U.S. Vice President JD Vance said negotiations ended early Sunday between the United States and Iran without a peace deal after the Iranians refused to accept American terms to not develop a nuclear weapon.

The high-stakes talks ended after 21 hours, Vance said, with the vice president in constant communication with U.S. President Donald Trump and others in the administration.

“But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States. And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

The vice president said he spoke with Trump “a half dozen times, a dozen times, over the past 21 hours” and also spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the United States Central Command.

“We were constantly in communication with the team because we were negotiating in good faith,” Vance said, speaking at a podium in front of a pair of American flags with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to his side. “And we leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”

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Trump had said he would suspend attacks against Iran for two weeks. Vance’s comments did not indicate what will happen after that time period expires or if the ceasefire will remain in place.

The historic talks ended days after a fragile, two-week ceasefire was announced, as the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets entered its seventh week. Two Pakistani officials said discussions between the heads of the delegations will resume after a break.

Some technical personnel from both teams are still meeting, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said two destroyers transited the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz ahead of mine-clearing work, a first since the war began. Iran’s state media, however, said the joint military command denied that.

“We’re sweeping the strait. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump told journalists as talks continued and the time approached 2 a.m. in Islamabad. He called negotiations “very deep.” Iranian state TV noted what it called “serious” differences.

The U.S. delegation led by Vance and the Iranian one led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf discussed with Pakistan how to advance the ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose health ministry said the death toll has surpassed 2,000.

Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the most direct U.S. contact had been in 2013 when President Barack Obama called newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, and counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif later met during negotiations toward the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — a process that lasted well over a year.

Now the far broader talks feature Vance, a reluctant defender of the war who has little diplomatic experience and warned Iran not to “try and play us,” and Qalibaf, a former commander with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard who has issued some of Iran’s most fiery statements since fighting began.

Iran’s state-run news agency said the three-party talks began after Iranian preconditions, including a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, were met.

Iran’s delegation told state television it had presented “red lines” in meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, including compensation for damage caused by U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the war on Feb. 28 and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.

The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.

Reflecting the high stakes, officials from the region said Chinese, Egyptian, Saudi and Qatari officials were in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate talks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

In Tehran, residents told The Associated Press they were skeptical yet hopeful after weeks of airstrikes left destruction across their country of some 93 million people.

“Peace alone is not enough for our country because we’ve been hit very hard, there have been huge costs,” 62-year-old Amir Razzai Far said.

In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” fueling the war.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war. Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil had typically passed through on over 100 ships a day. Only 12 have been recorded transiting since the ceasefire.

On Saturday, Trump said on social media that the U.S. had begun “clearing out” the strait.

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon,” U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper later said. The U.S. statement about the destroyers added: “Additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran was entering negotiations with “deep distrust” after strikes on Iran during previous talks. Araghchi, part of Iran’s delegation in Pakistan, said Saturday that his country was prepared to retaliate if attacked again.

Iran’s 10-point proposal ahead of the talks called for a guaranteed end to the war and sought control over the Strait of Hormuz. It included ending fighting against Iran’s “regional allies,” explicitly calling for a halt to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.

The United States’ 15-point proposal includes restricting Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait.

(AP)

Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly severely injured and disfigured during joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran in February, according to Reuters.

The report says Khamenei suffered leg and facial injuries in the February 28 strikes that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, and has not been seen publicly since.

Despite the injuries, sources cited by Reuters claim he remains “mentally sharp” and is continuing to communicate with Iranian negotiators involved in talks with the United States.

U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said Khamenei was “likely disfigured,” reiterating the claim in a recent press briefing while outlining what he described as major blows to Iran’s leadership structure.

“Their top leadership was systematically eliminated…” Hegseth said, listing multiple senior Iranian military and government officials killed in recent operations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The search for missing Yeshiva Bochur Avraham Yeshaya ben Shoshana continued into Motzei Shabbos along the coast of Netanya, with rescue teams intensifying efforts using drones, divers, and advanced equipment.

As YWN reported, the Bochur and his brother went missing after being swept into the sea together on Friday. His brother was located in critical condition. As night fell, an operational drone was deployed in an effort to locate the missing boy, while preparations are underway for renewed diving operations at first light.

At the same time, large Tefilah gatherings are being held across Israel. One large gathering took place at the Koselall with Talmidim of Yeshivas Tifrach, while another was held at the Kever of the Chazon Ish in Bnei Brak.

Additional Tefilos were held at the yeshiva of the Bochur’s father in Yerushalayim, as well as in several Batei Midrashim in Ramat Shlomo, where the family lives.

Following a joint assessment with emergency services and police, volunteers from ZAKA, including its diving unit, are preparing for extensive coordinated searches along the shoreline overnight, alongside maritime police and fire rescue teams.

Meanwhile, Tefilos continue for his brother Yisochor Dov who remains in critical condition.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Syrian security authorities arrested five suspects for allegedly attempting to assassinate a religious figure in Damascus, Syria’s interior ministry announced.

Kan News identified the “religious figure” as Rabbi Michael Khoury.

The suspects, four men and one woman, were arrested after the woman planted an explosive device at the entrance to Rabbi Khoury’s residence.

Security forces neutralized the device.

The suspects are believed to have been operating under Hezbollah and “received specialized military training abroad,” the statement said.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

Two US destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, preparing for mine-clearing operations, the U.S. Central Command announced.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, April 11, as two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers conducted operations,” the statement from CENTCOM said.

“USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.”

“’Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,’ said Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM.

“Additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days,” the statement concluded.

Earlier on Saturday, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World.”

Trump added that “all 28 of Iran’s mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times quoted US officials as saying that Iran hasn’t reopened the Strait of Hormuz because it cannot locate and remove all the mines it placed during the war.

According to the report, neither Iran nor the United States currently has the capacity to clear the mines effectively. Some mines may have drifted, and it’s unclear whether Iran even knows the exact locations of all those it deployed

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

Artemis II’s astronauts closed out humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century with a Pacific splashdown on Friday, blazing new records near the moon with grace and joy.

It was a dramatic grand finale to a mission that revealed not only swaths of the lunar far side never seen before by human eyes, but a total solar eclipse and a parade of planets, most notably our own shimmering Earth against the endless black void of space.

With their flight now complete, the four astronauts have set NASA up for a moon landing by another crew in just two years and a full-blown moon base within the decade.

The triumphant moon-farers — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen — emerged from their bobbing capsule into the sunlight off the coast of San Diego.

In a scene reminiscent of NASA’s Apollo moonshots of yesteryear, military helicopters hoisted the astronauts one by one from an inflatable raft docked to the capsule, hauling them aboard for the short trip to the Navy’s awaiting recovery ship, the USS John P. Murtha.

“These were the ambassadors from humanity to the stars that we sent out there right now, and I can’t imagine a better crew,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said from the recovery ship.

NASA’s Mission Control erupted in celebration, with hundreds pouring in from the back support rooms. “We did it,” NASA’s Lori Glaze rejoiced at a news conference. “Welcome to our moonshot.”

Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the entire plunge on automatic pilot. The lunar cruiser hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 33 — or 33 times the speed of sound — a blistering blur not seen since the 1960s and 1970s Apollo.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the capsule became engulfed in red-hot plasma during peak heating and entered a planned communication blackout. All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that had to withstand thousands of degrees during reentry.

Watching the drama unfold nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away, the astronauts’ families huddled in Mission Control’s viewing room, cheering when the capsule emerged from its six-minute blackout and again at splashdown.

The last time NASA and the Defense Department teamed up for a lunar crew’s reentry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II came screaming back at 36,174 feet (11,026 meters) per second — or 24,664 mph (39,693 kph) — just shy of the record before slowing to a 19 mph (30 kph) splashdown.

Until Artemis II, NASA’s fresh-from-the-moon homecomings starred only white male pilots. Intent on reflecting changes in society, NASA chose a diverse, multinational crew for its lunar comeback.

Koch became the first woman to fly to the moon, Glover the first Black astronaut and Hansen the first non-U.S. citizen, bursting Canada with pride. They laughed, cried and hugged all the way there and back, striving to take the entire world along with them.

Artemis II’s record flyby and views of the moon

Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.

Artemis II didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record and marked the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when the crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then in the mission’s most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

During Monday’s record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the moon’s far side never seen before by the human eye along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.

Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8’s first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.

Born a decade after Apollo, Isaacman greeted the astronauts with hugs as they headed from the helicopters to the ship’s medical bay for routine checks. They walked by themselves, refusing the wheelchairs offered them.

“We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, bringing them back safely and to set up for a series more,” Isaacman said. “This is just the beginning.”

Artemis II was a test flight for future moon missions

Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, the toilet kept malfunctioning, but the astronauts shrugged it all off.

As for the heat shield, military aircraft crews photographed it from afar during reentry, and divers checked it from underneath as the capsule floated in the Pacific. More detailed examinations are planned.

“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”

Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it’s a doozy.”

Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Artemis II astronauts’ allegiance was to those future crews, Wiseman said.

“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.

(AP)

Artemis II’s astronauts closed out humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century with a Pacific splashdown on Friday, blazing new records near the moon with grace and joy.

It was a dramatic grand finale to a mission that revealed not only swaths of the lunar far side never seen before by human eyes, but a total solar eclipse and a parade of planets, most notably our own shimmering Earth against the endless black void of space.

With their flight now complete, the four astronauts have set NASA up for a moon landing by another crew in just two years and a full-blown moon base within the decade.

The triumphant moon-farers — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen — emerged from their bobbing capsule into the sunlight off the coast of San Diego.

In a scene reminiscent of NASA’s Apollo moonshots of yesteryear, military helicopters hoisted the astronauts one by one from an inflatable raft docked to the capsule, hauling them aboard for the short trip to the Navy’s awaiting recovery ship, the USS John P. Murtha.

“These were the ambassadors from humanity to the stars that we sent out there right now, and I can’t imagine a better crew,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said from the recovery ship.

NASA’s Mission Control erupted in celebration, with hundreds pouring in from the back support rooms. “We did it,” NASA’s Lori Glaze rejoiced at a news conference. “Welcome to our moonshot.”

Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the entire plunge on automatic pilot. The lunar cruiser hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 33 — or 33 times the speed of sound — a blistering blur not seen since the 1960s and 1970s Apollo.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the capsule became engulfed in red-hot plasma during peak heating and entered a planned communication blackout. All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that had to withstand thousands of degrees during reentry.

Watching the drama unfold nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away, the astronauts’ families huddled in Mission Control’s viewing room, cheering when the capsule emerged from its six-minute blackout and again at splashdown.

The last time NASA and the Defense Department teamed up for a lunar crew’s reentry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II came screaming back at 36,174 feet (11,026 meters) per second — or 24,664 mph (39,693 kph) — just shy of the record before slowing to a 19 mph (30 kph) splashdown.

Until Artemis II, NASA’s fresh-from-the-moon homecomings starred only white male pilots. Intent on reflecting changes in society, NASA chose a diverse, multinational crew for its lunar comeback.

Koch became the first woman to fly to the moon, Glover the first Black astronaut and Hansen the first non-U.S. citizen, bursting Canada with pride. They laughed, cried and hugged all the way there and back, striving to take the entire world along with them.

Artemis II’s record flyby and views of the moon

Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.

Artemis II didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record and marked the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when the crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then in the mission’s most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

During Monday’s record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the moon’s far side never seen before by the human eye along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.

Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8’s first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.

Born a decade after Apollo, Isaacman greeted the astronauts with hugs as they headed from the helicopters to the ship’s medical bay for routine checks. They walked by themselves, refusing the wheelchairs offered them.

“We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, bringing them back safely and to set up for a series more,” Isaacman said. “This is just the beginning.”

Artemis II was a test flight for future moon missions

Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, the toilet kept malfunctioning, but the astronauts shrugged it all off.

As for the heat shield, military aircraft crews photographed it from afar during reentry, and divers checked it from underneath as the capsule floated in the Pacific. More detailed examinations are planned.

“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”

Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it’s a doozy.”

Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Artemis II astronauts’ allegiance was to those future crews, Wiseman said.

“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.

(AP)

Eliot Engel, a longtime Democratic congressman representing parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, passed away Friday at the age of 79, his family announced.

Engel, who was Jewish, served 16 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 until 2021, after first being elected in 1988. Over more than four decades in public service, he was widely known as a staunch supporter of Israel and a leading voice on foreign policy.

In a statement, his family said he died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones “in the borough that raised him: The Bronx.”

“During his over 44 years in public service, Eliot Engel fought tirelessly for his constituents at home and for peace and security around the world,” the family said. “We love and miss him dearly.”

Engel was among the most outspoken pro-Israel Democrats in Congress, consistently backing key policies in support of the Jewish state and advocating for its security.

He was also a vocal critic of Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, opposing the agreement over concerns it would not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

During the latter part of his congressional career, Engel served as both ranking member and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, playing a key role in shaping U.S. foreign policy.

He was defeated in the 2020 Democratic primary by Jamaal Bowman, who went on to win the general election.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

German police are investigating a suspected antisemitic attack on an Israeli restaurant in Munich after windows were smashed in the early hours of Friday morning.
Investigators believe pyrotechnic devices — potentially fireworks — were thrown at the Eclipse Grillbar, Munich’s first authentic Israeli restaurant, breaking windows in three places around 12:45 a.m. No one was injured. Damage is estimated at several thousand euros.

Police told German news agency dpa that the restaurant’s owners are Jewish and that authorities believe an antisemitic motive prompted the attack. No suspects were found in the area, and the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators remains unknown.
Grigori Dratva, the owner’s brother-in-law and an employee, told dpa there had been no prior direct threats against the restaurant. The family had always felt safe in Munich, he said, and plans to reopen.

The restaurant had closed for service at 11 p.m. Thursday, roughly two hours before the attack.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

After chants of “run again!” filled the room, former Vice President Kamala Harris told African American activists on Friday that she’s actively considering another presidential bid.

“I might. I am thinking about it,” Harris told Rev. Al Sharpton after he asked directly whether she was going to run for president in 2028.

Harris’ comments came during the National Action Network’s annual convention, where more than a half-dozen potential candidates appeared this week , hoping to make inroads among Black voters — who comprise one of Democrats’ most powerful blocs.

The Democrats’ next presidential primary season won’t begin in earnest until after November’s midterm elections, but this week’s conference showcased a collection of Democrats already jockeying for position in what promises to be a crowded competition.

For now, at least, there is no clear early favorite. But there did appear to be a favorite at Sharpton’s conference.

Harris, the nation’s first Black female vice president and the Democrats’ presidential nominee in 2024, earned the only standing ovation and the largest crowd of any other 2028 prospect this week. Some in the audience interrupted her remarks with chants of, “Run again!”

Sharpton noted that Harris earned more votes in her losing 2024 campaign than even former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

“Whatever she decides to do, she made a point in history,” Sharpton said.

Harris has raised the possibility of another presidential bid before in the 15 months since she left office. She also recently launched a political action committee and began to travel across the United States to support Democrats, especially across the South.

Still, some in the party have shifted their focus to a new generation of Democratic leaders given Harris’ struggle in the last presidential contest.

The convention lineup this week featured Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, and Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego.

Buttigieg, speaking shortly after Harris left the stage, received soft applause from a room that was about half-empty. Some cheered when he mentioned supporting federal workers and minority businesses, but many attendees had streamed out of the packed auditorium after Harris’ speech in a bid to grab a selfie with the former vice president.

Buttigieg, like many other 2028 prospects this week, laughed off a question about whether he would seek the presidency again.

Harris was more explicit.

Three times she repeated, “I’m thinking about it,” when Sharpton asked her about a 2028 White House run.

“I served for four years being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I spent countless hours in my West Wing office footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office and the situation room. I know what the job is, and I know what it requires,” Harris said.

She continued: “I am thinking about it in the context of who and where and how can the best job be done for the American people. That’s how I’m thinking about it. I’ll keep you posted.”

(AP)

An immigration appeals board has denied Mahmoud Khalil’s latest bid to dismiss his deportation case, a largely expected ruling that brings the former Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist one step closer to re-arrest and possible expulsion.

The Board of Immigration Appeals issued the final order of removal on Thursday, according to Khalil’s lawyers. The board’s rulings are not public, and an inquiry to the U.S. Department of Justice was not immediately returned.

Khalil said he was not surprised by the ruling, which he called “biased and politically motivated.” His attorneys said he cannot be lawfully detained or deported as he pursues a separate case in the federal court system.

“The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine — and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it,” Khalil said in a statement.

The Board of Immigration Appeals sets precedent in the byzantine immigration court system, which is controlled by the Department of Justice — and increasingly under the influence of the Trump administration.

Khalil, a 31-year-old legal permanent resident, was the first person whose arrest became publicly known during the federal crackdown on noncitizens who publicly criticized Israel and its actions in Gaza.

The government has claimed that Khalil’s efforts as a leader of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia were “aligned to Hamas.” They have not presented evidence of any connection to the terrorist group, and Khalil has adamantly denied allegations of antisemitism.

After his arrest last March, Khalil spent 104 days in an immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child, before he was ordered released by a federal judge in New Jersey.

Khalil suffered a significant setback in his federal case earlier this year, with a U.S. appeals panel ruling the judge in New Jersey overstepped his authority by releasing him. In a 2-1 decision, the panel found that law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts before Khalil can challenge the decision in federal court.

Khalil’s lawyers are requesting the full appeals panel reconsider the decision. Earlier this month, they asked one of the appellate panel’s judges to step aside because of his previous role as a top Justice Department official involved in investigating student protesters.

Khalil was born in Syria to a Palestinian family and holds Algerian citizenship through a distant relative. He has said that he could be targeted, and even killed, if he is deported.

(AP)

Vice President JD Vance departed for Pakistan Friday to lead direct negotiations with Iran aimed at converting a fragile ceasefire into a lasting deal, warning Tehran that his team would not be “receptive” if Iran tries to run out the clock.

