Responding to Trump’s ‘chess game’ comments, Iran asserts they are ‘professional players’
Tehran says Iranians have shown “they are professional chess players” in response to remarks by US President Donald Trump comparing his dealings with Iran to the board game.
Trump yesterday signaled he was prepared to let economic pressure mount against Iran, apparently backing away from more military strikes after Tehran issued a list of demands for opening the Strait of Hormuz.
“Lights out or lights on, Iranians showed they are professional chess players,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says.
Trump had earlier been quoted by news outlet Axios as saying he was “low-keying it” with Iran: “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” he added. “It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”
Baghaei reiterates that “as long as the US naval blockade continues… as long as other violations by the United States continue, the necessary conditions for saying that the Strait of Hormuz has become a safe waterway will not exist.”
British couple held in Iran end hunger strikes, their family says
A British couple detained in Iran accused of spying have ended their latest monthslong hunger strikes protesting their treatment in prison, their family says.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their early 50s, were seized in January 2025 as they passed through central Iran while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.
They were each sentenced in February this year to a decade in prison on espionage charges that they deny, with two years subsequently added to Craig Foreman’s term for talking to the media, his stepson said in July.
They launched their latest hunger strikes in May, protesting the “serious physical toll” their detentions were taking, with Craig Foreman lasting 93 days and his wife 84 days, according to their relatives.
The couple have consistently complained about overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at Evin Prison, a large, heavily fortified complex in northern Tehran, which rights groups say holds political prisoners and foreign nationals.
“After almost three months of protest, Lindsay and Craig chose to end their hunger strikes,” the family says in a statement, noting the pair ended the action by turning the final five days into a “fast for good.”
Lindsay Foreman’s son Joe Bennett says that “the immediate focus remains Lindsay and Craig’s health, their welfare and securing their release after more than 18 months in detention.”
Unexploded grenade found in north Tel Aviv residential complex, police say
Police announce an unexploded grenade was found in a residential complex in north Tel Aviv this morning.
Sappers disposed of the grenade and an investigation has been launched, police say.
The incident is of a “criminal” nature, rather than terror-related, according to police.
Earlier today, police said a blast heard in Holon overnight was apparently caused by a grenade, which according to Hebrew media exploded in an apartment building that had been targeted in a grenade attack some 18 months ago.
Another suspected grenade was found, unexploded, near a gas station in Hadera, according to police.
IDF: Settler accused of attack to be freed from house arrest, barred from West Bank
IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth says that Tal Yinon Dardik, a suspect in a shocking attack on Palestinians in March, will no longer be under house arrest but will be barred from entering any areas of the West Bank except for the community of Modiin Illit.
The order comes after a court ruling yesterday rejected Bluth’s attempt to stop Dardik from serving house arrest in his illegal outpost in the West Bank.
A statement from the IDF says that in light of the court ruling, Dardik will no longer be restricted to a specific area but will be barred from entering the rest of the West Bank and required to report to the local police station twice a day.
Amid Bluth’s attempts to restrict Dardik’s movements due to his alleged participation in a violent attack on Palestinians earlier this year, Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered officials not to renew his detention, and called on the IDF to find an alternative solution. Katz then vowed on a TV show to replace Bluth, sparking widespread outcry and leading the defense minister to attempt to backtrack from his remarks.
Key Update
Iran claims Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey deal shows ‘change in perception’ towards US
Iran’s foreign ministry says that a defense pact signed last week between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan is “a sign of a change in the perception” of countries in the region towards the United States.
“The countries of the region have realized that security is not a commodity that can be bought from false brokers,” says ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei at a weekly press conference, referring to the United States, an ally of the three signatories to the pact.
Baghaei says Iran has no reason to be concerned that the security pact is directed against Tehran.
“Any plan that is based on the geopolitical and historical realities of the region, is comprehensive and inclusive, and correctly identifies the enemy and the threat, has a chance of helping to strengthen security and prevent instability and abuses by the Zionist enemy and its allies,” he adds.
Key Update
Apparent grenade explodes in residential building, none hurt
A blast heard in Holon overnight was apparently caused by a grenade, police say.
Photos published by the Ynet news site show the explosive went off inside a residential building. No one was hurt but there was some property damage, according to police.
The same building was targeted by a grenade some 18 months ago, Ynet says.
???? טרור הרימונים הפלילי נמשך: פיצוץ בחולון ורימון נוסף בחדרה ????
