Latest / Israel Today: Ongoing War Report / Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - September 3, 2026, 09 AM Eastern

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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - September 3, 2026, 09 AM Eastern · Israel Today: Ongoing War Report

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Israel Today ongoing war report. I'm Noah Levi.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: We have critical updates today on regional tensions, particularly concerning Iran,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: alongside important developments within Israel and the Palestinian territories. Defence
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Minister Israel Katz issued a stark warning on Thursday, declaring
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: that any Iranian attack on Israel would effectively free the
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  Speaker 1: IDF from any restrictions. Speaking ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday,
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  Speaker 1: Katz threatened, We will destroy all national, military and civilian
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  Speaker 1: infrastructure in Iran, including energy infrastructure. We will return Iran
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: to the Stone Age. He also claimed Israel has previously
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  Speaker 1: attacked them with force, destroying their nuclear programme and severely
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  Speaker 1: damaging strategic capabilities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had similarly warned
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday that an attack by Iran would be one
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  Speaker 1: of their last decisions. noting that Iran refrains from attacking
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  Speaker 1: Israel directly because they already know the consequences. Meanwhile, in
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  Speaker 1: the Palestinian territories, questions are mounting over whether Palestinian Authority
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: President Mahmoud Abbas will again postpone the long-delayed Palestinian Legislative
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  Speaker 1: Council elections. These elections have an expired mandate of 16 years.
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  Speaker 1: According to expert analysts and reports in Arab diaspora media,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: senior Fatah officials, including Deputy Chairman Hossein al-Sheikh, are reportedly
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  Speaker 1: pushing Abbas to postpone, citing difficulties in holding elections in
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  Speaker 1: Gaza and East Jerusalem. However, European officials are urging the
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  Speaker 1: elections to proceed. Yoni Ben Menashem, a senior researcher at
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  Speaker 1: the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs, noted that
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  Speaker 1: these elections could become a referendum on the PA's unpopular
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  Speaker 1: and widely regarded corrupt leadership, and that Hamas, through potential
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  Speaker 1: alliances with figures like Mohamed Dahlan, could seize significant political power.
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  Speaker 1: Israeli authorities have justified their actions in removing UNRWA from
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  Speaker 1: a former compound in Jerusalem. They stated the agency functioned
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  Speaker 1: as an active arm of the Hamas terrorist organisation, citing
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  Speaker 1: employee participation in the October 7 massacre and Hamas operations
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  Speaker 1: from UNRWA facilities. This move has drawn condemnation from UN
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  Speaker 1: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a UN spokesperson, as well as
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  Speaker 1: several European foreign ministers. Israel maintained that the property is
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  Speaker 1: not owned by the United Nations and that UNRWA lacks
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  Speaker 1: legal authority to operate there following the termination of an agreement.
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  Speaker 1: In parallel efforts with Lebanon, Israel is set to release
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  Speaker 1: four or five Lebanese detainees on Thursday as a gesture
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  Speaker 1: to the Lebanese government, according to an Israeli source speaking
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  Speaker 1: to the Jerusalem Post. This follows a similar release of
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  Speaker 1: five detainees last year. Additionally, Prime Minister Netanyahu's office announced
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  Speaker 1: that he has instructed efforts to locate and return the
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  Speaker 1: bodies of Lebanese Jewish community leaders, who were kidnapped and
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  Speaker 1: murdered by terrorist organisations in the mid-1980s, as part of
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  Speaker 1: ongoing negotiations. Lebanese channels also reported that Israel will transfer
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: a 20-year-old prisoner, Malik Kamel Ghazi, to Lebanon via the
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  Speaker 1: Nakara crossing as a goodwill gesture. Ghazi had gone missing
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  Speaker 1: in late 2025 and was later confirmed abducted and transferred
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  Speaker 1: to Israel. Turning to economic pressures within Iran, university professors
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  Speaker 1: there have threatened to strike and suspend academic activity nationwide
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  Speaker 1: if their wages remain unpaid. The Iran Academic Faculty Trade
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  Speaker 1: Union has given the government until September 22 to make
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  Speaker 1: outstanding payments, with a potential strike beginning on October 1.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: The union warned that continued neglect of professors' financial needs
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  Speaker 1: could worsen Iran's brain drain and damage its higher education system.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: especially as the country faces ongoing economic hardship exacerbated by war,
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  Speaker 1: sanctions and internal instability. Domestically, a notable political exchange occurred
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: regarding military enlistment. Shah's leader Aryeh Deri claimed in a
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: podcast interview that the IDF doesn't want Haredi soldiers and
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  Speaker 1: that the idea of ultra-Orthodox soldiers gives the IDF a
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  Speaker 1: very big headache. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett strongly refuted
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  Speaker 1: these comments, stating that Deri is harming IDF soldiers. and
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  Speaker 1: that the IDF is desperate for soldiers, accusing Derry of
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  Speaker 1: lying and making excuses. Bennett also commented on recent remarks
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  Speaker 1: by Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the events of October 7.
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  Speaker 1: An article in the Jerusalem Post highlights a perceived oversight
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  Speaker 1: in Israeli politics, suggesting the political establishment has largely ignored
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Aliyah from the English-speaking community, despite their significant contributions as
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  Speaker 1: professionals and public figures. The report notes that large political parties,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: rarely offer genuinely competitive positions for immigrants on their electoral lists,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: and that New Olim often face bureaucratic hurdles when trying
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: to establish their lives in Israel. The piece calls for
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: greater attention to this demographic, which continues to grow with
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: thousands of North American immigrants making aliyah annually. And in
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: party politics, reports from telegram channels indicate shifts within the
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Yes Atid party. It is noted that Yair Lapid is
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  Speaker 1: now the sole remaining active politician from the party's original founders,
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  Speaker 1: in 2013. Additionally, MK Karin Elhara is described as another
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  Speaker 1: defection from the party. Finally, a report from Telegram channels
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  Speaker 1: details an incident in Acre, where two young men were
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  Speaker 1: arrested on suspicion of assaulting a bereaved father from Haifa.
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  Speaker 1: The father, who lost his daughter at the Nova Festival massacre,
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  Speaker 1: was reportedly attacked following a dispute involving dogs. Police stated
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  Speaker 1: the man sustained injuries in the incident. I'm Noah Levi.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Israel Today ongoing war report.
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  Speaker 1: Stay safe and informed. Keep in mind that this AI-generated
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  Speaker 1: report may contain occasional inaccuracies, so consult multiple sources for
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  Speaker 1: a comprehensive view.