“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,” Vance said before boarding Air Force Two. “If they’re gonna try and play us, then they’re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”

An Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had already arrived in Islamabad, the Wall Street Journal reported. Islamabad was placed under heavy security lockdown ahead of the talks.

Vance is joined by Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, who participated in three rounds of pre-war indirect talks with Iran. The White House has not specified whether the negotiations will be direct or indirect.

The talks open against a backdrop of mounting tensions that threaten to unravel the ceasefire declared by President Trump on Tuesday. Iran has insisted the truce covers Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon — a claim the US and Israel flatly reject. Tehran has also refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Trump to post Thursday that Iran was doing “a very poor job” honoring the agreement.

The ceasefire itself came with the war’s core objectives unmet — Iran’s nuclear program intact, its missile arsenal undestroyed, and the regime still in power.

The mission represents an unusual — and historically rare — deployment of a sitting vice president to negotiate an active war.

The choice of Vance has drawn scrutiny. He has limited diplomatic experience and has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions. Some analysts believe Tehran may actually prefer him for that reason.

The stakes extend beyond the negotiating table. Vance is widely seen as a leading 2028 presidential contender, and the outcome in Islamabad could define his political standing for years.

Israel, which launched the military campaign against Iran alongside the US six weeks ago, has no seat at the table. Host Pakistan does not recognize Israeli sovereignty and maintains no diplomatic ties with Jerusalem.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

An incident unfolded Friday afternoon at the separate beach in Netanya, where two brothers from Yerushalayim were caught in distress in the water, triggering a massive rescue response.

Initial reports indicate that the pair entered the sea and quickly encountered difficulty. Bystanders who noticed the situation managed to pull one of the brothers — a 21-year-old yeshiva bochur — from the water.

When Hatzalah and MDA teams arrived, they found the young man completely unconscious. Intensive lifesaving efforts were immediately launched, including prolonged resuscitation attempts. He was later transported to the hospital in critical condition as teams fought to stabilize him.

At the same time, a desperate search is underway for his brother, an 18-year-old who remains missing in the water.

Large-scale search operations were launched, including police, rescue forces, and ZAKA’s specialized diving unit, which was deployed to conduct underwater searches along the coastline and deeper areas of the sea.

Officials say the family had arrived at the beach from Yerushalayim.

As of now, one brother remains in critical condition while the second is still unaccounted for.

The public is asked to daven for אברהם ישעיהו בן שושנה and יששכר דב בן שושנה.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A 21-year-old Jerusalem man has been indicted on security charges after allegedly gathering intelligence for an Iranian agent in exchange for cryptocurrency payments, the State Attorney’s Office announced.

Moshe Lachovitz was charged at the Jerusalem District Court after his arrest last month. According to the indictment, Lachovitz contacted the Iranian agent — who identified himself as “Michael” — while searching for work, and was subsequently tasked with documenting and photographing sites across Israel, including in Jerusalem and in Ra’anana, where former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett resides. He was paid thousands of dollars for the work, transferred via cryptocurrency.

The alleged intelligence gathering spanned the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025. Prosecutors say Lachovitz did not initially know “Michael” was an Iranian operative, but continued working for him after learning the truth.

The case is the latest in a string of Iranian recruitment operations targeting Israeli civilians, with Tehran increasingly using online job offers and cryptocurrency payments to turn ordinary citizens into intelligence assets.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to oil traffic, with Iran showing no signs of honoring what the United States said was a non-negotiable condition of Wednesday’s ceasefire, raising urgent questions about whether the truce is worth the paper it’s written on.

A backlog of roughly 3,200 vessels — including 800 tankers and cargo ships — sits stranded west of the strait. Nearly 20,000 mariners remain stuck in the Persian Gulf. No oil tankers have risked the passage in recent days. The waterway that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is, for all practical purposes, shut.

“We’re not seeing any, any, any oil products passing through there,” said Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler, a data and intelligence company. “So, for all intents and purposes, the strait remains closed. And this is the leverage that Iran has.”

Only a trickle of vessels has moved at all. Three ships passed through Thursday — two Iranian-flagged and one dry bulk carrier. On Wednesday, five vessels transited in total. Those few that are moving are avoiding standard commercial lanes entirely, threading through a corridor near Iran’s Larak Island with some switching off their tracking systems as they pass.

President Donald Trump, who staked the ceasefire deal on Iran’s commitment to reopen the waterway, publicly unloaded on Tehran Thursday. “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!” he wrote on Truth Social. Trump had announced the ceasefire as contingent on Iran agreeing to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING” of the strait — language that could hardly have been clearer.

The head of Abu Dhabi’s national oil company left no room for diplomatic ambiguity. “This moment requires clarity. So let’s be clear: the Strait of Hormuz is not open,” Sultan Al Jaber wrote on LinkedIn Thursday. “Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled. Iran has made clear — through both its statements and actions — that passage is subject to permission, conditions and political leverage.”

Iran, it turns out, has demands. According to the Financial Times, Tehran is seeking a toll of $1 per barrel of oil transiting the strait, to be paid in cryptocurrency. Iranian state media said Wednesday the strait would remain closed in retaliation for continued Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon — attacks Washington insists fall outside the ceasefire’s scope.

Even if Iran were to declare the strait open tomorrow, analysts warn it would take far more than a statement to bring shipping back. “We don’t know whether the Strait of Hormuz is mined. Even if it isn’t, the risk of being hit by a missile or a drone is a big enough deterrent,” Smith said. “No one’s willing to take the chance.” War-risk insurance remains available in some cases but only at steep premiums with added restrictions — costs that make the math unworkable for most operators.

The economic fallout is already spreading. Cargo is being rerouted through ports in Oman and along the UAE’s east coast, tacking roughly two weeks onto voyage times and pushing costs up by about 25%.

With the ceasefire’s central promise unfulfilled, senior US and Iranian officials are set to meet Saturday in Pakistan for talks on a permanent agreement — negotiations that will take place against a backdrop of a strait that, whatever the paperwork says, remains closed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi died Wednesday from wounds sustained in a US-Israeli strike on his Tehran home on April 1, Iranian state media reported.

Kharazi, 81, had been serving as head of the Strategic Council for International Relations, an advisory body affiliated with the foreign ministry, at the time of the strike. His wife was killed in the same attack, media reported at the time.

State news agencies Mehr and ISNA described Kharazi as having “died a martyr” after being “injured in a terrorist attack carried out by the American-Zionist enemy a few days ago.”

Kharazi was one of Iran’s most senior diplomatic figures, having served as the country’s ambassador to the United Nations before becoming foreign minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing away from one of the central promises of his mayoral campaign, conceding he will not be able to deliver citywide free buses this year and shifting his sights to a far more modest pilot program.

The retreat marks a major reversal for a mayor who rode the free-bus pledge to City Hall, having championed the issue since co-launching a small Queens pilot in 2023. Mamdani now says he is focused on reviving a pared-down version — three free bus lines per borough at a cost of $45 million — contingent on Albany including it in the state budget, which is already a week past its deadline.

The climb-down is not for lack of trying to spin it. “We’re absolutely committed to making buses fast and free,” Mamdani insisted — eventually.

But the obstacles are formidable. Gov. Kathy Hochul has been cool to the idea since before Mamdani took office, and on Wednesday she made clear that housing and auto insurance reform are higher budget priorities than buses. MTA CEO Janno Lieber has called the mayor’s plan half-baked and likely to cost far more than advertised. And Mamdani himself effectively torpedoed an earlier expansion of the program after picking a fight with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie over affordable housing, prompting Heastie to pull the initiative from the budget entirely.

The free bus promise now joins a lengthening list of first-term reversals for the mayor, who has spent his first 100 days in office pushing a combined $23 billion in new taxes while watching signature campaign commitments slip away.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A sharp war of words erupted Thursday after Khawaja Asif launched a blistering attack on Israel, prompting a rare and forceful public response from Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials.

Asif, Pakistan’s defence minister, labeled Israel “evil” and a “curse for humanity” in remarks tied to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon during a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire. In a now-deleted post on X, he further escalated rhetoric, claiming that “genocide is being committed in Lebanon” while peace talks were underway in Islamabad.

“I hope and pray that the people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land to get rid of European Jews [sic] burn in hell,” Asif wrote.

The remarks triggered immediate backlash from Israel. Netanyahu condemned the statement as “outrageous,” saying, “This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also issued a strong rebuke, accusing Pakistan’s leadership of spreading “blatant antisemitic blood libels.” He warned that describing Israel as “cancerous” amounts to a call for its destruction, emphasizing that Israel “will defend itself against terrorists who vow its destruction.”

The diplomatic clash is notable given the absence of formal relations between Israel and Pakistan, with Tel Aviv historically avoiding direct engagement with Islamabad. However, Israeli officials signaled that the severity of the remarks warranted a public response.

The confrontation followed an earlier condemnation by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry of Israeli actions in Lebanon, which was then amplified by Asif’s incendiary social media statements. The post was later deleted after drawing widespread criticism.

Israeli officials have also expressed longstanding skepticism about Pakistan’s role in regional diplomacy. Reuven Azar reiterated that Israel does not view Pakistan as a credible intermediary in peace negotiations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

More than 7,500 people have been hospitalized for war-related injuries since fighting with Iran began on February 28, Israel’s Health Ministry reported.

Of the 7,527 admitted, 108 remain hospitalized. Two are in critical condition, 13 in serious condition, 27 in moderate condition, and 66 in good condition. The figures include both soldiers and civilians.

The ministry does not break down injuries by cause. Some were indirect, including people hurt while rushing to shelters, rather than as a result of missile strikes directly.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Muhammad Shahzab Khan (21), a Pakistani national who was living in Canada on a student visa, admitted on Wednesday in federal court in New York to planning a large‑scale terror attack at 770, the Chabad World Headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

According to the detailed indictment, Khan — who was extradited to the US from Canada— planned to carry out an assault using AR-style rifles around October 7, 2024, the anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel.  He chose the Chabad center in Brooklyn, saying that New York is “perfect to target Jews because it has the largest Jewish population in America.”

In messages he exchanged with undercover FBI agents (whom he believed were ISIS supporters), Khan said: “Even if we don’t attack an event, we could easily rack up a lot of Jews… we are going to slaughter them.”

He urged the undercover agents to acquire rifles and hunting knives to “slit their throats,” and gloated over the fact that if the plan succeeds, it will be “the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”

Khan was arrested in September 2024 in the town of Ormstown, Canada, only about 12 miles from the U.S. border, as he attempted to cross into the US with the help of a human smuggler. The arrest was part of a complex operation by law enforcement authorities in both Canada and the United States, who had been tracking him for many months.

In the recorded conversations, Khan is heard detailing how he planned to purchase automatic weapons, hunting knives, and large quantities of ammunition.

Khan admitted to all charges against him during Wednesday’s hearing, saying that he was motivated to support the Islamic State in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

The judge set the sentencing date for August 12, 2026. Under federal law, Khan faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

“Khan planned a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the October 7th Hamas attacks, with the explicit goal of killing as many Jews as possible,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

“Khan declared that New York City was the ‘perfect’ venue for his attack because of its large Jewish population and boasted that his plot could be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. The National Security Division will work tirelessly to ensure that terrorists like Khan face the full weight of American law.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

President Donald Trump unleashed a scorching personal attack Thursday on four high-profile right-wing figures who have broken with him over the Iran war, branding Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones as “NUT JOBS” with “Low IQs” who will say anything for attention.

“They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!” Trump wrote in a nearly 500-word Truth Social broadside — one of the most savage public attacks he has directed at allies-turned-critics in recent memory.

Trump was withering on each target. Carlson, he said, is a “hand flailing fool” who never recovered from being fired by Fox News and should “see a good psychiatrist.” Kelly he dismissed by resurrecting their infamous 2016 debate clash. Owens he mocked over her unfounded claims about French First Lady Brigitte Macron — adding that Macron is “far more beautiful” than Owens, “in fact, it’s not even close.” Jones he branded simply “Bankrupt,” jabbing at the Infowars host’s financial collapse following defamation judgments over his Sandy Hook hoax claims.

The president accused all four of opposing his Iran policy not out of conviction but out of hunger for clicks and “free and cheap publicity,” and charged that CNN and the New York Times were gleefully amplifying their criticism for the first time in their careers.

“They’re not ‘MAGA,’ they’re losers,” Trump declared, “just trying to latch on to MAGA.”

“MAGA is about WINNING and STRENGTH in not allowing Iran to have Nuclear Weapons,” he wrote.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Iran Thursday for failing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as agreed under the ceasefire deal, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a diplomatic push across the Gulf to restore free navigation through the critical waterway.

“They are doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “That is not the agreement we have!”

In a separate post, Trump warned Iran to stop charging fees to tankers transiting the Strait. “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!” he wrote, adding that oil would start flowing “with or without the help of Iran.”

The Strait has been closed since the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran in late February. Its reopening was a central condition of the ceasefire Trump announced Wednesday, which he said was contingent on Iran agreeing to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, AND SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump and Starmer spoke Thursday and agreed that with a ceasefire now in place, the two sides had reached “the next stage of finding a resolution,” Downing Street said in a statement. “The leaders discussed the need for a practical plan to get shipping moving again as quickly as possible,” the statement said, adding that the two leaders would speak again soon.

Starmer, who was traveling in the Gulf region, briefed Trump on British efforts to assemble a coalition of partners around a “viable plan” to restore free navigation. In separate meetings with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, Starmer pressed for the waterway’s reopening, citing the need to restore the flow of goods and stabilize global supply chains.

Prior to the ceasefire, the UK had hosted multilateral talks involving 35 countries — including France, Germany, and the UAE — aimed at reopening the Strait. The US had abstained from those talks after Trump said publicly that it was a problem for other nations to resolve. Trump had also told aides at the time that he was prepared to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait remained closed, saying it could be addressed at a later date.

The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, making its closure a significant disruption to global energy markets. Its status is expected to remain a central flashpoint in the days ahead as the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran holds, and as pressure mounts on Iran to follow through on the terms it agreed to.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli opposition leaders accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday of failing to achieve the war’s objectives and deceiving the public following the ceasefire announcement with Iran, though some softened their tone Thursday after Netanyahu announced direct talks with Lebanon over Hezbollah disarmament.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, widely seen as the leading challenger to Netanyahu in upcoming elections, held a press conference Wednesday evening laying out the war’s unfulfilled objectives: the complete and permanent dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, regional terror infrastructure, and missile capabilities, along with the removal of 460 kilograms of enriched uranium from Iranian territory.

“The campaign will be judged solely by meeting these goals, because failure will leave Israel facing a more vengeful and determined Iran,” Bennett said, arguing that public disappointment over the ceasefire stemmed from the government having “sold illusions” rather than telling Israelis the truth.

“Unfortunately, as every child can see, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran are still standing,” he added. “This is because a government that is tearing Israel apart from within cannot defeat the enemy from without.”

Bennett’s remarks came directly after Netanyahu said at his own press conference Wednesday that Israel remained in the process of achieving all its war goals despite the ceasefire.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid was equally critical, calling the ceasefire “the greatest political disaster in all of our history” and asserting that Israel had been excluded from key national security decisions. Netanyahu, Lapid said, “failed politically, failed strategically, and didn’t meet a single one of the goals that he himself set.”

Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, said Netanyahu should have “stood before the nation, admitted the failure of his strategy, and announced his immediate resignation.” Instead, Golan said, “what appeared tonight was a skilled salesman and a failed strategist, armed with a pile of spin, half-truths, and lies.” Former IDF chief of staff and Yashar! Party leader Gadi Eisenkot said Netanyahu had failed to translate military gains into a political arrangement. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman added Thursday that Israel could not end the war without a decisive outcome.

The tone shifted for some opposition figures after Netanyahu announced Thursday that his cabinet would open direct ceasefire and disarmament talks with Lebanon. Both Golan and Eisenkot welcomed the move.

“Thanks to Trump for forcing Netanyahu to take action,” Golan said. “Reality once again proves what we have always said — political agreements are the way to bring true security to Israel.” Eisenkot called on the government to leverage its military achievements “into an agreement that will lead to the complete dismantling and disarmament of Hezbollah and return full responsibility to the Lebanese government.”

Government ministers pushed back hard on the opposition’s criticism. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich argued the war was not over and its objectives could still be achieved, accusing opposition leaders of competing for the title of “who weakens Israel more.” Education Minister Yoav Kisch asked Bennett, Lapid, and Golan whether they were “tired of pumping out defeatism that echoes the enemy’s media.” Culture Minister Miki Zohar called their remarks “irresponsible populism” and said both Bennett and Lapid had proved themselves unfit for leadership.

Lapid fired back at Zohar, saying the true peak of populism was “going to war, failing to achieve any of its objectives, causing an unprecedented political and diplomatic disaster, and then blaming Lapid and Bennett for noticing it.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A senior IDF official said on Thursday evening that the IDF’s Operation Eternal Darkness against Hezbollah on Wednesday was a wildly successful operation comparable in results to the pagers operation, military correspondent Yossi Yehoshua reported.

“A new intelligence capability made it possible to locate Hezbollah’s alternative command centers and strike directly at its leadership,” Yehoshua said. “The result: a broad blow to the core of Hezbollah’s command-and-control system—a surprise strike that had originally been planned as the opening move of the campaign even before the war, and was later adapted after Hezbollah changed its deployment.”

“Within roughly 10 minutes, around 100 command centers were struck, hitting most of the organization’s covert infrastructure.”

“According to assessments, hundreds of terrorists were killed, including many commanders—distinguishing this operation from the pagers operation, in which mainly lower-level terrorists, rather than senior commanders, were killed.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A 22-year-old Israeli from northern Israel was arrested last month on suspicion of working for Iran and manufacturing explosives as part of an alleged plot to assassinate former prime minister Naftali Bennett, authorities revealed Thursday after the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court lifted a gag order on the case.

