the West Bank, reporting that he had lost around 25 kilograms (55 pounds) since his arrest due to insufficient food.

The group also says he has been subjected to violence during cell searches and was denied treatment for scabies despite repeated requests.

Human rights groups have repeatedly warned of difficult conditions in Israeli jails, including scabies outbreaks. Several NGOs petitioned Israel’s supreme court last year seeking to stop the spread of the contagious skin condition in jails.

PHRI further said that since March, Abu Safiyeh “has not been brought before a judge, has not been interrogated, and has received no information about the grounds for his detention.”

Israel’s prison service has not responded to an AFP request for comment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously called for the “immediate release” of the hospital director.

Rights group Amnesty International had echoed the call, saying Abu Safiyeh had been the “voice of Gaza’s decimated health sector.”

Microsoft has terminated the Israeli military’s main signals intelligence unit’s access to some of its services, after it had allegedly used the Azure cloud platform for expansive surveillance of Palestinians, the Guardian reports.

According to the British newspaper, Microsoft told Israeli officials last week that the IDF’s Unit 8200 had “violated the company’s terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data” on Azure.

A report last month conducted by the Guardian and the far-left activist outlet 972 Magazine said Microsoft’s Azure software was used by Unit 8200 to store countless recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In response to that report, Microsoft ordered an external review of its relationship with Unit 8200. According to the Guardian, the findings have led Microsoft to cancel the unit’s access to “some of its cloud storage and AI services.”

The Guardian adds that the decision to cut some of the Azure services to Unit 8200 has not affected Microsoft’s wider relationship with the IDF, and the Israeli military will retain access to other services.

There is no official comment from Microsoft or the IDF in response to the report.

Military officials say that Unit 8200 had prepared ahead of time and backed up its data before Microsoft terminated its access to the cloud services, and therefore, no information was lost.

NEW YORK — A senior Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel that there is mounting concern in the Arab world and in Ramallah that Israel will prevent Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from leaving or returning to the West Bank on his next trip abroad following the decisions by Western states to recognize Palestine.

The diplomat says that Israel has, in recent months, been dragging its feet with authorizations for Abbas to travel out of the West Bank, waiting until the last minute to grant approval, when in the past, the green light would come several days in advance.

The Arab diplomat says that such a move would be met with a “firm response” from neighboring Arab countries.

“Such a step would only further isolate Israel,” the diplomat says.

Earlier today, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel was considering annexing West Bank territory and sanctioning PA leaders, including by limiting their freedom of movement, in response to the Western recognitions of a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of serious procedural failings after she seemingly sided with petitioners to the High Court of Justice calling for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to be removed from office earlier this month.

In a submission to the High Court, Netanyahu, through his attorneys, says Baharav-Miara failed to update him as to her newly adopted position that Ben Gvir could not remain in office, arguing that as the only official with authority to fire a minister, the attorney general should have spoken to the prime minister about her concerns instead of letting him find out through reading her submission to the court.

Netanyahu also insists that the court has no authority to order Ben Gvir to be removed from office, claiming such authority lies only with the prime minister and that if there are constitutional problems with decisions by a minister, they can be reviewed individually by the court.

“The conduct of the attorney general is unacceptable,” write Netanyahu’s lawyers, and lambast Baharav-Miara for asking the court to hold an urgent hearing over the petitions for Ben Gvir’s dismissal without speaking first with the prime minister.

“It is being requested in this case that the attorney general [be able to] limit the prime minister’s discretion over firing a minister, even though the Basic Law does not even hint about granting any authority in this matter to the attorney general,” Netanyahu’s lawyers continue regarding the substance of the petition.

They also asserted that there was “no basis” to the petitioners’ claims that the remedy for decisions and actions taken by Ben Gvir in office — which the petitioners argue have undermined the independence of the police — is having the High Court order him removed from office.

US President Donald Trump says he will make a “major announcement” on Thursday concerning Syria, but does not elaborate on what it would be.

“I took sanctions off in order to let them breathe because those sanctions were very strong, but I think we should have a major announcement today,” Trump says in response to a question on Syria from a reporter at the White House.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar derides Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ virtual speech at the UN General Assembly — in which Abbas asserted the PA’s readiness to take over Gaza and vowed Palestinians would “not leave [their] land” — claiming that the Palestinian leader has failed to combat terrorism and declaring that “Israel will not be deceived” by his words.

Sa’ar dismisses Abbas’s expressed intent in the speech for the Palestinian Authority to govern a postwar Gaza that offers no role to Hamas, writing in a post on X that Abbas “said that he is ready to receive the Gaza Strip, which he so easily lost to Hamas in 2007. How nice of him.”

Sa’ar accuses Abbas of failing to “fight terrorism”, despite this being “the commitment on which the Palestinian Authority was founded.”

“To the West, he sells fine words. But his own people are meant to draw conclusions from the key he wears on his suit lapel,” Sa’ar adds, calling the pin “the symbol for flooding Israel with the descendants of those Arabs who left in 1948 — and for its destruction.”

“Israel will not be deceived once again,” warns Sa’ar.

Sa’ar reiterates criticism from the Foreign Ministry earlier this week, which also pointed to Abbas’s pin when he addressed a UN conference by video on Monday.

Descendants of Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes during Israel’s 1947-1949 War of Independence sometimes wear or display keys as a symbol of their yearning to return to those homes, with the so-called right of return once seen as a major sticking point in long-moribund efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian accommodation.

Israel argues that allowing Palestinians to “return” to what is now Israel would result in an influx of millions that would threaten Israel’s character as a majority Jewish state, and demands that the children and grandchildren of those who left should not be recognized as refugees.

US President Donald Trump says “we’re close to getting some kind of deal done” in Gaza after his “great” multilateral meeting on Wednesday on the UN General Assembly sidelines with the leaders of eight Arab and Muslim countries on the issue.

Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office during the public portion of his sit-down with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that “a lot was determined in that [Wednesday] meeting” during which Trump presented a 21-point plan for ending the war in Gaza and establishing a non-Hamas body to govern the Strip.

“I have to meet with Israel. They know what I want. I think we can get that one done. I hope we can get that done. A lot of people are dying,” Trump says.

“We want to get the hostages back,” Trump continues. “We want them all back at one time.”

Trump says steps regarding Gaza could be taken “today,” without elaborating.

Earlier today, Israeli troops destroyed a Hamas position deep in Gaza City, where numerous weapons and stolen humanitarian aid were found, the IDF says.

The “fighting compound,” that the military says had been manned by Hamas operatives, was located by troops of the 401st Armored Brigade.

Inside the structure, the soldiers found numerous weapons, including 20 explosive devices, dozens of grenades and firearms, along with boxes of aid that had been stolen, and a tunnel connecting several apartments used by Hamas in the area, according to the IDF.

The Israeli Navy is ready to intercept an activist mission sailing dozens of boats to Gaza to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Strip, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press conference.

“We are following this flotilla; we have experience from the past, but this one is different, with dozens of vessels,” Defrin says in response to a question.

He says the Navy is “ready to defend Israel’s borders at sea. We are prepared, and the Navy is prepared.”

“This flotilla, we........

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