Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Was the United States aware of Israel's plans to conduct an Israeli airstrike targeting a meeting of Hamas’s top leaders in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Tuesday? According to some reports, the leadership had gathered to discuss a new US-sponsored hostage-ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the war in Gaza. At recording time, reports still differ as to whether the attack was successful. Horovitz untangles what the US may have known of the attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back on Wednesday against mounting international criticism over Israel’s strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar the previous day. Can the furious Qataris and other Gulf States be assured that Israel will not repeat such an attack if the opportunity presents itself?

President Isaac Herzog sat down on Wednesday in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for what local media described as a tense meeting. Horovitz delves into how Starmer, in the current anti-Israel climate, was asked to defend himself for meeting with the Israeli president. We also hear what message Herzog attempted to convey.

The Munich Philharmonic, led by its future chief conductor, Israeli musician Lahav Shani, was disinvited from a performance on September 18 at the Flanders Festival Ghent, because Shani -- the current conductor of the Israel Philharmonic -- has not clearly disavowed the Israeli government. “We have chosen to refrain from collaboration with partners who have not distanced themselves unequivocally from that regime,” the organizers said in a statement. We discuss this incident, which occurred even as the Toronto International Film Festival screened a previously canceled documentary, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” which charts how retired Israeli general Noam Tibon saved his family and others during the 2023 Hamas attack.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

PM, ministers mourn ‘lion-hearted’ Charlie Kirk; some warn of copycat killings in Israel

Netanyahu tells Qatar to expel Hamas chiefs or bring them to justice: ‘If you don’t, we will’

Netanyahu takes a calculated risk on a legitimate target in a deeply problematic location

Amid strained UK-Israel ties, Herzog holds ‘tough’ meeting with Starmer in London

Belgian festival scraps performance by Munich Philharmonic over Israeli conductor

Israeli film on Oct. 7 premieres at Toronto film festival after initially being dropped

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Illustrative image: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answers a question, as US President Donald Trump looks on, during a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7, 2025. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images via AFP)

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