The suspect, Ami Gaydarov of Haifa, was detained along with three other young men from the Haifa area. Investigators say the group carried out serious espionage activities for Iran in exchange for roughly 80,000 shekels, or about $26,000.

According to a joint investigation by Lahav 433 and the Shin Bet, Gaydarov allegedly initiated contact with an Iranian operative in August of last year while searching for ways to earn money. He then began performing tasks for the handler, receiving payment through cryptocurrency and PayPal.

Authorities say the case escalated when the Iranian handler instructed Gaydarov to acquire dual-use chemicals, materials with both civilian and military applications. Under those instructions, investigators say, Gaydarov produced 8–10 kilograms of explosive material in his home. Police believe the explosives were intended for an attack targeting Bennett.

Investigators say Gaydarov tested the material in an underground parking garage, causing a powerful blast, and filmed the experiment with two friends.

Gaydarov also passed sensitive wartime information to his Iranian handler during Iranian missile attacks on Israel. He allegedly provided details about missile impact sites in Haifa, a city with strategic infrastructure including oil refineries and a major port. He also photographed those facilities and relayed information about civil-defense alerts and Home Front Command sirens.

Superintendent Maor Goren, who heads the investigative team, told Ynet that Gaydarov and the Iranian handler began working together in September 2025. The activity paused after several months but resumed in March 2026, days after the war began. From that point until the night before his arrest, Goren said, Gaydarov allegedly carried out assignments that included photographing strategic sites, documenting missile impacts and interceptions, and attempting to locate a U.S. Navy destroyer expected to dock in Haifa.

“He was carrying out operations for the Iranians up until the night before his arrest,” Goren said.

Investigators say Gaydarov initially approached several Iranians on his own before being directed to a single handler. The Shin Bet monitored his activity for months, along with four other young men who allegedly assisted him. Five suspects were initially marked for arrest; one was later released. The remaining four are expected to face serious indictments.

Gaydarov is expected to be charged with contact with a foreign agent, aiding the enemy during wartime, and preparing and possessing explosive material. The other suspects are not accused of direct contact with Iranian intelligence.

According to investigators, Gaydarov responded to Iranian messages through Telegram groups advertising easy money for remote work. They say he was aware that he was contacting Iranian intelligence handlers. At first, he was given simple test missions—taking photos, sending locations—to assess his reliability. Once he was paid, investigators say, he became further entangled.

The operation escalated when Gaydarov was allegedly instructed to buy chemicals from retail pharmacies to manufacture TATP, a highly unstable explosive widely associated with terrorist attacks. Authorities say he bought the materials in Haifa and produced the explosive in an apartment he rented, documenting the process in photos and videos sent to his handler. He also recruited friends to help purchase materials.

At one point, investigators say, Gaydarov and a friend tested the explosive in a parking garage, producing a strong blast. Fearing surveillance, Gaydarov later transferred the explosives to another friend, who disposed of them on his own initiative.

Several additional Israelis from northern Israel, including Sergey Libman and Eduard Shovtiyuk, were arrested for questioning. Investigators say they helped Gaydarov buy materials, hide the explosives, and test them.

During Operation Roaring Lion, investigators say, Gaydarov was instructed to send Iran photographs of Haifa port and missile impact sites, and to locate an apartment overlooking the port where a fixed surveillance camera could be installed.

Authorities say Gaydarov received more than 70,000 shekels, or about $22,000, for his activities.

Superintendent Goren emphasized the danger posed by the quantity of explosive material Gaydarov allegedly produced. He noted that each of the devices detonated last year on buses in Bat Yam contained 300 grams of explosive material and caused an enormous blast. The suspect, he said, produced nearly 30 times that amount.

Goren added that the contact with the Iranian handler had not yet reached the stage of assigning specific targets for planting the device.

Investigators say the real-time information Gaydarov passed during the war directly aided Iran.

“They don’t know where the missile impacts are, and he was passing along reports he gathered from the media or photographed himself,” Goren said. “He was filming interceptions and sending them to the handler, which could clearly help the Iranians analyze the situation.”

Authorities say the suspects initially denied the allegations but later confessed and expressed remorse when confronted with evidence gathered during the covert phase of the investigation.

Gaydarov allegedly directed his four friends, including one who survived the Nova music festival massacre in October 2023, paying each of them several hundred shekels from the money he received.

Raouf Naggar, an attorney with the public defender’s office representing one of the suspects, said: “This is a person suffering from a complex medical and psychological condition. He fully cooperated with investigators. We will respond in detail after receiving the indictment and case materials.”

According to police, Lahav 433 and other units have opened 60 investigations in recent years into Israelis suspected of spying for Iran, all of which resulted in serious indictments.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening announced he had directed the cabinet to move forward with direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible, following repeated appeals from Beirut to advance such a process.

Netanyahu said the talks will focus on disarming Hezbollah and potentially formalizing peace relations between Israel and Lebanon.

The announcement comes amid continuous Hezbollah fire at northern Israel on Thursday and Iran’s threats to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz due to Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah. As of 7 p.m. on Thursday, Hezbollah fired about 70 rockets at Israel.

Netanyahu noted that Israel appreciates the Lebanese prime minister’s call to demilitarize Beirut. The negotiations are expected to begin next week.

An Israeli official told Channel 14 that the talks are expected to take place “under fire,” and that Israel is preparing to continue strikes in Lebanon alongside diplomatic efforts.

Against the backdrop of the announcement, Channel 12 News—citing journalist Barak Ravid—reported that Netanyahu held phone calls with U.S. President Donald Trump and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, during which Witkoff asked Netanyahu to “de-escalate” strikes in Lebanon in order not to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire with Iran.

It was also reported, citing a senior Israeli official, that Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, is expected to lead the direct negotiations with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Israeli sources told Kan News that one objective of the IDF operations in southern Lebanon is to compel the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel)

Despite the ceasefire between Iran and the US and Israel, the Strait of Hormuz remained shuttered to international maritime traffic on Wednesday and Thursday.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said his country will allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with “international norms and international law” once the United States ends its “aggression” in the Middle East and Israel stops attacking Lebanon.

Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC on Thursday that Iran had closed the strait after U.S. ally Israel committed an “intentional grave violation of the ceasefire.”

He said “you cannot have a cake and eat it at the same time. That was the message that Iran sent quite clearly, crystal-clearly, to Washington and to the Oval Office last night.”

Khatibzadeh added: “Definitely we are going to provide security for safe passage and it is going to happen after the United States actually withdraws this aggression. Does it mean that Iran is going to control the Strait of Hormuz in terms of letting ship by ship to go through that?

“I think that we have shown to everybody that energy security is pivotal for Iran, is pivotal for this body of water in the Persian Gulf, and we are going to be abided by the international norms and international law.”

Meanwhile, just three vessels transited the strait on the first day of the ceasefire, all with current or past links to Iran, the Lloyd’s List Intelligence maritime intelligence firm said Thursday.

Iran’s approval system for ships granted safe passage – after vetting by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – remains unchanged despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for the strait to be reopened.

Last week was the busiest week since the start of the war with 72 passages, still 90% below normal volumes, Lloyd’s said. Most of the vessels allowed through are connected to Iran, although some Indian vessels have gotten through with diplomatic intervention by the Indian government.

The US demanded on Wednesday that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic claimed that it closed the waterway in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump had previously stated that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire.

On Thursday morning, Trump threatened Iran that the war will resume if it fails to reopen the strait, warning that all US military assets will remain in the region until the Islamic Republic complies with a “real agreement.”

(AP & YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel)

The IDF eliminated Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary and nephew of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, in an airstrike in Beirut on Wednesday as part of Operation Eternal Darkness, the largest series of strikes against Hezbollah since the start of Operation Roaring Lion.

Harshi was a close associate and personal advisor to Qassem and played a significant role in managing and securing his office.

Overnight Wednesday, the IDF struck two key crossings used by Hezbollah commanders and terrorists to transfer thousands of weapons, rockets, and launchers from north of the Litani River to the south.

Additionally, the IDF struck about 10 Hezbollah command centers, weapons depots, and launch sites.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Thursday, saying that Israel will continue to strike Hezbollah until security is restored to the residents of northern Israel.

His statement comes as Iran ties its refusal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah.

“We continue to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination,” Netanyahu stated.

“Our message is clear: Whoever acts against Israeli civilians will be struck. We will continue to strike Hezbollah wherever required, until we restore full security to the residents of the north.”

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel)

US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Thursday morning, warning that all US military assets will remain in the region until the Islamic Republic complies with  a “real agreement.”

“All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

“If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the “Shootin’ Starts,” bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”

“It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE. In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest.”

“AMERICA IS BACK!” Trump concluded.

Trump’s statements came after Iran continued to block the Strait of Hormuz, claiming it is doing so due to Israel’s strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday. Trump had previously stated that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire.

US Vice President JD Vance claimed that there was a “legitimate misunderstanding,” saying that Iran thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, but “it didn’t.”

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Vance said, “We never made that promise. What we said is that the ceasefire would be focused on Iran and on America’s allies, both Israel and the Gulf Arab states.”

He claimed that Israel has offered to “check themselves a little bit in Lebanon,” emphasizing that it is not part of the ceasefire, but rather an effort “to make sure that our negotiations are successful.”

Vance warned that if Iran allows negotiations to fall apart over issues unrelated to the ceasefire—such as Lebanon—”that’s ultimately their choice.”

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel)

Classes resumed in most schools across Israel on Thursday morning, Isru Chag, following the end of Pesach and the ceasefire between Iran and the US and Israel. Schools have been closed in Israel since Shabbos Zachor, February 28, when Operation Roaring Lion began.

On Wednesday evening, Motzei Pesach, the IDF’s Home Front Command announced that, beginning at 6 a.m. on Thursday, almost all wartime restrictions will be lifted. Until further notice, gatherings are limited to 1,000 people. Also, some restrictions remained in place in northern Israel due to ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire.

The Kosel and other mekomos kedoshim reopened on Thursday morning to up to 1,000 visitors and mispallelim after being restricted to 50 mispallelim throughout the war.

Due to expectations of large crowds hoping to fulfill the minhag of aliyah la’regel, Jerusalem District Police Commander Avshalom Peled ordered increased operational readiness ahead of the reopening. Hundreds of police officers, Border Police forces, and volunteers were deployed throughout Jerusalem on Thursday—on main routes, in the Old City, and at mekomos kedoshim—to ensure safe access while maintaining public order.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Thursday morning announced changes to the upcoming summer vacation during a visit to the Chaviv School in Rishon L’Tzion, including an additional budget of 750 million shekels.

Speaking to the press, Kisch said he is advancing preparations for a government decision to fund an expanded summer school program, explaining that it is a necessity due to the war.

Under his plan, Israel’s existing summer school program, which until now served kindergarten children and students up to 3rd grade for three weeks, will be extended for another three weeks and will be expanded to include students up to 6th grade. In addition, a new “summer preparatory program” will be established for middle school students in 7th-9th grades.

“Educational routine is an anchor of security for our children,” Kisch said. “Davka now, our responsibility is to strengthen their resilience through a stable, supportive, and continuous framework. Extending the summer program will ensure continuity, stability, and a sense of security, and provide an important response for Israel’s children.”

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel)

The IDF announced on Wednesday that an IDF soldier was killed during combat in southern Lebanon and five soldiers were wounded.

The soldier was identified as Staff Sgt. Touvel Yosef Lifshiz, H’yd, 20, from Beit She’an. He served in the Golani’s 13th Battalion.

The incident occurred around noon on Tuesday when Golani soldiers encountered a Hezbollah terrorist cell, triggering a heavy exchange of fire at close range.

Lifshiz was killed during the gun battle, and five soldiers were wounded, one seriously and the others moderately and lightly.

The other soldiers carried out an evacuation under fire.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The IDF announced on Wednesday evening, Motzei Pesach, that it carried out its largest series of airstrikes against Hezbollah since the start of Operation Roaring Lion, targeting over 100 Hezbollah sites in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley, and southern Lebanon.

The operation, dubbed by the IDF as “Eternal Darkness,” was carried out by 50 fighter jets, which dropped 160 bombs on 100 targets in 10 minutes.

The IDF said that most of the sites were located in the heart of civilian areas as part of Hezbollah’s exploitation of Lebanese civilians as human shields.

The IDF added that Hezbollah has left its former stronghold in Dahiyeh in southern Beirut and was repositioning itself in northern Beirut and mixed areas of the city.

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Defense Minister Yisrael Katz also issued a statement, calling the strikes “the largest blow to Hezbollah since the pager operation.”

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Motzei Yom Tov in Israel)

Israel’s Transportation Ministry on Wednesday evening announced the resumption of full operations at Ben Gurion Airport beginning at midnight.

The announcement follows the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening.

The Civil Aviation Authority issued an official notice regarding the resumption of full operations at Ben Gurion to leading global regulators, including the FAA and EASA, as well as to international airlines.

Operations will resume at Ramon Airport near Eilat on Sunday.

The resumption of flights from Haifa Airport will only be evaluated toward the end of the week, subject to updated security assessments.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Motzei Yom Tov in Israel)

The United States demanded Wednesday that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic closed the waterway in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. Iran’s move cast doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war would hold.

The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries. Israel also intensified its attacks in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning.

The IDF said that it carried out its largest series of airstrikes against Hezbollah since the start of Operation Roaring Lion, targeting hundreds of terrorists in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley, and southern Lebanon. The operation, dubbed by the IDF as “Eternal Darkness,” was carried out by 50 fighter jets that dropped 160 bombs on 100 targets in 10 minutes.

“Aggression towards Lebanon is aggression towards Iran,” Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, aerospace commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, wrote on X. He warned that Iranian forces were preparing a “heavy response” without revealing details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted that an end to the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire agreement with the U.S.

“The world sees the massacres in Lebanon,” he said in a post on X. “The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said American and Israeli forces had achieved a “capital V military victory” and that the Iranian military no longer posed a significant threat to U.S. forces or the region. The Iranian military said the country forced Israel and the U.S. to accept its “proposed conditions and surrender.”

Much about the agreement was unclear as the sides presented vastly different visions of the terms.

— Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the strait, a crucial transit lane for oil. But the details were not clear, nor was it known whether vessels would feel safe using the channel or whether ship traffic had resumed. It also was unclear whether any other country agreed to this condition. The White House said Trump is opposed to tolls for ship passage through the strait.

— Pakistan, which helped to mediate the deal, and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israel said it would not, and strikes hit Beirut on Wednesday.

— The fate of Iran’s missile and nuclear programs — the elimination of which were major objectives for the U.S. and Israel in going to war — also remained unclear. Trump said the U.S. would work with Iran to remove buried enriched uranium, though Iran did not confirm that.

In the streets of Tehran, pro-government demonstrators screamed: “Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!” after the ceasefire announcement and burned American and Israeli flags.

The chants underscored the anger animating hard-liners, who have been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptic battle with the United States. Trump warned Tuesday that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” if a deal was not reached.

Ceasefire terms are murky

Trump initially said Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan that could help end the war the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28. But when a version in Farsi emerged that indicated Iran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium — which is key to building a nuclear weapon — Trump called it fraudulent without elaborating.

Vance later said the deal was being misrepresented within Iran, though he did not offer details. The White House said Vance would lead the American negotiating team in talks in Pakistan aimed at finding a permanent end to the war.

Iran’s demands for ending the war include a withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen assets.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s personal envoy arrived in Iran for talks on “the way forward.”

Pakistan said talks to seek a permanent end to the war could begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday.

Israel backed the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal does not cover fighting against Hezbollah. Trump told the “PBS News Hour” that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire deal “because of Hezbollah.”

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Israel will continue to “utilize every operational opportunity” to strike Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it struck more than 100 targets within 10 minutes Wednesday across Lebanon, the largest wave of strikes since March 1.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli attacks as “barbaric.” Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit accused Israel of “persistently seeking to sabotage” the Iran ceasefire deal.

Hezbollah has not confirmed if it will abide by the ceasefire, though the group has said it was open to giving mediators a chance to secure an agreement. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the group would not stop firing at Israel unless Israel agreed to do the same.

Iran and Oman will collect shipping fees in Strait of Hormuz

While Iran could not match the sophistication of U.S. and Israeli weaponry or their dominance in the air, its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz proved a tremendous strategic advantage. Iranian attacks and threats deterred many commercial ships from passing through the waterway, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.

That roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.

The ceasefire may formalize a system of charging fees in the strait that Iran instituted — and give it a new source of revenue.

The plan allows for both Iran and Oman to charge ships, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations they were directly involved in. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction.

That would upend decades of precedent treating the strait as an international waterway that was free to transit and will likely not be acceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated Iranian attacks targeting their oil fields.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management, further clouding the picture of who would be allowed to transit the waterway.

News of the ceasefire sent stock markets surging worldwide, and oil prices plunged back toward $90 per barrel.

Iran’s nuclear and missile threats survive

U.S.-Israeli strikes have battered Iran and its leadership, but they have not entirely eliminated the threats posed by Tehran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles or its support for regional proxies, like Hezbollah. The U.S. and Israel said addressing those threats was a key justification for going to war.

Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. would work with Iran to “dig up and remove” enriched uranium that was buried under joint U.S-Israeli strikes in June. He added that none of the material had been touched since. Any retrieval is expected to be an intensive undertaking.

There was no confirmation from Iran.

Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing Wednesday that the U.S. would do “something like” last June’s joint strikes with Israel on Iranian nuclear sites if the country refuses to surrender its enriched uranium voluntarily.

Tehran insisted for years that its nuclear program was peaceful, although it enriched uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.

Iran referred to its nuclear program differently in two versions of the ceasefire plan that it released. The version in Farsi included the phrase “acceptance of enrichment” for its nuclear program. That phrase was missing in English versions shared by Iranian diplomats with journalists.

Airstrikes reported after ceasefire announcement

Shortly after the ceasefire announcement, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all issued warnings about incoming missiles from Iran. That fire stopped for a time, then hostilities appeared to restart.

An oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island came under attack, according to Iranian state television. The state broadcaster reported that no one was hurt but did not say who launched the attack. The island is home to one of the terminals that Iran uses to export oil and gas.

A short time later, the United Arab Emirates’ air defenses fired at an incoming Iranian missile barrage. Kuwait said on Wednesday that three power and water desalination plants were badly damaged after 28 Iranian drones were launched at the country. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted nine drones.

More than 1,900 people had been killed in Iran as of late March, but the government has not updated the war’s toll for days.

In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, more than 1,500 people have been killed, and 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died.

In Gulf Arab states and the West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

(AP & YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Motzei Yom Tov in Israel)

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that the United States and Iran have agreed to a bilateral two-week ceasefire, a move that includes the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The announcement came less than two hours before an 8 p.m. deadline set by Trump, after which he had threatened to launch strikes targeting Iran’s critical infrastructure.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the agreement followed discussions with Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir of Pakistan, who urged him to delay planned military action.

Trump said he agreed to suspend attacks “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” describing the arrangement as a “double sided CEASEFIRE.”

The president added that U.S. military objectives had already been achieved and that negotiations toward a broader agreement were well advanced. According to Trump, Iran has presented a 10-point proposal that the U.S. views as a workable foundation for a longer-term deal.

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to,” Trump said, adding that the two-week pause would allow time to finalize a comprehensive agreement aimed at long-term peace with Iran and broader stability in the Middle East.

There was no immediate public confirmation from Iranian officials regarding the ceasefire terms or the reopening of the Strait, a critical global shipping route through which a significant portion of the world’s oil supply passes.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel is preparing for a range of outcomes as an 8 p.m. EST deadline set by President Donald Trump for Iran expires, from a ceasefire or interim agreement to a significant expansion of military strikes, Channel 12 reported Monday.

Senior Israeli officials described the coming hours as “dramatic,” with concern mounting that Washington and Tehran could reach a last-minute arrangement that falls short of fully addressing Iran’s nuclear program or adequately protecting Israeli interests.

At the same time, officials told the network that if Trump’s deadline passes without a deal, it could open an “extraordinary window of opportunity” to strike Iranian energy, electricity, and other national infrastructure targets that have not yet been hit.

Israel and the United States have already coordinated a division of such targets between them, according to the report.
Mediators including Qatar and Pakistan are continuing efforts to broker a compromise that could at minimum prevent further escalation, the report said.

The dueling scenarios reflect the acute uncertainty gripping Israeli decision-makers as the clock runs down — caught between concern over a diplomatic outcome that leaves core security questions unresolved and the prospect of a far broader campaign against Iran’s civilian and energy infrastructure if talks collapse entirely.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran warned it will take swift action if President Donald Trump follows through on threats of military strikes, as tensions escalate ahead of the 8 p.m. deadline.

“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes,” said Amir-Saeid Iravani. “It will exercise without hesitation its inherent right of self-defense, and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures.”

Iran also rejected a temporary ceasefire proposal, warning it would only allow further attacks.

Trump has warned that failure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could result in massive strikes on Iran’s infrastructure, writing that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”

Meanwhile, a UN envoy is reportedly heading to Tehran for last-minute talks, signaling continued diplomatic efforts even as the threat of escalation grows.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Israeli Air Force bombed Iran’s primary sonar and underwater detection manufacturing facility in Shiraz on Monday, the IDF announced, dealing what the military described as a significant blow to Tehran’s maritime warfare capabilities.

The Shiraz facility, which belonged to Iran’s defense ministry, was used for “the planning, research, development, and production of sonar systems that operate using sound waves” used to detect submarines, vessels, divers, and underwater missiles, the IDF said.

The strike “significantly damaged the maritime detection and defense capabilities of the Iranian terror regime, as well as its ability to produce and maintain submarines and maritime electronic systems,” the military said in a statement.

In a separate strike the same day, Israeli forces also hit a facility in Karaj described by the IDF as a “central site” for the manufacture of naval cruise missiles and air defense systems.

The IDF called the Shiraz installation Iran’s “most central site” for sonar and underwater detection production — suggesting the strike was aimed at crippling a capability that would be difficult for Tehran to quickly reconstitute.

The back-to-back strikes on Shiraz and Karaj represent a broad assault on Iran’s naval industrial base, targeting both the detection systems Iran relies on to monitor undersea threats and the offensive cruise missiles it deploys from its fleet.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad streetcorner last week, has been released, an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.

Kittleson was freed in the afternoon, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that prior to her release, she had been held in Baghdad.

The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31.

The group said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister,” Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that “this initiative will not be repeated in the future.”

The statement added a condition — that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kataib Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the one responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both U.S. and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group.

Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told the AP that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released.

Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist, had lived abroad for years before the kidnapping, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria. Like many freelancers, she often worked on a shoestring budget and without the protections afforded by large news organizations to staff.

She had entered Iraq again shortly before her abduction. U.S. officials have said that they warned her multiple times of threats against her, but that she did not want to leave.

Iraqi officials have said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed while being pursued near the town of al-Haswa in Babil province, southwest of Baghdad. The journalist was then transferred to a second car that fled the scene.

Three Iraqi officials said earlier Tuesday that attempts to negotiate her release had run into obstacles.

The two Iraqi security officials and one official from the pro-Iran Coordination Framework political bloc spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the sensitive case publicly.

One of the security officials said that an official with the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-backed militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, had been tasked with communicating with the abductors to secure Kittleson’s release but had run into difficulties in communicating with the Kataib Hezbollah leadership.

“The primary challenge is that the leaders of the Kataib militia — specifically, the commanders of the battalions — are nowhere to be found. No one knows their whereabouts, and the process of establishing contact with them is extremely complex,” they said. “These leaders have gone underground, maintaining no active lines of communication, out of fear of being targeted.”

The political official said a message had been sent to the Kataib leadership to determine their demands in exchange for releasing the kidnapped journalist. Iraqi authorities were willing to release six Kataib Hezbollah members who are currently detained, most of them in connection with attacks on a U.S. base in Syria, they said.

Kataib Hezbollah has previously been accused of kidnapping foreigners.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared in Baghdad in 2023. After she was freed and handed over to U.S. authorities in September 2025, she said that she had been held by Kataib Hezbollah.

The group never officially claimed responsibility for kidnapping her.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have also launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

(AP)

Tresident Trump personally called the NY Post on Tuesday to deny that the United States was moving toward nuclear war with Iran, unloading on Tucker Carlson in the process, who made the claim.

“Tucker’s a low IQ person that has absolutely no idea what’s going on,” Trump said. “He calls me all the time; I don’t respond to his calls. I don’t deal with him. I like dealing with smart people, not fools.”

The rebuke came after Carlson posted to X on Monday night claiming that Trump’s expletive-laden Sunday Truth Social post — threatening to bomb Iranian power plants and bridges — was “the first step toward nuclear war.” Carlson urged Christians to take notice of where Trump was leading the country.

On the same day Carlson published his post, one of America’s so-called doomsday planes was spotted circling above Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska — home to the military’s premier nuclear command, control, and communications hub — hours before Trump’s deadline for Iran to accept a peace deal was set to expire.

The White House did not offer an explanation for the aircraft’s flight path.

Trump’s denial was unambiguous, and his contempt for his former ally unusually sharp. The two men were once aligned closely enough that Carlson conducted one of the most-watched interviews of the 2024 campaign. Tuesday’s remarks suggest that relationship has fully collapsed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

As Trump’s Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ticks closer, Iranian officials are moving on two fronts: rallying citizens to volunteer as human shields around the country’s power plants, and signaling a willingness to sacrifice everything in defense of the nation.

Alireza Rahimi, secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, called on “young people, athletes, artists, students, university students, and their professors” to form human chains around power plants at 2 p.m., according to AP. He described the facilities as national assets belonging to Iran’s future.

Hours later, President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that more than 14 million Iranians had already declared readiness to give their lives for the country, and that he was among them. He wrote that he “has been, is, and will be” devoted to Iran.

The dual moves came directly in response to Trump’s threat to strike Iranian power plants and bridges if Tehran did not reopen the strait by Tuesday evening. Iran has warned that any attack on its energy network would trigger retaliation against civilian infrastructure across the region, including Israeli power plants, gas rigs, and desalination systems.

Negotiations appeared close to collapse. US officials told mediators the gaps were too wide to bridge before the 8 p.m. deadline. Iran had already rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal, instead demanding a full end to hostilities and shipping guarantees through Hormuz. Pakistan, serving as the sole communication channel, was still attempting to broker partial confidence-building steps, but sources described the chances of a deal as slim.

The stakes extend well beyond the two countries. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade, and US intelligence has assessed that Iran is unlikely to relinquish its grip on the waterway in the near term.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is intensifying its campaign against Iran, targeting key military and logistical infrastructure used by the regime.

“We are crushing the terrorist regime in Iran. But we are doing so with even greater vigor, and with increasing force.”

Netanyahu revealed that Israeli strikes over the past two days hit major assets, including aircraft and transport networks used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Yesterday, our pilots destroyed transport planes and dozens of helicopters at an Iranian Air Force base. Today, they attacked the train tracks and bridges used by the Revolutionary Guards.”

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He said the infrastructure was being used to move weapons, materials, and operatives targeting Israel, the United States, and other countries in the region.

Netanyahu emphasized that the campaign is not directed at the Iranian people, but at the regime itself.

“These actions… are not intended to attack the Iranian people. On the contrary, they are intended to weaken and crush the terrorist regime that has oppressed them for 47 years.”

He added that the ongoing operation is reshaping the regional balance of power.

“This is no longer the same Iran, nor is it the same Israel. We are changing the balance of power from one end to the other.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is unconscious and receiving medical treatment in the Shi’ite holy city of Qom, The Times reported Tuesday, citing a diplomatic memo it said was based on American and Israeli intelligence shared with Gulf allies.

If accurate, the memo would mark the first time Khamenei’s location has been publicly identified since he succeeded his father following Ali Khamenei’s death in February. Iranian officials have insisted he remains in charge. But he has not appeared publicly since the war began, and no audio or video of him speaking has been released — only two statements broadcast on state television attributed to him.

The memo, which has not been independently verified, describes him as unable to participate in regime decision-making, reportedly for several weeks.

The disclosure raises an immediate question with no clean answer: who is actually running Iran?

The most likely candidate is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has steadily accumulated power throughout the conflict. A prolonged leadership vacuum would accelerate that shift, potentially giving the IRGC effective control over both military operations and diplomatic decisions, including any negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz.

The same memo said preparations were underway in Qom for a large mausoleum for Ali Khamenei and possibly other family members — a detail that conflicts with earlier Iranian accounts of his burial plans, which placed mourning ceremonies in Tehran. Iranian authorities attributed the delay in a state funeral to expectations of massive turnout, but the gap between that explanation and Shi’ite custom, which favors swift burial, has drawn scrutiny.

Qom’s centrality to the succession crisis is not new. In early March, Israeli strikes hit the building in the city where the 88-member Assembly of Experts was reportedly convening to choose Ali Khamenei’s successor — a strike that underscored both the city’s religious significance and its role as the regime’s clerical nerve center.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump’s budget request to Congress includes the largest counterterrorism spending increase in years and establishes a new FBI-led center dedicated to proactively identifying Americans the government classifies as domestic terrorists, according to a review of the budget documents.

The center, called the “NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center,” was created to implement Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, signed last September. It draws personnel from 10 federal agencies and operates by “integrating intelligence, operational support, and financial analysis,” the budget request states.

According to the budget documents, the center proactively targets individuals motivated by beliefs including “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” “anti-Christianity,” “support for the overthrow of the U.S. Government,” extremism related to migration, race, or gender, and hostility toward those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, or morality.

The budget request links the center’s creation in part to “heinous assassinations” it says have “dramatically increased” — an apparent allusion to the murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, which reportedly precipitated the development of NSPM-7.

The documents also identify social media as a vehicle for domestic radicalization, stating that domestic terrorists “exploit a variety of popular social media platforms, smaller websites with targeted audiences, and encrypted chat applications” to recruit, plan, and disseminate materials encouraging violence.

FBI Director Kash Patel testified to Congress shortly after Kirk’s death that the Bureau was overseeing a 300 percent increase in domestic terrorism investigations. He also said the FBI would investigate every person on Discord channels used by accused killer Tyler Robinson, and announced the Bureau was pursuing “the possibility of accomplices,” including a potential foreign nexus. Patel later concluded there was no evidence supporting those theories.

The NSPM-7 center represents one of several structural shifts in the FBI’s domestic terrorism apparatus under the current administration. Early in Trump’s term, the Bureau replaced the post-9/11 Terrorist Screening Center with a broader “Threat Screening Center” overseeing multiple watchlists covering international terrorists, transnational criminals, and domestic threats. The FBI’s domestic terrorism watchlist has also grown in that period.

Civil liberties advocates and critics have raised concerns that the ideological breadth of the categories listed in the budget request could subject Americans with mainstream political views to federal scrutiny. The administration has not publicly addressed those concerns. Officials have previously walked back claims that two individuals — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were domestic terrorists, as had been initially alleged.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iranian Jewish community leaders are reacting with anger after reports that a Shul in central Tehran was damaged — and possibly destroyed — during Israeli airstrikes, with claims that Sifrei Torah are now buried beneath the rubble.

According to Iranian state media, the Rafi Niya Shul sustained significant damage after a nearby building was targeted in the Israeli strikes. The blast reportedly caused widespread destruction in surrounding structures, including the shul itself.

Homayoun Sameh, the Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament, lashed out at Israel and the United States, claiming the attack caused devastating damage to one of the community’s most historic sites.

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“Our Sifrei Torah are under the rubble. The Zionist regime did not spare even the synagogue,” Sameh said, according to Iranian media.

He added, “Unfortunately, during this attack, the Shul building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls remained under the ruins. This will cause distress to the Jewish community.”

Sameh further accused Israel of targeting not only Muslims but also other religious communities, stating: “The Zionist regime, with its cruel ambitions, has not spared not only the Muslim community but also communities of other religions, including the Jewish community.”

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Rabbi Younes Hammami Lalezar, leader of Iran’s Jewish community, was filmed standing before the ruins of the shul.

Notably, Iran allowed the footage of this incident to be released, unlike footage of the tens of thousands of other airstrikes on the country in the past 5 weeks. The Internet remains 100% shut in Iran unless it’s for propaganda purposes.

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However, Israeli officials say the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear. An internal report from Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry notes that there are conflicting accounts as to whether the synagogue was damaged or completely destroyed.

The report indicates that while several sources — primarily Iranian — support claims of damage, there has been no independent verification that the site was intentionally targeted.

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The Associated Press cited Iranian media reports and published footage from the scene showing rescuers moving through debris, with what appeared to be sifrei torah visible among the rubble.

Israeli officials say the Foreign Ministry is reviewing the reports, while the IDF has not yet issued an official comment.

Preliminary assessments suggest the shul may have been caught in the blast radius of a strike aimed at an adjacent structure, rather than being directly targeted.

Analysts cited in the Israeli report also cautioned that Iranian officials’ claims that Israel deliberately struck a shul have not been independently verified, raising the possibility the incident is being used for propaganda purposes.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump has just threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if a deal with Iran is not reached and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by his deadline at 8 p.m. ET.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said, adding: “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”

The president said the world would “find out tonight” in what he described as “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”

The comments are his latest threats ahead of the deadline.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Gunmen opened fire near the building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday in what authorities believe may be an ISIS-linked attack.

According to officials, three attackers armed with rifles and pistols exchanged fire with police near the consulate. One attacker was killed at the scene, while two others were wounded and taken into custody.

Two police officers were also lightly injured during the gun battle.

Authorities identified the suspects as brothers Onur C. and Enes C., who were arrested, and Yunus E.S., who was killed. Turkish officials said Yunus had “ties to an organization that exploits religion,” while local media and journalists identified the group as ISIS.

Officials noted that no Israeli diplomatic staff have been present at the consulate for over two years.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to jail a journalist at an unnamed media outlet unless the reporter reveals the source behind early reporting on the rescue of a downed American airman in Iran, touching off a wave of speculation that the target of his remarks may be Israeli Channel 12 correspondent Amit Segal.

“We have to find that leaker, because that’s a sick person,” Trump told reporters. “It’s national security. And the person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say. And that doesn’t last long. And I think everybody would understand that. They put this mission at great risk.”

Segal posted to X at 11:19 a.m. Friday, citing a Western source: “One of the American crew members was successfully rescued.” Axios correspondent Barak Ravid confirmed the news shortly after, with CBS, the Washington Post, and other U.S.-based outlets quickly following.

Segal, a prominent political reporter and a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, addressed the speculation directly when reached by the New York Post’s Caitlin Doornbos. “I’m not sure I was the first,” he said of the report. He then added flatly: “I will protect my sources.”

Legal observers and journalists noted that Trump’s threat appeared aimed at an American journalist, given the limited jurisdiction the U.S. would have to prosecute or pressure a foreign-based reporter.

Trump made clear he views the disclosure as a serious breach. “Probably didn’t realize the extent of how bad it was — I can’t imagine that the person did,” he said. “But we’re going to find out.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump welcomed a wide-ranging group of Jewish leaders to the White House on Monday in a Pesach gathering that brought together representatives from across the religious and communal spectrum.

Among those in attendance were Antisemitism Envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, American Friends of Chabad Lubavitch Executive Vice President Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Agudah CEO Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, and Holocaust Memorial Council Chairman Jeffrey Miller.

Also present were Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski and former Hamas hostage Edan Alexander, who attended alongside his parents. Additional participants included Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik, representatives from the Satmar community, New Square Mayor Izzy Spitzer, Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, and Harold Loss, a Reform rabbi from West Bloomfield, Michigan, whose congregation was recently targeted in an attempted terror attack by a Hezbollah-aligned suspect.

During the gathering, Trump expressed appreciation for the Jewish leaders present and for the broader Jewish community, offering Passover greetings and reflecting on the significance of the holiday.

