The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they happen.
Trump to hold White House meeting on ‘comprehensive plan’ for managing post-war Gaza
US President Donald Trump will chair a “large meeting” at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the “comprehensive plan” that the administration is putting together for the post-war management of Gaza, his special envoy Steve Witkoff announces.
This appears to be the first time that Witkoff has revealed the existence of a US plan for the so-called day after, as Washington has largely deferred on the issue to its Arab allies in the region since Trump’s remarks in February on his vision to take over Gaza and permanently relocate its residents. While Israel welcomed the idea, it was roundly rejected by US partners in the region who Trump hoped would be willing to take in Palestinian refugees.
“Many people are going to see how robust it is and how well meaning it is, and it reflects President Trump’s humanitarian motives,” Witkoff says in a Fox News interview, without elaborating further.
Last month, Trump made headlines when he said he’d be unveiling a new aid plan for Gaza. The White House said the plan would be announced shortly thereafter but never ended up following through. Ultimately, the State Department indicated that the administration would suffice with increasing the number of distribution sites being operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation from three to 16. That expansion has yet to take place however and the US has only transferred half of the $30 million pledged for the project, which will likely cost much more.
Reuters and AP journalists killed in Gaza hospital strike weren’t ‘a target,’ says IDF spokesman
Two journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press who were killed in an Israeli attack on a Gaza hospital were not “a target of the strike,” a military spokesperson tells Reuters, adding the army chief had ordered a further inquiry into how the decision to strike the hospital was made.
Israeli forces struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people including journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other outlets.
“We can confirm that the Reuters and AP journalists were not a target of the strike,” military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani tells Reuters. Three other journalists were also killed in the strike.
Using its own camera equipment, Reuters has frequently broadcast a feed from Nasser hospital during the Gaza war. For the past several weeks the news agency had been delivering daily feeds from the hospital position that was hit.
At the moment of the initial Israeli strike on Monday, the Reuters live video feed, which cameraman Hussam al-Masri had been operating, suddenly shut down. Masri was killed in the attack.
None of the five journalists were among the six alleged Palestinian terror operatives that the Israeli military named in a written statement, released on Tuesday. The statement included photos of six individuals who were killed, including alleged members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
“At the same time, the chief of the general staff regrets any harm caused to civilians,” the statement says, adding that the Israeli military directs its activities solely toward military targets.
The written Israeli military statement identifies what it calls “several gaps” that Israel’s chief of the general staff had instructed be further examined:
“Firstly, a further examination of the authorization process prior to the strike, including the ammunition approved for the strike and the timing of the authorization.
“Secondly, an examination of the decision-making process in the field.”
Hamas meanwhile slams an Israeli statement saying the strike was aimed at a camera operated by the terrorist group, claiming the accusation is “baseless.”
Israel “attempted to justify this crime by fabricating a false claim that it had targeted a ‘camera’ belonging to resistance elements — an allegation that is baseless, lacking any evidence, and merely aimed at evading legal and moral responsibility for a full-fledged massacre,” Hamas says in a statement.
Hamas also denies that any of the Palestinians killed in the attack were terror operatives. Its government media office says in a statement that one of the six Palestinians who Israel identified as terrorists was killed in al-Mawasi some distance from the hospital, and another was killed elsewhere at a different time.
The Hamas statement doesn’t clarify whether the two who were killed elsewhere were also civilians.
Syrian state TV reports 6 soldiers killed in Israeli drone strike near Damascus
Six Syrian soldiers were killed in Israeli drone strikes in the Damascus countryside, state-run El Ekhbariya TV reports.
‘It began in Gaza and will end in Gaza,’ Netanyahu says at event celebrating outpost legalization
Speaking after a security cabinet meeting on Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says cryptically, “It began in Gaza and it will end in Gaza.”
“We will not leave those monsters there; we will free all our hostages; we will ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” says Netanyahu at a Jerusalem event celebrating the legalization of outposts in the Binyamin Regional Council.
He boasts that his government is blocking the creation of a Palestinian state.
“I said we would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state – and we are doing that, together,” he says. “I said we would build and hold on to parts of our land, our homeland – and we are doing that.”
Jerusalem church leaders discuss local Christians’ issues with US Senators who back arms embargo on Israel
Jerusalem Church leaders met Tuesday with US Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, two progressive Democrats, at the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, according to a statement from the patriarchate.
Patriarch Theophilos III, together with the leaders of the Armenian, Franciscan, Latin, and Anglican Churches, shared the concerns of the Christian communities in the region, including their grave distress over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the wellbeing of Christians in the Strip, the plight of Christians in the West Bank and issue related to tax disputes over Christian properties in Israel with the countries authorities.
Van Hollen and Merkley are among senators who have recently supported resolutions aimed at blocking arms sales to Israel.
According to Palestinian news agency WAFA, Van Hollen and Merkley also met Tuesday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his deputy Hussein al-Sheikh in Ramallah.
In first, Netanyahu says he recognizes the Armenian genocide
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says for the first time that he recognizes the genocide carried out by Ottoman Empire against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in the early 20th century.
Asked by Patrick Bet David on his podcast why Israel doesn’t recognize the Armenian genocide, Netanyahu says, “I think we have. I think the Knesset passed a resolution to that effect,” though no such legislation has been passed into law.
Pressed on why no Israeli prime minister has, Netanyahu responds, “I just did. Here you go.”
BREAKING!
Prime Minister @Netanyahu OFFICIALLY recognizes the Armenian, Assyrian & Greek genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire. pic.twitter.com/fLtsr41YRy
— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) August 26, 2025
Israel has refrained from recognizing the genocide over fears it could harm its relationship with Turkey — the successor state to the Ottoman Empire — which hotly denies any such genocide occurred.
Ties with Turkey are at a nadir, with diplomatic ties largely suspended and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regularly comparing Israel to Nazis over the war in Gaza.