Tuesday 14 Av – Trump: ‘Very deep’ talks with Iran will be done quickly, if they fail we’ll resume ‘very strong military action’ – Gaza death notices show some so-called health workers were operating for terror groups & more…

US President Donald Trump says he paused military strikes on Iran to give diplomacy another chance but is prepared to authorize another major attack if the talks fail.

“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump says.

Trump insists that he’s not giving much time to talks, even though he has said that before and has allowed them to drag out an additional week.

“Either it goes fast or not at all,” he claims.

Explaining his decision to hold off on strikes — which was widely reported to have been made due to warnings from his generals that they were no longer effective and because the US is running out of missile interceptors — Trump says: “All of the people that deal with Iran asked me: ‘Don’t fire.’”

Asked what he will discuss during tomorrow’s meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he says: “I am going to talk to Bibi about the fact that if I weren’t president, Iran would have had nuclear weapons by now and Israel would have been destroyed.”

The mayor of Bordeaux has said he is bracing for “all eventualities”, as one of multiple wildfires burning in France is now 15km (nine miles) from the south-western city.

“We are preparing to accommodate a large number of people should further evacuations be ordered,” said Thomas Cazenave.

President Emmanuel Macron, visiting the fire-ravaged area in the Gironde region, said the country was facing a “completely unprecedented wildfire” – the “toughest since World War Two”.

Some 220,000 people have been evacuated in France and more than 100,000 in Spain, where fires are burning “uncontrolled” west of Madrid.

Another intense heatwave on Tuesday could further hamper firefighting efforts.

Macron said a smaller fire in the Landes region had been contained, but the fight continued in neighbouring Gironde.

While firefighters had made progress on Monday, improving the situation compared to 24 hours before, he warned that “temperatures are set to rise again, the wind is still present, and therefore we must remain humble”.

Earlier, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had said the fire “has a life of its own”.

Jerome Steffe, the mayor of Cestas, a town south of Bordeaux, said this “will be the fire of the century”.

He described how 17,000 residents were evacuated from his town during the night when the fire swelled two days ago. So far, he said, the region has seen 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) of land burned and 240 houses destroyed.

“In my city the situation is really catastrophic,” he added.

And although the fire is no longer moving as quickly, he said his teams have “won only a small battle” and emphasised that the risk remains from flying embers or a sudden change in wind direction.

“We put all our energy into creating protective firebreaks,” he explained, but admitted “we are all scared in front of this situation.”

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned the country “is going through an unprecedented fire season”, with 116,085 hectares (286,852 acres) burned and 13,566 fire starts recorded since January.

The minister revealed in a post that nine out of 10 fires “are human-caused and most arise from carelessness: a cigarette butt, a barbecue, work carried out without precaution”.

But he also said that not all these fires are accidents and some are deliberately set, adding that since 6 July, 162 arrests have taken place.

Wildfires are also burning in several other French regions, including Var and Landes, and also in Haute-Corse on the island of Corsica.

On September 8, 2025, about a month before fighting in Gaza halted, Mohammed Akram al-Kafarna was killed in an Israeli strike.

Following his death, the Palestinian Nurses and Midwives Syndicate mourned al-Kafarna as the Gaza head of the medical association.

The International Council of Nurses, a Geneva-based body that calls itself “the global voice of nursing,” wrote in a condolence letter that it was “deeply saddened by the death of Dr. Mohammed Akram al-Kafarna, one of the leaders of the Palestinian nursing profession in Gaza.”

He was “among the hundreds of nurses and healthcare workers who have tragically lost their lives during the conflict,” the ICN added, according to a copy of the letter.

But al-Kafarna was no Florence Nightingale. According to Hamas, alongside his medical work, al-Kafarna was also a fighter in the Nidal Nasser Battalion in Beit Hanoun, part of its Northern Gaza Brigade.

In a picture published by Hamas, al-Kafarna is seen in full military gear, holding a loaded rifle.

His name is one of scores published by Hamas and its fellow Gazan terror group, Islamic Jihad, in recent months, belatedly identifying their many fighters killed during the two years of war sparked by the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.

Among the names are not only those previously identified as journalists and athletes, but also healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and hospital employees.

Mediators believe they are close to a breakthrough that would revive the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran last month, but await a final decision from President Donald Trump after his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, an Arab official and a second source familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.

Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Qatar have been discussing a proposal that would clarify disagreements regarding operations of the Strait of Hormuz, the two sources say. Iran maintains that the MOU granted it a level of control over the strait, while the US has argued otherwise.

The proposal being advanced by the mediators aims to bridge those gaps so that the US and Iran can begin talks through the MOU, whose 60-day timeline is already set to expire next month.

Iran and Oman — which both are situated along the strait — have given a green light to the mediators’ proposal, and it now awaits approval from Trump, the two sources say, adding that the White House is holding off on making a decision until after the president’s meeting with Netanyahu.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani refuses to answer a question about the timeline of his statement last week acknowledging that the US city does not have the authority to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mamdani had promised to arrest Netanyahu while he was a candidate for mayor more than a year ago.

He said on July 18 that he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s legal department about options for potentially arresting Netanyahu.

Days later, Mamdani released a video statement acknowledging that the city could not arrest the premier. The video included a litany of allegations against Israeli forces in Gaza.

Further reporting found that when Mamdani said he was in a conversation with the legal department about the arrest, he had already been told by his lawyers that he had no authority to arrest Netanyahu.

Asked about the discrepancy during a press conference, Mamdani refuses to answer.

“I’ve said all I have to say on that topic,” Mamdani says.

Mamdani also declines to engage with Netanyahu’s accusation that he was “fomenting hate” by calling for the arrest.

“I’m not interested in getting into a back-and-forth with Prime Minister Netanyahu. What I will say is that here in New York City, one of my top priorities is keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe, keeping every single New Yorker safe,” Mamdani says.

He declines to say if he spoke to US President Donald Trump about the threat to arrest Netanyahu. Trump had publicly opposed the arrest.

Between 10 and 12 Sifrei Torah were stolen overnight from the CCL Jewish community center and Shul in Levallois-Perret, a suburb immediately outside Paris.

According to initial information, two masked suspects broke into the building, apparently through the roof, and stole the Sifrei Torah within a short period before fleeing.

After the break-in was discovered, members of France’s Jewish Community Protection Service, the SPCJ, arrived and conducted a thorough search of the building to ensure there was no additional threat. Police bomb-disposal technicians later examined the site in accordance with security procedures.

French police are continuing to investigate, gathering testimony and reviewing security-camera footage. Investigators are also examining a vehicle suspected of being connected to the theft.

The SPCJ’s initial assessment is that the burglary was planned in advance. The suspects may have conducted surveillance beforehand and may have been familiar with the building and its access routes. Authorities stressed that all possibilities remain under investigation and that no final motive has been established.

For the UK Jewish Orthodox Community
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Erev Shabbos

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