The event also included a call-in from Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Russian intelligence has provided Iran with a detailed list of 55 critical energy infrastructure targets inside Israel, according to a source close to Ukrainian intelligence cited by The Jerusalem Post, pointing to deepening military and intelligence cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

The targeted sites are divided into three tiers based on strategic importance. The first category covers critical production facilities whose destruction would cripple Israel’s national energy system, with the Orot Rabin power station named as a primary target. The second tier encompasses major urban and industrial energy hubs concentrated in central Israel. The third covers regional substations and smaller power plants supporting industrial zones.

Russian intelligence reportedly assessed Israel as uniquely vulnerable due to what it characterized as the country’s status as an “energy island.” Unlike most European nations, Israel does not import electricity from neighboring countries, meaning its grid operates in near-total isolation. According to the findings, Russian intelligence told Iran that damaging even a handful of central components could trigger a total and prolonged energy collapse, producing mass blackouts and cascading technical failures that would be difficult to contain.

The report comes amid growing warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the expanding Russia-Iran axis. In an interview with the Post two weeks ago, Zelensky said battlefield knowledge Russia gained in Ukraine is being exported to the Middle East.

“The Russians also helped them, like the Iranians helped [Russia] at the beginning of the war when they gave them Shaheds,” Zelensky said. “They gained big knowledge on the battlefield and this impacting and will have an impact on other regions.”

Zelensky also alleged that Russia has begun producing Shahed-style drones on its own soil and supplying them to Iran, pointing to Russian components discovered in a drone recently downed in an unspecified Middle Eastern country. “We saw some components; they had Russian details. We know it because Iranians didn’t produce it,” he said.

Ukrainian officials assess that Moscow’s motive is twofold: to strengthen its most significant regional ally and to engineer a fresh crisis in the Middle East that diverts international attention and resources away from the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, pushed back on the allegations, saying Russian and Israeli officials have long maintained security contacts and that Russian political leadership has “repeatedly dissented” from accusations that Moscow is supplying intelligence data to Iran.

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The four murdered victims of an Iranian ballistic missile that struck an apartment building in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday have been identified as all being members of one family.

The victims were identified as Vladimir Gershovitz, 73 hy”d, his wife Lena Ostrovsky Gershovitz hy”d, 68, their son Dimitri “Dima” Gershovitz hy”d, 42, and Dima’s wife Lucille-Jane Gershovitz, 29.

Dima and Lucille-Jane had driven up from their home in Herzliya that same day to escort Vladimir home after an extended hospital stay, arriving just hours before the missile struck.

“Dima managed to bring Vladimir back from the hospital, and, unfortunately, the missile hit the residence, killing the four of them,” a family friend recounted. “All the floors collapsed on the first floor where they lived.”

The family did not have time to reach the building’s shelter before the strike. The warhead did not detonate on impact, but the kinetic force of the missile caused multiple floors to collapse, burying all four beneath the rubble. An Israeli Air Force investigation found the missile was not intercepted because it broke apart mid-flight.

Four others in the building were wounded, including an 82-year-old man left in serious condition who underwent surgery and remained sedated and ventilated as of Monday. A 10-month-old baby sustained a head injury and was listed in light condition.

President Isaac Herzog offered condolences on X, calling the Gershovitz’s “a wonderful family that was wiped out in an instant by a criminal Iranian missile.” Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who said he grew up minutes from the Gershovitz home, wrote: “It’s hard to grasp how the complete lives of four people were simply obliterated in an instant.”

The strike brings to 20 the number of Israeli civilians and foreign nationals killed in Iranian ballistic missile attacks since the war began February 28. More than 500 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran at Israel since the start of the conflict.

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President Donald Trump revealed Monday that the United States had attempted to arm Iranian anti-regime protesters, but that the weapons were diverted before reaching their intended recipients.

“We sent guns, a lot of guns, they were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs,” Trump told reporters at a White House Easter event. “You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them.”

“They said, ‘What a beautiful gun. I think I’ll keep it,'” Trump claimed. “So I’m very upset with a certain group of people, and they’re going to pay a big price for that.”

Trump did not name the group in his Monday remarks, but on Sunday he had told a Fox News reporter that he believed Kurdish intermediaries were responsible. “We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them… and I think the Kurds took the guns,” he said.

He continued his criticism of the Kurds later Monday at a White House press conference, saying he would prefer they stay out of the war entirely. “I’d rather have them stay away because I think they bring with them some problems and some difficulty,” he said. “They bring death… to themselves.”

The remarks shed new light on a covert effort to support the wave of anti-government protests that swept Iran in January. At the time, Trump had publicly vowed that “help was on the way” and urged Iranians to take to the streets and seize government institutions. After the Iranian regime launched a violent crackdown — reportedly killing tens of thousands — Trump pulled back from that posture and began military operations against Iran weeks later alongside Israel.

A Channel 12 investigative report published last week added further context, revealing that the U.S. and Israel had jointly planned for Kurdish militia forces to invade Iran at the outset of the war, hoping to trigger a broader rebellion that could topple the Islamic Republic. The plan was ultimately shelved due to media leaks, pressure from regional allies, and hesitation among the Kurds themselves.

Since the war began, both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have visibly moderated their regime-change rhetoric. Netanyahu has said several times in recent weeks that he cannot be certain the Iranian public will rise up, a notable shift from earlier proclamations of a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Iranians to overthrow their government.
Trump has since urged Iranians to wait until after the bombing campaign subsides before taking to the streets.

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President Donald Trump on Monday hailed the rescue of two American airmen downed behind enemy lines in Iran as a “historic” mission while issuing a blunt warning to Tehran: reach a deal before Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. ET deadline or face total destruction.

“This is a rescue that’s very historic,” Trump told reporters at a White House press conference. “It’ll go down to the books.”

Trump described the incident as beginning late Thursday night, when an F-15E fighter jet went down deep inside Iranian territory during Operation Epic Fury. Both crew members were successfully recovered.

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Trump on the rescued airman: “He was injured quite badly and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a higher altitude… he scaled cliff faces, bleeding rather profusely.”

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“The second rescue mission involved 155 aircraft,” Trump said. “We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge. We wanted to have them think he was in a different location because they had a vast military force out there. Thousands of people were looking.”

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Trump added: “Somebody leaked something, which will hopefully find that leaker. We’re working very hard to find that leaker. They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing. We’re going to go to media company who released it and say national security, give it up or go to jail.”

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Trump on Operation Epic Fury: “Over the past 37 days, America’s armed forces have carried out more than 10,000 combat flights over Iran, striking more than 13,000 targets… It’s a record that is unparalleled in the history of military air operations.”

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But Trump quickly pivoted from praising the rescue to delivering a stark warning.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said.

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The remarks came hours after Trump acknowledged that Iran had submitted a “significant proposal” but characterized it as “not good enough,” and as War Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an escalating air campaign.

“By the way, per the president’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation,” Hegseth said, speaking just before Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan “Raizin'” Caine addressed reporters. “Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice.”

Hegseth did not soften the message. “Choose wisely, because this president does not play around,” he said. “You can ask Soleimani, you can ask Maduro. You can ask Khamenei.”

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President Donald Trump on Monday hailed the rescue of two American airmen downed behind enemy lines in Iran as a “historic” mission while issuing a blunt warning to Tehran: reach a deal before Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. ET deadline or face total destruction.

“This is a rescue that’s very historic,” Trump told reporters at a White House press conference. “It’ll go down to the books.”

Trump described the incident as beginning late Thursday night, when an F-15E fighter jet went down deep inside Iranian territory during Operation Epic Fury. Both crew members were successfully recovered.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Trump on the rescued airman: “He was injured quite badly and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a higher altitude… he scaled cliff faces, bleeding rather profusely.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

“The second rescue mission involved 155 aircraft,” Trump said. “We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge. We wanted to have them think he was in a different location because they had a vast military force out there. Thousands of people were looking.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Trump added: “Somebody leaked something, which will hopefully find that leaker. We’re working very hard to find that leaker. They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing. We’re going to go to media company who released it and say national security, give it up or go to jail.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Trump on Operation Epic Fury: “Over the past 37 days, America’s armed forces have carried out more than 10,000 combat flights over Iran, striking more than 13,000 targets… It’s a record that is unparalleled in the history of military air operations.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

But Trump quickly pivoted from praising the rescue to delivering a stark warning.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

The remarks came hours after Trump acknowledged that Iran had submitted a “significant proposal” but characterized it as “not good enough,” and as War Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an escalating air campaign.

“By the way, per the president’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation,” Hegseth said, speaking just before Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan “Raizin'” Caine addressed reporters. “Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice.”

Hegseth did not soften the message. “Choose wisely, because this president does not play around,” he said. “You can ask Soleimani, you can ask Maduro. You can ask Khamenei.”

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

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In a deeply troubling development amid the ongoing war, four active-duty IDF soldiers serving in combat roles have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, according to details emerging from an active security investigation.

The case, described as highly sensitive, is being jointly handled by the Shin Bet and Israel Police. Authorities say the alleged espionage activity took place during the course of the war, raising serious concerns about potential breaches within operational military units.

The four suspects were taken into custody over the past week in two separate waves of coordinated arrests. Officials confirmed that some of the individuals are currently barred from meeting with legal counsel due to the severity of the investigation. A court has since extended the detention of all suspects as the probe continues.

At this stage, many details remain under gag order, and investigators have not publicly disclosed the extent of the alleged intelligence passed or how long the activity may have been ongoing.

Security officials are continuing their efforts to uncover the full scope of the case, with additional developments expected in the coming days.

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Despite an ongoing state of emergency and the pressures of war, Kyiv’s Jewish community held a series of Pesach sedarim across the city, reaching Jewish residents, soldiers, and prisoners in what community leaders described as an effort to ensure no Jew marked the Yom Tov alone.

The events were organized by Chief Rabbi of Kyiv Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch and his son Rabbi Ariel Markovitch, under the auspices of Chabad of Kyiv.

Central Seders were held at the Jewish Community Center Beit Menachem and at the Or Avner Perlina school, drawing hundreds of participants.

A separate Seder was held for Jewish detainees at the Lukyanivka detention facility in Kyiv. In addition, matzah and Pesach kits were distributed to Jewish prisoners in correctional facilities throughout Ukraine. Hundreds of food packages and matzah were also delivered to Jewish residents across the city, with assistance from the JRNU organization.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, himself Jewish, received matzah from Rabbi Markovitch ahead of Pesach and conveyed a personal greeting to the community through him.

Senior officials from the Office of the President attended the JCC Beit Menachem events, including Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov and his deputy Iryna Mudra, who is herself a member of Kyiv’s Jewish community.

Jewish soldiers on active duty were granted short leave to attend the Seder — joining the community for the first time since the war began.

“This year, more than ever, we understood how important it is to reach every Jew, no matter where they are,” Rabbi Markovitch said. “Pesach is a holiday of freedom, but also of unity and responsibility for every Jew. Seeing the community come together — people arriving, singing together, and strengthening one another — gives us the strength to continue, despite the difficult circumstances.”

Ukraine’s Jewish community, historically one of the largest in Europe, has faced significant disruption since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with many Ukrainian Jews having fled the country. Those who remain have continued to maintain communal life under wartime conditions.

Photo Credits: JCC Kiev

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A devastating car accident involving Israeli tourists near Silistra has left one woman dead and several others injured.

According to ZAKA spokesman Yisrael Chassid, the group had been traveling back from the kever of the Pele Yoetz when their vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with multiple cars. The group had been visiting the area as part of a Pesach vacation organized by a tourism company.

All injured were transported to local hospitals, where doctors fought to save the life of one of the victims. Tragically, a woman from Jerusalem was later pronounced dead.

ZAKA’s international division, together with Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the department for Israelis abroad, is assisting the families and working to arrange the transfer of the nifteres for kevurah in Israel as soon as possible.

Further details are expected to be released.

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The New York Times is under fire for sanitizing an antisemitic slur without, apparently, a single editor asking what it actually meant.

The controversy centers on a piece titled “I Think That MAGA Is Dying: Inside the Youth Movement at CPAC,” in which Times reporter Nathan Taylor Pemberton described young conservatives debating “the conservative backlash against those who were ‘J-pilled’ (far-right slang for skepticism of Israeli influence).”

The term does not refer to skepticism of Israeli policy. It refers to conspiratorial and hostile beliefs about Jews. Urban Dictionary, the crowdsourced slang reference, defines the related phrase “Jew pill” in precisely those terms. The “J,” multiple commentators noted pointedly, does not stand for Israel.

“Here’s a hint. It isn’t Israel,” said Melissa Weiss, executive editor of Jewish Insider, who questioned how the description survived the scrutiny of multiple editors. Jerry Dunleavy, chief investigative correspondent for Just The News, accused the Times of “casually whitewashing what ‘J-pilled’ actually means” before adding the same pointed aside: Israel does not begin with the letter J.

Lahav Harkov of Jewish Insider drew a telling comparison, likening the Times’s framing to the BBC’s practice of translating Palestinian references to “Yahood” — the Arabic word for Jews — as “Zionists,” a substitution that obscures antisemitism behind the veneer of political critique.

Political writer Katya Sedgwick suggested the Times’s handling of the term was less an anomaly than a habit. “They are so used to smoothing out woke left antisemitism,” she wrote, “they did the same to woke right.”

The Times has not issued a correction.

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Democrats hold a five-point lead on the generic congressional ballot, but CNN data analyst Harry Enten said Monday that number should worry the party more than reassure it.

Appearing on CNN with anchor John Berman, Enten framed the current Democratic advantage as historically underwhelming given the political environment.

“Democrats are ahead, but they’re only ahead by five with a president whose net approval rating is bordering on -20 to -30, depending on what polls you look at,” he said. “You’d make the argument Democrats should be way ahead. And they’re just only sort of, slightly ahead.”

By comparison, Democrats led by eight points on the generic ballot at this stage of the 2018 cycle and by 11 points during the 2006 wave. “That’s less than it was back in 2018 when it was eight points, and way less than it was during the 2006 cycle when it was 11 points,” Enten noted.

Enten said five points is likely sufficient for Democrats to flip the House, but falls well short of what they need on the Senate map. Walking through the math, he explained that if Republicans simply hold every state Trump won by more than 10 points, they retain the chamber 51-49 — even after losing North Carolina and Maine.

“Five points is almost certainly not enough if you apply it to the Senate map,” he said. “What you would see is that the Democrats would flip North Carolina, they would flip Maine, but Republicans would hold on to Ohio, they’d hold on to Texas, and they’d hold on to Alaska because Donald Trump won all those states by greater than 10 points.”

He called it the “chalk scenario” — the most straightforward outcome — and backed it with a historical data point: during the Trump era, no party has flipped a Senate seat in a state the opposing presidential candidate won by 10 or more points. “Zero, zero, zero times did a party flip those states,” Enten said.

The generic ballot weakness, Enten argued, is compounded by a party favorability deficit that has no recent precedent heading into a midterm with a Republican president. In 2018, Democrats led on net favorability by 12 points. In 2006, they led by 18. Today, Republicans are ahead by five.

“Democrats are just, simply put, running behind their previous benchmarks,” Enten said, “and they need to be running well ahead of them if they want to take back the United States Senate given that math.”

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Hamas declared that any discussion of its disarmament before the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented amounts to “an overt attempt to continue the genocide against the Palestinian people” — the group’s sharpest public pushback yet against a central element of President Donald Trump’s postwar vision for Gaza.

In a televised statement, Hamas’s armed wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida said raising the weapons issue “in a crude manner” would not be accepted. “What the enemy is trying to push through today against the Palestinian resistance, via our brotherly mediators, is extremely dangerous,” he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the remarks constituted a formal rejection of the US-backed disarmament framework. Hamas political officials did not respond to requests for comment, and Israel offered no immediate response to Ubaida’s statement.

Hamas’s disarmament is among the most significant sticking points in efforts to implement Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” plan for Gaza, which aims to cement the ceasefire that halted two years of full-scale fighting last October. Three sources told Reuters last week that Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss giving up its weapons without guarantees that Israel will fully withdraw from Gaza.

Hamas accused Israel of “calling for an illusory peace through brute force, spreading destruction across the entire region.”

Ubaida urged mediators to pressure Israel to fulfill its commitments under phase one before any conversation about phase two — including disarmament — can take place. “The enemy is the one who undermines the agreement,” he said.

Since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of violating its terms, with no resolution to the sequencing dispute in sight.

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Every major Kurdish Iranian opposition group has denied receiving weapons from the United States, after President Donald Trump told Fox News that his administration had sent guns to Iranian protesters through Kurdish intermediaries — an account that party officials and regional experts say does not hold up.

The denials came in response to a Fox News report on Sunday by correspondent Trey Yingst, citing Trump directly: “We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them…. And I think the Kurds took the guns.”

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan said the Fox News claims are “inaccurate and do not reflect reality.” PJAK, the Kurdistan Free Life Party, said there is “no such relationship” with the US. Komala stated it has “not received any form of military or arms assistance from the US.” Senior officials at both the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraq’s Ministry of Peshmerga told journalist Diyar Kurda they were “not aware of any weapons being transferred.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg, a journalist and expert on Kurdish affairs, wrote on X that he had spoken to multiple Iranian Kurdish party leaders on the ground, all of whom denied the reports. Regional expert Shukriya Bradost similarly said that “based on my sources within Kurdish parties, none of them received any weapons during Iran’s protests.”

Kurdish groups operate in western Iran’s border regions — far from Tehran, Tabriz, and Isfahan, where protests were concentrated. Movement in those areas relies largely on pedestrian routes, making large-scale arms transfers logistically implausible. And there is no unified non-Kurdish Iranian opposition capable of receiving or distributing a shipment even if one arrived.

Additionally, Iran’s rural border regions are already heavily armed, serving as weapons distribution hubs for insurgencies across the region. If functional smuggling corridors into Iran’s cities existed, protesters would not need American guns to access them.