???? רימון רסס הושלך הלילה לעבר בניין ברחוב צבי תדמור בחולון, לא היו נפגעים אך נגרם נזק בזירה
⚠️ בקצה הרחוב נמצאת תחנת משטרת חולון, וכוחות משטרה וחבלה הגיעו למקום לאיסוף ממצאים
???? בחדרה אותר רימון רסס שלא התפוצץ… pic.twitter.com/EYZbaKbcX5
— First Look | פירסט לוק – חדשות ומדיה (@firstlook_il) August 10, 2026
Separately, police say a suspected grenade was found this morning, unexploded, next to a gas station in Hadera.
Police are investigating both incidents.
Israel to offer 20,000 discounted homes to IDF reservists in coming years
The government has unveiled a new program aimed at expanding housing benefits for military reservists, promising approximately 20,000 discounted apartments or land parcels to be made available over the next two years.
Successful applicants could receive discounts of more than NIS 500,000 ($167,000) on a new home, the government says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Construction and Housing Minister Haim Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich say the program will provide about 16,000 apartments through the government’s Target Price program and roughly 4,000 plots for ground-level housing.
Israel’s “Target Price” program, formerly known as the “Buyer’s Price” program, provides eligible first-time homebuyers the opportunity to purchase new apartments at prices below market value through government-run lotteries. The program has increasingly included reservists among those receiving priority, with eligibility and preferential allocations determined by government criteria.
The announcement comes after strong demand from reservists in the latest discount apartment lottery, in which 25,354 reservists registered and 4,734 won apartments, the government says. In the latest program, reservists will receive priority for 75 percent of apartments offered.
The housing opportunities will become available during 2026 and 2027, the government says.
Report: Degel HaTorah considering ousting veteran MKs Gafni and Maklev
The Degel HaTorah party’s senior leadership is reportedly considering replacing chairman Moshe Gafni and veteran MK Uri Maklev ahead of the upcoming national election over their failure to legislate a draft exemption for yeshiva students.
Degel HaTorah is one of the two factions that comprise the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party.
According to the Haaretz daily, party spiritual leaders Rabbis Dov Lando and Moshe Hillel Hirsch have been discussing the possibility and that, if the switch were made, MK Yaakov Asher would replace Gafni as chairman — a move that concerns some in Hirsch’s orbit because of Asher’s closeness to Lando.
Sources close to Gafni and Maklev deny the reports, telling Haaretz that “there are those who are trying to create tensions and disputes” ahead of the submission of the party list next month.
Spokespeople for Gafni and Rabbi Lando do not immediately respond to requests for comment, while a Haredi political source tells The Times of Israel that there are rumors about Gafni’s replacement nearly every election cycle.
Ex-Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch joins new Erdan-Edelstein political party
Former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch joins Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein’s still-unnamed new right wing party ahead of the 2026 Knesset election, a spokesman for Erdan confirms to The Times of Israel.
Bloch is the former principal of the Branco-Weiss high school in Beit Shemesh. She was elected mayor of Beit Shemesh in 2018, ending a decade of ultra-Orthodox control over the rapidly growing bedroom community.
Her administration was seen by many national-religious and secular residents as one final chance to fix their city following years of religious violence at the hands of ultra-Orthodox zealots. She lost reelection in 2024 to Degel HaTorah’s Shmuel Greenberg.
The party did not release a statement and Bloch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The still-unnamed party marks the latest attempt by former members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s faction to break off and compete against him. Erdan, 55, is a former UN ambassador, and Edelstein quit Likud last month after decades in the party because he opposed its bid to legislate military draft exemptions for yeshiva students.
Gaza militia leader: Hamas will not agree to hand over its weapons
Hussam al-Astal, the commander of an Israeli-backed militia fighting Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, tells The Times of Israel that Israel should reject the implementation of the second-stage ceasefire agreement, because Hamas will never hand over its weapons.
“I don’t think the agreement will go through. Hamas will not hand over the weapons it possesses. I hope there will be a ceasefire agreement, but without Hamas. Hamas will not agree to this,” al-Astal says, adding, “Hamas knows that if it hands over its weapons, it will no longer be in power.”
Al-Astal’s militia operates with Israeli logistical and military support in the Khan Younis area. Over the past year, despite the ceasefire, the militia has continued to periodically fight Hamas.
Key Update