This is the second time Kurdish groups have found themselves at the center of disputed war reporting. In early March, reports of an imminent Kurdish offensive into Iran proved false — the offensive never happened, and details appear to have been leaked prematurely. On March 8, Trump told reporters he did not want to see Kurds getting hurt in the war.

Since February 28, Iran has struck Kurdish opposition bases in northern Iraq hundreds of times using Iraqi militia proxies, killing and wounding group members. The groups have resisted pressure to launch a unilateral uprising, calculating that they would bear the brunt of any regime response while rival opposition factions accused them of separatism.

Most remain lightly armed with small arms acquired over years of low-level conflict. Despite launching no offensive operations, they have been targeted repeatedly — and the latest round of disputed reporting, Kurdish officials made clear, is precisely the kind of attention they can do without.

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The American weapons officer stranded for nearly 36 hours in Iranian mountain terrain did more than hide and wait — he actively directed airstrikes against advancing Iranian forces from his crevice on a 7,000-foot ridgeline, using emergency communications equipment, The New York Times reported.

The new details paint a picture of an operation that was as chaotic as it was daring, marked by a 14-hour communication blackout, a last-minute equipment failure that nearly stranded the rescue team alongside their target, and a classified CIA technology that cracked the search when conventional methods came up short.

After his F-15 was shot down Friday morning, the weapons officer hiked to a high ridgeline and wedged himself into a rocky crevice, according to American military officials cited by the Times. From that position, he was able to observe Iranian forces moving in his direction and relay their locations to rescuers, who used the intelligence to call in strikes against the advancing troops.

There was no firefight between US and Iranian forces, the Times reported. US officials noted that the region where the officer came down is one that is “strongly opposed to the Iranian regime,” a factor that may have worked in his favor. It remains unclear how close Iranian forces actually came to his hiding place.

American forces began rescue efforts from the moment the jet went down, but received no sign of life from the airman for approximately 14 hours, consistent with earlier reporting that he was unconscious upon landing and initially unable to make contact.

Once a signal was finally received, it took additional hours to pinpoint his location and confirm his identity. That process was cracked by what the Times described only as “a special piece of technology” unique to the CIA. No further details were provided.

The timeline raised questions about an earlier statement attributed to Trump, who told Axios the crewman had radioed a message after ejecting from the aircraft — quoted by a US official as: “God is good.” How that account squares with the reported 14-hour blackout was not immediately clear.

The most harrowing stretch of the operation came not during the search, but during the extraction itself.

The airman was meant to depart Iran aboard one of two C-130 transport aircraft, flying out alongside his rescuers from a makeshift airstrip constructed specifically for the mission. But the nose gear of at least one of the planes — and possibly both — became stuck in the sand. Rescue teams spent hours trying to free the aircraft before the effort was abandoned and replacement aircraft were called in.

The replacements were smaller turboprop aircraft, capable of operating from short, austere airstrips — precisely the kind of field the team was now working with. Their arrival made the extraction possible.

The original C-130s, along with four MH-6 special operations helicopters used in the mission, were destroyed by airstrikes after the rescue team departed — standard procedure to prevent sensitive equipment from falling into Iranian hands.

Israel worked alongside the US throughout the operation, both to gather intelligence — including confirming whether the airman was alone — and to carry out strikes providing cover for American commandos on the ground during the extraction, the Times reported. Earlier reporting by The Jerusalem Post established that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper remained in direct contact throughout the 48-hour window.

Throughout the operation, the White House, Pentagon, and CENTCOM maintained an unusual public silence. Trump, typically prolific on social media, went quiet enough that a local reporter traveled to Walter Reed Hospital to check whether he had been admitted, according to Reuters.

The silence was deliberate. When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reached Trump by phone after the weapons officer’s emergency beacon finally activated Friday night, he told the president that everything about the pilot’s earlier rescue — already reported in the media — had to remain publicly unacknowledged until the second airman was safe. A prepared CENTCOM statement on the pilot’s extraction was quietly shelved.

Trump announced the second rescue early Sunday morning on Truth Social.

“This is the first time in military memory that two US Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” he wrote. “WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!”

It was the first time the US has lost aircraft over Iranian territory since the war began February 28, when a wave of US and Israeli airstrikes killed, among others, then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

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Iran has rejected a U.S.-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire, according to IRNA, instead demanding a complete halt to hostilities and guarantees for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The report says Tehran submitted a 10-clause response to mediators, with one source telling The Jerusalem Post that “the gaps are very significant.”

President Donald Trump has warned that failure to reach a deal by Tuesday could result in severe consequences for Tehran.

Meanwhile, a proposed framework brokered by Pakistan calls for a two-stage process—an immediate ceasefire followed by broader negotiations—but major disagreements remain.

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A federal appeals court in New York has reinstated a $655.5 million damages judgment against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority for financing and orchestrating terrorist attacks during the Second Intifada, capping a more than two-decade legal odyssey that survivors and victims’ families refused to abandon.

The ruling reinstates a 2015 jury verdict in Sokolow v. Palestinian Authority, which had been thrown out by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 2016 on jurisdictional grounds and left in limbo after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in 2018. Its revival was made possible by a May 2025 Supreme Court decision that established US courts do have jurisdiction to hear terrorism claims against the Palestinian Authority for financing attacks on American citizens, even when those attacks occurred on foreign soil.

The case dates to 2004, when Shurat HaDin — Israel Law Center — filed suit on behalf of American victims and their families under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a 1992 statute allowing US nationals to seek civil damages for acts of international terrorism. The complaint alleged that the PLO and PA financed and directed seven separate attacks in Jerusalem between January 2001 and February 2004.

Among the plaintiffs are families who lost children in the bombing of the Hebrew University cafeteria, the Goldberg family, whose father was killed in the No. 19 bus bombing in Jerusalem, and survivors including Mark Sokolow, Jonathan and Alan Bauer, and Shaina Gold, who were wounded in separate attacks on Jaffa Road.

A jury found the PLO liable in February 2015 and awarded $218.5 million in damages. Under a treble-damages provision of the Anti-Terrorism Act, that figure was automatically tripled to $655.5 million.

The PA appealed, and the Second Circuit vacated the verdict the following year, ruling the court lacked jurisdiction over a foreign entity for acts committed abroad. The case has been working its way back through the system ever since.

The legal landscape shifted last year when the Supreme Court ruled in a separate but related case brought by Miriam Fuld, whose husband Ari Fuld was stabbed and killed by a 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist outside a shopping center in 2018. That ruling established that courts could hear terrorism claims against the PA, clearing the precedential hurdle that had blocked the Sokolow case from proceeding.

The 2019 Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act also bolstered the plaintiffs’ position, establishing that foreign entities that make payments connected to terrorist activity or maintain activities tied to the United States may be deemed to have consented to US court jurisdiction.

Despite the size of the judgment, collecting it will not be easy. US courts have no direct mechanism to compel the PA or PLO to pay, and neither entity is expected to comply voluntarily.

Shurat HaDin said it plans to seek enforcement through the Israeli legal system, citing treaty arrangements between Washington and Jerusalem. If successful, the judgment could eventually affect PA tax revenues, a significant pressure point given that Israel collects customs duties on the Authority’s behalf.

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More than a month into the war, one of the most consequential questions facing Israeli and American planners remains unanswered: how many ballistic missiles does Iran actually have left?

The IDF’s official position is that Iran retains several hundred ballistic missiles from an original stockpile of approximately 2,500. But IDF sources have acknowledged to The Jerusalem Post that no one really knows for certain.

The uncertainty broke into the open after Channel 12 reported, citing IDF Air Force Col. “T,” that Iran still possesses more than 1,000 ballistic missiles — directly contradicting the military’s own prior estimates. When the Jerusalem Post pressed the IDF on the discrepancy, the military initially stood by its lower estimate before conceding that the true number remains unknown.

The gap between those two figures — several hundred versus more than one thousand — is not a rounding error. It is the difference between an adversary in its final chapter and one with significant destructive capacity remaining.

At the heart of the uncertainty is a question that neither Israel nor the United States has been able to resolve cleanly: how many of the missiles buried under rubble from Israeli strikes are genuinely destroyed, and how many are temporarily inaccessible but ultimately salvageable?

In some cases, Iran has developed specialized bulldozer teams capable of clearing caved-in missile silos within less than a day. Missiles recovered through such efforts would not only remain part of Iran’s long-term arsenal — they could potentially be made ready for use in the short term.

Missile launchers present an additional layer of complexity. The IDF has said roughly 70 to 80 percent of Iran’s launchers have been put out of commission for at least some period of time, with approximately half of those destroyed outright and the other half buried and neutralized — for now. How long they remain neutralized depends on Iran’s recovery capabilities.

The confusion is compounded by inconsistent public messaging. Both the U.S. and Israel have at various points claimed Iran’s missile capabilities were reduced by 90 percent, yet Iran’s actual firing rate has temporarily spiked upward on multiple occasions since those claims were made, before declining again.

Despite the uncertainty, several relatively firm data points help frame the question. Iran has fired more than 500 ballistic missiles at Israel since the war began. Gulf states have collectively reported absorbing approximately 1,300 Iranian missile strikes. Iran’s daily launch rate fell below 20 missiles per day by the fourth day of the war and has since declined further.

Starting from the IDF’s baseline figure of 2,500 missiles at the war’s outset, simple arithmetic suggests Iran has fired roughly 1,800 missiles at Israel and Gulf targets combined, leaving fewer than 700 even if Israeli strikes had destroyed nothing. Factor in several hundred missiles destroyed in strikes, and the official estimate of a few hundred remaining becomes mathematically plausible.

But that math rests on the 2,500 baseline — and that number has already been revised once. The IDF assessed Iran’s starting stockpile at 2,500 missiles as of June 2025, then quietly revised the figure upward to 3,000 missiles months later. If the original baseline was again an undercount, every calculation built on top of it shifts accordingly.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Two more missing victims of the Iranian ballistic missile strike on a building in Haifa on Sunday evening were found dead under the rubble by rescuers on Monday after an exceptionally complex rescue operation stretching over 18 hours.

The two bodies were found hours after two victims were previously found at the site, buried under the rubble. MDA teams pronounced all four dead at the scene. The victims were an elderly couple in their 80s, their son in his 40s, and his wife. They were not in the shelter when the missile hit, possibly due to the fact that their apartment was on a high floor and they would have had to walk down several flights of steps to reach it.

Firefighters from the Haifa Station, Home Front Command search and rescue forces, Lahav Rescue Unit teams, and other professionals—including handlers from the “Oketz” canine unit—worked throughout the night into the morning hours to rescue the trapped victims. The rescue operations were carried out under extremely challenging conditions that required precise and cautious work alongside the use of heavy engineering equipment and advanced engineering and technological equipment, including phone signal tracing.

Lt. Col. (res.) Yair Pinto, operations officer of the National Rescue Unit, said the main effort focused on locating and reaching the trapped individuals through voids in the rubble or openings created with specialized equipment. He noted that much of the work was carried out manually to prevent further collapse.

He added that teams used a “tunneling” method—carefully digging access routes through the debris—to reach possible air pockets. He pointed out that the level of destruction was similar to earthquake scenes, a scenario the unit is highly experienced in.

Operations were conducted from multiple points simultaneously to shorten the time needed to reach the trapped individuals. Despite assessments of their location, access was complex and required extreme caution. The working assumption throughout was that the trapped individuals were alive, and all actions were carried out with urgency.

The rescuers operated at the scene using drones, advanced detection tools, and rescue dogs, though most of the effort relied on manpower. At the same time, teams worked to stabilize the structure and prevent further collapses using cranes, cutting tools, and supports.

Alongside the rescue efforts, additional forces operated at the scene to manage hazards, secure the area, and prepare for recovery—but the central focus remained the effort to reach the trapped individuals.

The missile that struck the building was buried just a few meters from where the victims were found, and there were serious concerns that it would detonate. Rescue teams operated under difficult conditions due to both the confined space and the remaining ordnance. The Electric Company disconnected power lines in the area to allow the entry of heavy equipment, resulting in temporary outages on the street.

“When we arrived at the street, we saw a multi-story building that had been hit, and there was extensive destruction at the scene,” senior MDA medic Shevach Rotenstreich said. “Residents who were there told us there were wounded people trapped under the rubble on the lower floors. We managed to move large pieces of concrete with our own hands and rescued an 82-year-old man from the debris who was seriously injured but conscious.”

All residents of the building’s nine apartments were evacuated—some to hospitals and others to temporary housing. Two nearby buildings were also evacuated. Rehabilitation of the area is expected to take at least a year, and the structure will likely need to be demolished and rebuilt.

An 82-year-old resident of the building is hospitalized at Rambam Medical Center in the general intensive care unit after undergoing surgery overnight. He is sedated and on a ventilator, and his condition is serious. His 78-year-old wife is hospitalized in a trauma unit in mild condition. Three buildings were evacuated, and six additional people, including an infant, were taken in light condition to Bnei Tzion Medical Center.

Police Commissioner Danny Levy held a situational assessment at the scene with Coastal District Commander Yechiel Bohdana and emergency officials. President Isaac Herzog spoke with Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav and expressed appreciation for the efforts on the ground. Yahav described the incident as severe and complex, noting that all municipal services are working in coordination with the Home Front Command and rescue forces to save lives and assist residents.

Welfare teams and psychologists are providing support to victims and their families at the scene and in hospitals. Residents whose homes were damaged have been evacuated to hotels, and a support center has been opened at Hugim School. The municipal hotline is operating in emergency mode, and the public has been asked to stay away from the area to allow emergency crews to continue their work.

A preliminary IDF investigation found that the missile broke apart midair, causing the interceptor to miss the target. The penetrating section, which carried the explosive material, struck the building and led to its collapse. The warhead itself did not detonate, and the damage was caused by the structural collapse rather than a blast. The IDF noted that residents who were in the shelter on the lower floor were not harmed.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Two more missing victims of the Iranian ballistic missile strike on a building in Haifa on Sunday evening were found dead under the rubble by rescuers on Monday after an exceptionally complex rescue operation stretching over 18 hours.

The two bodies were found hours after two victims were previously found at the site, buried under the rubble. MDA teams pronounced all four dead at the scene. The victims were an elderly couple in their 80s, their son in his 40s, and his wife. They were not in the shelter when the missile hit, possibly due to the fact that their apartment was on a high floor and they would have had to walk down several flights of steps to reach it.

Firefighters from the Haifa Station, Home Front Command search and rescue forces, Lahav Rescue Unit teams, and other professionals—including handlers from the “Oketz” canine unit—worked throughout the night into the morning hours to rescue the trapped victims. The rescue operations were carried out under extremely challenging conditions that required precise and cautious work alongside the use of heavy engineering equipment and advanced engineering and technological equipment, including phone signal tracing.

Lt. Col. (res.) Yair Pinto, operations officer of the National Rescue Unit, said the main effort focused on locating and reaching the trapped individuals through voids in the rubble or openings created with specialized equipment. He noted that much of the work was carried out manually to prevent further collapse.

He added that teams used a “tunneling” method—carefully digging access routes through the debris—to reach possible air pockets. He pointed out that the level of destruction was similar to earthquake scenes, a scenario the unit is highly experienced in.

Operations were conducted from multiple points simultaneously to shorten the time needed to reach the trapped individuals. Despite assessments of their location, access was complex and required extreme caution. The working assumption throughout was that the trapped individuals were alive, and all actions were carried out with urgency.

The rescuers operated at the scene using drones, advanced detection tools, and rescue dogs, though most of the effort relied on manpower. At the same time, teams worked to stabilize the structure and prevent further collapses using cranes, cutting tools, and supports.

Alongside the rescue efforts, additional forces operated at the scene to manage hazards, secure the area, and prepare for recovery—but the central focus remained the effort to reach the trapped individuals.

The missile that struck the building was buried just a few meters from where the victims were found, and there were serious concerns that it would detonate. Rescue teams operated under difficult conditions due to both the confined space and the remaining ordnance. The Electric Company disconnected power lines in the area to allow the entry of heavy equipment, resulting in temporary outages on the street.

“When we arrived at the street, we saw a multi-story building that had been hit, and there was extensive destruction at the scene,” senior MDA medic Shevach Rotenstreich said. “Residents who were there told us there were wounded people trapped under the rubble on the lower floors. We managed to move large pieces of concrete with our own hands and rescued an 82-year-old man from the debris who was seriously injured but conscious.”

All residents of the building’s nine apartments were evacuated—some to hospitals and others to temporary housing. Two nearby buildings were also evacuated. Rehabilitation of the area is expected to take at least a year, and the structure will likely need to be demolished and rebuilt.

An 82-year-old resident of the building is hospitalized at Rambam Medical Center in the general intensive care unit after undergoing surgery overnight. He is sedated and on a ventilator, and his condition is serious. His 78-year-old wife is hospitalized in a trauma unit in mild condition. Three buildings were evacuated, and six additional people, including an infant, were taken in light condition to Bnei Tzion Medical Center.

Police Commissioner Danny Levy held a situational assessment at the scene with Coastal District Commander Yechiel Bohdana and emergency officials. President Isaac Herzog spoke with Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav and expressed appreciation for the efforts on the ground. Yahav described the incident as severe and complex, noting that all municipal services are working in coordination with the Home Front Command and rescue forces to save lives and assist residents.

Welfare teams and psychologists are providing support to victims and their families at the scene and in hospitals. Residents whose homes were damaged have been evacuated to hotels, and a support center has been opened at Hugim School. The municipal hotline is operating in emergency mode, and the public has been asked to stay away from the area to allow emergency crews to continue their work.

A preliminary IDF investigation found that the missile broke apart midair, causing the interceptor to miss the target. The penetrating section, which carried the explosive material, struck the building and led to its collapse. The warhead itself did not detonate, and the damage was caused by the structural collapse rather than a blast. The IDF noted that residents who were in the shelter on the lower floor were not harmed.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Additional details of an exceptionally severe security case were released for publication on Monday by the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court at the request of the Yisrael Hayom media outlet.

The case involves several Israeli citizens who acted at the direction of Iranian handlers to manufacture explosive materials during the course of Operation Roaring Lion and even carried out tests on the explosives they produced.

The investigation, led by the Shin Bet and Lahav 433, is considered by security officials to represent a significant escalation in espionage activity on behalf of Iran—particularly as the incidents occurred in recent weeks amid the ongoing war.

The court decided to partially grant the request to lift the gag order on the case after reviewing the parties’ arguments and balancing the principle of open proceedings and the public interest against the potential harm to state security resulting from publication. Accordingly, the gag order was lifted on general information about the case while identifying details about the investigation and the suspects remain confidential.

About a week ago, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in closed-door discussions that Israeli citizens who collaborated with Iran—especially during a time of existential war—must be dealt with severely and using all available means, describing the phenomenon as extremely grave.

Yisrael Hayom reported that these remarks are already being translated into action, and that the matter is currently being handled by the Shin Bet, which has begun preparing procedures to revoke the citizenship of convicted spies.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

IDF forces eliminated Majid Khademi, the head of intelligence in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in an airstrike in Tehran in the early hours of Monday morning, the IDF announced.

Iranian state media confirmed Khademi’s death. Khademi, who was considered one of the three most senior figures in the IRGC, had entered his position only several months ago after his predecessor was eliminated in a previous strike.

“The Israeli Air Force, guided by precise intelligence from Military Intelligence, carried out a strike overnight in Tehran and eliminated Majid Khatam-Hosseini Khademi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization,” the IDF stated.

“Khademi was one of the most senior commanders in the Revolutionary Guards and had accumulated extensive military and security experience over the years. He was appointed to his position following the elimination of Mohammad Kazemi in Operation Roaring Lion. As part of his role, he was responsible for gathering intelligence used to formulate situational assessments for senior regime officials during Operation Roaring Lion. Khademi was a key figure in the war campaign, and the intelligence he gathered was used to advance and execute terror operations.”

“In addition, Khademi was involved in promoting terror activities against Israel and Jewish targets worldwide, and took part in attempts to strike targets tied to the U.S. He was also responsible for monitoring Iranian citizens as part of suppressing internal protests in Iran.”

“His elimination joins dozens of other senior commanders of the Iranian terror regime who have been killed during the operation, and constitutes another significant blow to the Revolutionary Guards’ command-and-control systems and their ability to conduct terror activities against Israel and countries worldwide.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Two people were injured in an Iranian cluster missile attack on central Israel in the early hours of Monday morning, which led to 15 separate impact sites, including in the cities of Petach Tikva, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Kiryat Ono, and Bnei Brak.

A 34-year-old woman in Petach Tikva was seriously injured while in her car, which was struck by interceptor shrapnel, piercing the windshield and striking her upper body. MDA paramedics treated her at the scene and evacuated her to Rabin Medical Center in the city.

MDA paramedic Noam Dahan said, “We saw a vehicle with shattered windows, and inside was a conscious woman suffering from severe injuries caused by interception fragments. We provided life-saving medical treatment and evacuated her to the hospital in serious condition.”

Meanwhile, firefighters operated at an impact site in Petach Tikva, where shrapnel caused several vehicles to catch fire and damaged nearby buildings

Security forces emphasized that the large number of impact sites is due to the nature of the cluster missiles fired by Iran, which disperse multiple components and cause damage across several locations simultaneously.

A residential building and school were hit in Tel Aviv, but baruch Hashem, only one person, a man in his 30s, was lightly injured. MDA paramedics treated him at the scene and evacuated him to the hospital.

MDA

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The United States and Iran are discussing the terms of a potential 45-day ceasefire that could serve as a first step toward permanently ending the war, according to four American, Israeli, and regional sources familiar with the talks, Axios reported Sunday.

The ceasefire framework is being negotiated through a group of regional mediators — Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey — as well as through direct text message exchanges between Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Despite the diplomatic activity, the sources said the chances of reaching even a partial agreement within the next 48 hours are low. The talks represent what mediators are calling a last opportunity to prevent a dramatic escalation that would include massive US and Israeli strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure and Iranian retaliatory strikes on energy and water facilities across Gulf states.

Mediators are working toward a two-phase arrangement. In the first phase, a 45-day ceasefire would take hold during which negotiations toward a permanent end to the war would proceed. A final agreement ending the war would follow in the second phase. The initial ceasefire period could be extended if additional time is needed to reach a permanent deal.

Mediators assess that two of the most contentious issues — a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a resolution to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, whether through removal from the country or dilution — can only be resolved as part of a final agreement, not an interim ceasefire. As a result, negotiators are exploring partial confidence-building measures on both issues for the first phase.

A senior American official told Axios that several proposals have been presented to Iran, but Tehran has not yet responded positively to any of them. The White House declined to comment.

Two sources told Axios that operational plans for sweeping US and Israeli strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure are already finalized. Trump’s decision to extend his deadline by roughly 24 hours — moving it from Monday evening to Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time — was intended specifically to create one final opening for diplomacy before those plans are executed.

Trump told Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday that the US is engaged in “deep negotiations” with Iran and that a deal before the deadline remains possible. “There is a good chance,” he said, before adding: “But if no deal is reached, I am blowing up everything over there.”

He has also threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure inside Iran if no agreement is reached. Iran has warned it would respond with attacks on infrastructure in Israel and Gulf states.

Iranian officials have continued to take a hard public line, rejecting concessions. The IRGC Navy declared over the weekend that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz “will never return” to its pre-war state, particularly with respect to the United States and Israel.

Tehran has made clear it will not accept a ceasefire arrangement resembling those reached in Gaza or Lebanon — agreements it views as temporary pauses that left the US and Israel free to resume strikes at any moment. Iranian officials are demanding guarantees that any ceasefire will hold and that the war will not restart.

Mediators involved in the talks said they are deeply worried about the cascading consequences of an Iranian response to a large-scale US-Israeli strike on Iranian energy infrastructure. A retaliatory Iranian strike on oil and water desalination facilities in Gulf states could inflict severe damage on countries that remain highly vulnerable.

Those mediators have delivered a blunt message to Tehran: the next 48 hours are the last window to reach an agreement and avoid widespread destruction. Whether Iran is prepared to move before Trump’s Tuesday deadline remains an open question.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A Georgia Democratic state Senate candidate was left with a face as red as charoses after her Passover greeting — published in the Atlanta Jewish Times, no less — featured a photograph of challah.

Nathalie Kanani, founder of a personal injury law firm and candidate for the Georgia state Senate, said that the photo was “mistakenly included” in the Passover message, calling it “an oversight that should not have happened.”

“My intent was to honor our Jewish neighbors and friends,” she said, adding that she believes in “meeting those moments with grace and using them to bring people of different cultures together, not tear them apart.” She also noted that the content was produced by a campaign consultant — while taking full responsibility for it — and pledged that “stronger review processes” are now being implemented.

The consultant in question has not commented publicly, and presumably is spending the week learning the difference between challah and matzah.

Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of the Georgia state legislature, confirmed that Kanani had reached out to her directly — a gesture of goodwill that, unlike the original post, did not involve any baked goods.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF and United States forces coordinated an extensive joint operation — including diversionary airstrikes and intelligence sharing — to rescue two American aircrew members after their F-15 was shot down over Iranian territory last Friday, senior Israeli and US officials told The Jerusalem Post.

The 48-hour operation, which a senior US official called “the boldest and most courageous rescue operation in history,” relied on IDF strikes against Iranian targets designed to draw Iranian security forces away from the crash site, as well as targeted sabotage of Iranian military assets intended to degrade Tehran’s ability to locate the downed crew.

According to sources familiar with the operation, the IDF launched a series of strikes against Iranian targets in coordination with US forces. The strikes were calibrated not primarily for battlefield effect but to serve as a diversion, pulling Iranian security personnel toward other areas while an American extraction team moved toward the pilots.

In parallel, Israeli forces targeted specific Iranian assets with the aim of disrupting and partially blinding the Iranian military to the pilots’ location during the critical extraction window.

“It was a US rescue mission; they did what many feared might not happen,” an Israeli official told the Post. “Israel did what it could and what it was asked to do by the US military in order to help and save lives.”

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper remained in direct contact throughout the 48-hour operation, officials said.

Israeli intelligence was also described as a key component of the mission’s success, though officials did not elaborate on the specific nature of the intelligence provided.

The aircrew consisted of two individuals. US forces rescued the pilot on the day of the shootdown, but the second airman remained stranded in mountainous terrain for 36 hours before being extracted. The airman has not yet been publicly identified.

To complicate Iran’s search for the missing airman, the CIA mounted a disinformation campaign, spreading word inside Iran that US forces had already located him and were moving him overland for exfiltration. The effort confused Iranian forces and leadership as they raced to find him.

Foreign reports have claimed that Israeli special forces commandos participated directly in the ground operation. An IDF source flatly denied those accounts.

“These reports are completely false,” the source told the Post.

Officials on both sides characterized the operation as a US-led effort in which Israel played a supporting role at Washington’s request.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of two victims from beneath the rubble at the site of the Iranian ballistic missile strike in Haifa. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, R”L.

The Fire and Rescue Service said that after hours of intense operations together with the Home Front Command, forces “rescued two trapped individuals who were found under the rubble without signs of life.”

Two additional victims are still believed to be trapped under the debris, with large rescue forces continuing urgent searches.

The devastating missile strike reduced a multi-story residential building to rubble, creating one of the most severe destruction scenes in the area since the war began.

Fire and Rescue commander Kobi Mizrahi described the situation as unprecedented for his district, citing the scale of destruction and the complexity of the rescue effort.

“From the standpoint of this war, this is the most severe scene in our district until now, including the scope of the destruction, the complexity, and the casualties,” Mizrahi said.

Massive rescue teams—including firefighters, police, IDF Home Front Command forces, and Magen David Adom—remain on scene, working nonstop in a race against time to locate the remaining victims.

Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper confirmed the missile made a direct impact on the building, describing the operation as highly complex.

“This scene is a complex one. This complex scene requires advanced rescue operations… We intend to act with determination, professionalism, and thoroughness until the trapped are found,” he said.

The search continues.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of two victims from beneath the rubble at the site of the Iranian ballistic missile strike in Haifa. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, R”L.

The Fire and Rescue Service said that after hours of intense operations together with the Home Front Command, forces “rescued two trapped individuals who were found under the rubble without signs of life.”

Two additional victims are still believed to be trapped under the debris, with large rescue forces continuing urgent searches.

The devastating missile strike reduced a multi-story residential building to rubble, creating one of the most severe destruction scenes in the area since the war began.

Fire and Rescue commander Kobi Mizrahi described the situation as unprecedented for his district, citing the scale of destruction and the complexity of the rescue effort.

“From the standpoint of this war, this is the most severe scene in our district until now, including the scope of the destruction, the complexity, and the casualties,” Mizrahi said.

Massive rescue teams—including firefighters, police, IDF Home Front Command forces, and Magen David Adom—remain on scene, working nonstop in a race against time to locate the remaining victims.

Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper confirmed the missile made a direct impact on the building, describing the operation as highly complex.

“This scene is a complex one. This complex scene requires advanced rescue operations… We intend to act with determination, professionalism, and thoroughness until the trapped are found,” he said.

The search continues.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

YWN regrets to inform you of the sudden petirah of Rebbetzin Reva Halpern a”h, the wife of Rav Binyomin Zev Halpern shlit”a of K’hal Bais Halevi of Lakewood, and daughter of Hagaon HaRav Simcha Schustal ZT’L. She is the sister of BMG Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Dovid Schustal, HaRav Shlomo Feivel Schustal, HaRav Tovia Schustal, sister of Rebbetzin Miriam Ungarischer, Rebbetzin Zeilberger, and Rebbetzin Bender.

The rebbetzin, who was 76, suddenly collapsed and was rushed by Hatzolah to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in critical condition, where she was Niftar.

The Levaya will take place today , Sunday Chol Hamoed, at Rabbi Halperns Shul 705 Valley Drive Lakewood NJ, at 8:15pm. The Kevura will be at the Lakewood Bais Hachaim

Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes.

A fourth suspect was arrested in connection with the recent firebombing of Hatzola Northwest ambulances in the north London neighborhood of Golders Green, after he was apprehended at the courthouse where three co-defendants were appearing for a hearing, the Metropolitan Police said.

The 19-year-old man was arrested at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and taken into custody, the Met said. Police did not immediately release his name.

The March 23 attack targeted ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest. Golders Green is one of the largest Jewish communities in the United Kingdom.

The three suspects already in custody — Hamza Iqbal, 20, and Rehan Khan, 19, both British nationals from Leyton, and a 17-year-old dual British and Pakistani national from Walthamstow — were charged with arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered and remanded in custody. They are scheduled to appear at the Old Bailey on April 24.

Prosecutor Emma Harraway told the court there is “significant evidence that this was a premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community,” according to Sky News.

Despite the involvement of Counter Terrorism Policing detectives in leading the investigation, the case is not being treated as a terrorism matter, according to the report.

The Islamist group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya has claimed responsibility for the Golders Green attack, as well as a series of attacks on Jewish institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands dating back to March 9 — suggesting a coordinated campaign targeting Jewish community infrastructure across Western Europe.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy declared Sunday it is preparing for a “new Persian Gulf order,” vowing that the Strait of Hormuz “will never return to its former state, especially for the US and Israel” — a direct challenge to President Donald Trump, who set a Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway or face strikes on its power plants and bridges.

In an expletive-laden post on Truth Social published Saturday, Trump warned that Tuesday would be “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.” He set the deadline at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time — a one-day extension from his previous Monday cutoff, itself the third extension of an ultimatum he first issued on March 21.

Speaking separately to Fox News, Trump raised the stakes further, saying he was considering “taking over” Iran’s oil if a deal was not reached quickly. “If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” he said.

In a phone interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Trump insisted that “deep negotiations” are underway and that “there is a good chance” a deal could be reached before Tuesday. But he left little ambiguity about the alternative: “If they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there.”

The negotiations are being run through two parallel tracks, according to sources briefed on the talks. One channel runs through Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish intermediaries. The other is more direct: text messages between senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Trump confirmed both men are his point men for the contacts.

Despite the activity, the talks have hit a wall in recent days. A US proposal on the table reportedly demands Iran dismantle its nuclear program, cap its ballistic missile capabilities, halt support for proxy forces, and relinquish control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has rejected those terms outright, and is counter-demanding reparations for war damages and security guarantees against future strikes.

Iran’s position has not visibly shifted despite the heavy toll the US-Israeli campaign has inflicted since it began on February 28 — a campaign that opened with strikes killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other senior officials. Tehran has continued launching missile and drone attacks against Israel and US allies in the Gulf, and has warned that any strike on its power infrastructure will trigger devastating retaliatory hits on Gulf energy facilities, including power plants and water desalination infrastructure that Gulf states depend on.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a hardliner who is nonetheless part of the negotiating process, responded to Trump’s threats on X in English: “Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living hell for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands.”

“Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” he added.

While the public exchanges escalated, quieter diplomacy was underway. Oman’s state news agency reported Sunday that Muscat and Tehran held deputy minister-level talks to discuss “possible options” for ensuring smooth passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with experts from both sides presenting proposals.

Oman has historically served as a discreet back-channel between Washington and Tehran, and its involvement signals that at least some parties are still searching for a face-saving formula before Tuesday’s deadline arrives.

The strait itself — roughly 33 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman — carries approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Iran and Oman share territorial waters in the passage, but it is considered an international waterway under maritime law. Iran’s ability to choke it off has given Tehran one of its most powerful remaining levers in the conflict.

Trump also disclosed Sunday, apparently for the first time publicly, that the US attempted to arm Iranian anti-government protesters earlier this year by routing weapons through Kurdish militia forces — an effort that failed when, in Trump’s telling, the Kurds kept the guns.

The admission sheds new light on Washington’s posture during the protests that erupted in late December, triggered by the collapse of Iran’s currency and escalating into a broader challenge to the regime by mid-January. Trump had publicly urged Iranians to take to the streets and told them “help is on its way.” The regime suppressed the unrest violently; the full death toll remains disputed, with opposition groups claiming tens of thousands were killed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Trump said Sunday that a deal with Iran could be reached as soon as Monday, simultaneously threatening to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges by Tuesday if negotiations collapse.

“There’s a good chance” for a deal before the deadline, Trump told Axios Sunday. But if nothing is agreed upon by Tuesday, he warned, “I am blowing up everything over there.”

In a separate interview with Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, Trump said Iranian negotiators had been granted amnesty to allow talks to continue unimpeded. The disclosure suggests active diplomatic back-channel engagement is underway even as Trump publicly threatens to strike Iranian infrastructure.

Hours before the interviews, Trump posted a warning to Truth Social naming specific targets. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he wrote. “JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

The post followed a Saturday ultimatum in which Trump warned Iran it had 48 hours before severe consequences would follow.

The carrot-and-stick approach comes amid signals from the intelligence community that Iran may not be ready to yield. Reuters, citing three sources familiar with recent American intelligence assessments, reported Saturday that Iran is unlikely to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in the near term, because its stranglehold over the waterway represents the only significant leverage Tehran holds over Washington.

Iran has sought to exploit that leverage selectively. After initially announcing a complete closure of the Strait to all shipping, Tehran adjusted its position, saying vessels from countries it considers friendly would be permitted to pass. Ships linked to the United States or Israel remain barred.

That selective access has benefited several nations in recent days. Iraq thanked Iran Sunday for allowing tankers carrying Iraqi oil to transit the Strait, according to a statement from Baghdad’s Foreign Ministry. China confirmed Iran allowed three Chinese ships through the waterway last week, with a foreign ministry spokesperson expressing appreciation. A container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM, three Omani-operated tankers, and a Japanese-owned gas carrier also passed through Friday, according to MarineTraffic vessel tracking data.

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil supply. Commercial traffic through the waterway has fallen approximately 90% since the conflict began in late February.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

When Iran recently launched ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, it wasn’t just firing at a remote American military outpost in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It was, in a meaningful sense, field-testing North Korean hardware.

That’s the picture emerging from weapons analysts who have spent years tracking the deepening military partnership between Tehran and Pyongyang — a relationship that has quietly shaped the backbone of Iran’s ballistic missile inventory for decades.

The missile aimed at Diego Garcia was a Musudan, according to Bruce Bechtol, who co-authored Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership Between Iran and North Korea. Iran purchased 19 of them directly from North Korea and took delivery in 2005. “This is no ‘secret weapon,'” Bechtol told Fox News Digital — just a two-decade-old procurement that finally made headlines when one of those missiles crossed 4,000 kilometers of ocean toward a joint US-UK base.

The attack itself was only partially successful, by the most charitable definition. One missile failed mid-flight. A US warship fired an intercept at the other. Whether that intercept landed is still unclear, but neither missile struck the base. What was clear was the range — roughly double the 2,000-kilometer ceiling Iran’s own foreign minister publicly claimed his country’s missiles could reach just last month.

The North Korean thread runs deeper than a single purchase. Iran’s short-range missiles targeting American assets in neighboring Gulf states rely on the QIAM system, built with North Korean technical assistance. The Shahab-3, which Iran markets as a domestic development, is, in Bechtol’s description, nearly an identical copy of North Korea’s No Dong. Pyongyang transferred around 150 No Dong systems to Iran in the late 1990s, and then, apparently encouraged by Iranian satisfaction with the product, helped build a No Dong production facility on Iranian soil. The Emad and Ghadr systems — both deployed against Israel and Gulf targets — rolled out of that same facility.

Bechtol’s summary of the arrangement is blunt: North Korea builds, Iran buys, and the currency is cash and oil.

What Iran has now is a layered arsenal anchored in short- and medium-range systems stretching up to 3,000 kilometers, according to Israel’s Alma Research and Education Center. What it is apparently working toward is something longer. The center assessed at the outset of the current conflict that Iran’s long-range ballistic missile program was in advanced stages of development — a program that, if the pattern holds, likely has a Pyongyang return address somewhere in its supply chain.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

New York City’s Jewish community bore the brunt of the city’s bias-motivated crime in the opening months of 2026, accounting for a disproportionate share of offenses in a quarter that saw hate crimes climb across the board, according to data released by the police department this weekend.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch laid out the numbers: 78 of the 143 hate crimes confirmed in the first quarter were directed at Jewish residents — 55 percent of hate crimes, for a community that makes up one in ten New Yorkers. Citywide, confirmed hate crimes were up nearly 12% year over year.

The release of those figures also marked a significant shift in how the city counts bias crimes. The NYPD is now publishing two separate tallies — one for incidents flagged by patrol officers as potential hate crimes, and a second, smaller number for those that survive scrutiny. When the department’s Hate Crimes Task Force reviews a flagged incident alongside the NYPD Legal Bureau and concludes it satisfies New York State’s legal definition, it earns the “confirmed” designation. Everything else stays in the reported column.

The practical gap between the two figures is real. In March, officers flagged 42 anti-Jewish incidents. Thirty-two made the cut. That confirmed total was actually lower than the 36 recorded in March of last year — a rare piece of encouraging data buried inside an otherwise troubling quarter.

The hate crime picture contrasts sharply with broader public safety trends, which Tisch described in notably upbeat terms. Serious crime across the five boroughs fell more than 5%, burglaries hit their second-lowest point since the city began keeping records, and the first quarter logged fewer murders and shootings than any comparable period in the department’s history.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, three months into his tenure, was direct about what he believes the data shows. “The numbers tell a clear, indisputable story,” he said. “Our approach to public safety is working.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

El Al has canceled all regularly scheduled flights through April 18 due to ongoing restrictions at Ben Gurion Airport amid the war with Iran.

The airline is operating a limited emergency schedule, with select outbound flights to major destinations including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, and Bangkok.

Departing flights are capped at just 100 passengers, while inbound flights to Israel continue without restrictions.

Due to the severe seat shortage, passengers are being prioritized based on original booking dates, with humanitarian and medical cases receiving priority.

El Al also announced that ticket sales for outbound flights are closed through April 18, while inbound tickets remain available subject to availability.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel’s Health Ministry reports that 108 people were hospitalized over the past 24 hours due to the ongoing conflict with Iran and Hezbollah, with nearly all listed in light condition. Two are in moderate condition.

A total of 138 people remain hospitalized, while more than 6,800 individuals — both civilians and soldiers — have been treated for war-related injuries since fighting began on February 28.

Magen David Adom says it has treated 2,294 people since the launch of Operation “Roaring Lion,” including 1,783 with physical injuries and 511 suffering from anxiety.

Of those physically injured, 557 were hurt directly by missile fire, including 19 fatalities — 18 at the scene and one who later died in hospital. One person is in critical condition, 21 in serious condition, 37 in moderate condition, and 479 with light injuries.

An additional 1,226 people were injured while rushing to shelters, with three fatalities reported. Another 26 were hurt in road accidents after pulling over during sirens.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Dutch police are investigating an explosion that struck the Israel Center in the town of Nijkerk late Friday, the third attack targeting Jewish and pro-Israel sites in the Netherlands in less than a month.

The blast occurred around 11:30 p.m. local time on Henri Nouwenstraat, according to NL Times, which first reported the incident. No injuries were reported and damage appeared limited, police said.

“Around 11:30 p.m., we received a report of an explosion on Henri Nouwenstraat in Nijkerk. No one was injured. The damage appears limited for now. We are, of course, continuing our investigation,” police said in a statement quoted by NL Times. Authorities are asking witnesses to come forward.

The Israel Center houses Christenen voor Israel, a Dutch Christian organization dedicated to solidarity with Israel and combating antisemitism. The group said its members were “shocked” to have been targeted.

“This attack affects not only us but is also a signal to the Jewish community in the Netherlands, which has long been confronted with threats and intimidation. This is a cause for great concern to us,” the organization said in a statement, adding that it would not be deterred from its mission.

The Nijkerk attack is the latest in a series of incidents targeting Jewish institutions across the Netherlands. On March 12, a shul in Rotterdam was struck by an explosion that caused no injuries. Terrorist group Ashab Al Yamin claimed responsibility for that attack. Two days later, on March 14, a Jewish school in Amsterdam was targeted in a similar explosion that damaged the building but left no one hurt.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran is now experiencing the longest nationwide internet blackout ever recorded, according to internet watchdog NetBlocks.

The shutdown has entered its 37th consecutive day — totaling 864 hours — surpassing all previous global incidents in scale and severity.

NetBlocks noted that unlike countries such as North Korea, Iran had previously been fully connected before effectively cutting itself off and reverting to a controlled national network.

The near-total blackout began after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and follows another prolonged shutdown earlier this year during widespread anti-regime protests.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iranian state media has released images and video showing what appears to be the smoldering wreckage of multiple aircraft in southern Iran following the dramatic U.S. rescue operation of a downed crew member.

The footage shows a wide debris field with burned aircraft parts still smoking, including what appear to be engine components. The exact type and ownership of the aircraft remain unclear.

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Analysts were able to geolocate the images to southern Iran, roughly 31 miles from the city of Esfahan, based on identifiable mountain ranges in the background.

Iranian officials claimed their forces shot down the aircraft and said U.S. forces used a nearby abandoned airstrip to carry out the rescue mission. Satellite imagery analysis has confirmed the presence of a small airstrip in the area.

The release of the footage comes as more details emerge about the high-risk U.S. operation deep inside Iranian territory.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A direct Iranian ballistic missile strike slammed into a residential building in Haifa, causing massive destruction and triggering urgent rescue operations for additional victims may be trapped beneath the rubble.

Emergency responders say the impact caused a partial collapse of the building, with heavy damage reported throughout the structure. Dramatic scenes from the area show sections of the building destroyed as rescue teams comb through debris in a race against time.

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Magen David Adom reported that at least four people were injured in the strike. Among them is an 82-year-old man listed in serious condition after being struck by a heavy object. Three others sustained light injuries from shrapnel and blast effects, and a lightly injured infant was also treated at the scene.

Fire and Rescue Services confirmed that “firefighters, together with the Home Front Command, are focusing on the search for three unaccounted-for people,” believed to be trapped beneath the collapsed sections of the building.

A fire and rescue official at the scene said the missing include two elderly individuals and a child.

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In addition, MDA teams provided care to four individuals suffering from shock.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A direct Iranian ballistic missile strike slammed into a residential building in Haifa, causing massive destruction and triggering urgent rescue operations for additional victims may be trapped beneath the rubble.

Emergency responders say the impact caused a partial collapse of the building, with heavy damage reported throughout the structure. Dramatic scenes from the area show sections of the building destroyed as rescue teams comb through debris in a race against time.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Magen David Adom reported that at least four people were injured in the strike. Among them is an 82-year-old man listed in serious condition after being struck by a heavy object. Three others sustained light injuries from shrapnel and blast effects, and a lightly injured infant was also treated at the scene.

Fire and Rescue Services confirmed that “firefighters, together with the Home Front Command, are focusing on the search for three unaccounted-for people,” believed to be trapped beneath the collapsed sections of the building.

A fire and rescue official at the scene said the missing include two elderly individuals and a child.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

In addition, MDA teams provided care to four individuals suffering from shock.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A direct Iranian ballistic missile strike slammed into a residential building in Haifa, causing massive destruction and triggering urgent rescue operations for additional victims may be trapped beneath the rubble.

Emergency responders say the impact caused a partial collapse of the building, with heavy damage reported throughout the structure. Dramatic scenes from the area show sections of the building destroyed as rescue teams comb through debris in a race against time.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Magen David Adom reported that at least four people were injured in the strike. Among them is an 82-year-old man listed in serious condition after being struck by a heavy object. Three others sustained light injuries from shrapnel and blast effects, and a lightly injured infant was also treated at the scene.

Fire and Rescue Services confirmed that “firefighters, together with the Home Front Command, are focusing on the search for three unaccounted-for people,” believed to be trapped beneath the collapsed sections of the building.

A fire and rescue official at the scene said the missing include two elderly individuals and a child.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

In addition, MDA teams provided care to four individuals suffering from shock.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In one of the most audacious special operations missions in recent American military history, SEAL Team 6 extracted a seriously injured Air Force weapons officer from deep inside Iran early Sunday after a two-day manhunt, a CIA diversion operation, a firefight with local militias, and the deliberate destruction of two $100 million aircraft that became stranded on a hastily constructed airstrip on hostile soil.

The unnamed Air Force colonel, whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down last week, survived by climbing a 7,000-foot mountain ridge while evading Iranian forces hunting him for a $60,000 bounty, as American MQ-9 Reaper drones pounded militia units whenever they closed in on his position, according to a report by the New York Times.

“He evaded up a 7k ridge. They’ve been schwackin’ dudes chasing him all day. Was nuts,” a source told veteran war correspondent Toby Harnden.

The rescue operation, centered near the city of Isfahan some 200 miles inside Iranian territory, required multiple transport aircraft — believed to be MC-130J Commando IIs — to land on an improvised airstrip. Two of the aircraft became stuck in the sand at the improvised strip. Rather than risk the sophisticated, classified aircraft falling into Iranian hands, commanders made the call to destroy them in place.

Three additional aircraft were dispatched to extract the American forces stranded alongside the destroyed planes. All commandos and the rescued airman returned safely. There were no American deaths among the rescue team, a senior U.S. military official confirmed.

While the ground operation unfolded, the CIA executed a separate diversion designed to throw Iranian search teams off the airman’s trail. Agency operatives planted false intelligence suggesting the officer had already been recovered and was being driven out of Iran by road — buying the rescue team critical time as Iranian militias, armed civilians, and security forces scrambled to find him.

The injured airman has since been flown to Kuwait for medical treatment.

The rescue caps a harrowing 48-hour ordeal that began when the weapons officer ejected from his stricken F-15E over Iran. The plane’s pilot was rescued in a separate operation Friday, prompting President Trump to post “WE GOT HIM!” on Truth Social. “This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump wrote.

In a subsequent post, Trump acknowledged the stakes of what his forces had attempted. “This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment,'” he wrote.

The president announced he would hold a news conference with military officials at the Oval Office Monday at 1:00 p.m. to address the successful operation.

The mission stands as a remarkable operational achievement — and a costly one. The two destroyed MC-130Js represent a combined loss of approximately $200 million in hardware. But American commanders got what they came for: every man came home.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Sephardi Chief Rabbi, HaRav Dovid Yosef, reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court ruling—issued on Shabbos—allowing up to 600 people to gather at anti-war protests at HaBima Square in Tel Aviv, saying that tefillos at the Kosel will be held in accordance with Home Front Command instructions and will not be dictated by the lawless Supreme Court.

Speaking at the gathering of 50 people for Birchas Kohanim at the Kosel on Sunday morning, HaRav Yosef emphasized that the public refrained from coming to the ceremony in accordance with security guidelines, without needing clarification from the Supreme Court.

“My friend, the Rav of the Kosel, the esteemed Rav Rabinowitz, appealed to the Home Front Command to ask whether it is possible to allow more mispallelim. Take note that he appealed to the Home Front Command because they understand matters of security, not to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court understands only lawlessness and freedom of protest—which they call ‘pikuach nefesh.’ We turn to professionals who understand pikuch nefesh.”

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“The Supreme Court does not understand pikuach nefesh of life; the Home Front Command does,” he emphasized. “We hereby announce, the Rav of the Kosel and the Chief Rabbanim, that we will do whatever the Home Front Command instructs, because we understand the significance of pikuach nefesh of every Jew.”

During his weekly shiur on Motzei Shabbos, HaRav Yosef slammed the Supreme Court ruling, saying: “This is an unlawful act in a Jewish state. These judges sit on Shabbos and trample the law, and force the state to respond on the holy day in contradiction to the law.”

“There is not one religious Jew today who trusts this brazen group at the Supreme Court, who have become the enemies of Judaism.  We’ll fight with all our might for the Jewish identity of the state, and ultimately, Judaism will win.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday congratulated President Trump and the U.S. military on the rescue of an American pilot shot down over Iran last week, invoking his own battlefield wounds and the death of his brother in the 1976 Entebbe rescue mission to underscore the moment’s significance.

“All Israelis rejoice in the incredible rescue of a brave American pilot by America’s dauntless warriors,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “This proves that when free societies muster their courage and their resolve, they can confront seemingly insurmountable odds and overcome the forces of darkness and terror.”

“This reinforces the sacred principle: no one is left behind,” he said. “This is a shared value demonstrated time and time again in the history of both our countries.”

The Israeli prime minister drew on personal experience to contextualize the weight of the decision Trump made. Netanyahu was wounded during Operation Isotope, a 1972 hostage rescue at Tel Aviv’s Lod Airport. His older brother, Yoni Netanyahu, was killed leading the Israeli commando raid on Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976 — the only Israeli combatant killed in that operation.

“As a nation that repeatedly carried out daring rescue operations, and as someone who was wounded in such a mission and lost a brother in the Entebbe rescue, Israelis and I, we know what a bold decision you took,” Netanyahu said, addressing Trump directly.

He closed with an effusive tribute to the American president. “President Trump, Donald, my dear friend, once again your decisive leadership brought another great victory to America,” Netanyahu said. “I salute you. We all do.”

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump says he and members of the military will hold a press conference at the White House on Monday after the successful rescue of the second F-15E crew member shot down over Iran.

Trump said the crew member, a colonel, is “seriously wounded,” but offered no further details about his injuries.

“We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran. The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close. He is a highly respected Colonel,” Trump wrote.

“This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment.’ It just doesn’t happen! The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran,” he continued.

“An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all! I will be having a News Conference, with the Military, at the Oval Office, on Monday, at 1:00 P.M. God Bless our great MILITARY WARRIORS!” Trump added.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Trump on Sunday dramatically escalated his threats against Iran, warning that the United States would strike Iranian power plants and bridges on Tuesday if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, using profanity-laced language in a Truth Social post to urge Iranian leaders to comply.

(All profanity has been removed for the YWN audience)

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump wrote, demanding Iran open the Strait before threatening the country would be “living in Hell – JUST WATCH!” The post concluded with the phrase “Praise be to Allah.”

The Sunday post represents a significant escalation in both tone and specificity from Trump’s previous warnings. On Saturday, the president had issued a 48-hour ultimatum threatening unspecified severe consequences if Iran did not restore free passage through the Strait. Sunday’s message named specific categories of civilian infrastructure as potential targets and set Tuesday as a concrete strike date.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil supply passes, has been effectively closed to normal commercial traffic since the conflict began in late February. Traffic through the waterway has fallen approximately 90%, according to CNBC.

Trump first issued a 10-day deadline on March 26, demanding Iran either negotiate a deal or reopen the Strait.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran is restoring underground missile bunkers and silos within hours of being struck by American and Israeli forces, according to U.S. intelligence reports cited by the New York Times.

Iranian personnel have been digging out damaged facilities from rubble and returning them to service, the Times reported, raising doubts about how much lasting damage the strikes have inflicted on Tehran’s missile program.

American intelligence also assesses that Iran has preserved a significant portion of its missiles and mobile launchers. The findings cast doubt on how close the United States has come to achieving its stated goal of dismantling the Islamic Republic’s missile capability.

Adding to the uncertainty, Washington cannot reliably determine how many launchers have been destroyed because Iran has deployed decoys, according to the report.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The New York Police Department said it will publish two separate monthly figures on hate crimes, backing away from a reporting change last month that drew backlash.

The NYPD previously released monthly statistics reflecting hate incidents reported to police. In March, the department announced it would shift to reporting only confirmed hate crimes — those verified by its hate crimes task force — a change that would have resulted in lower published numbers. Critics warned the move could create a misleading picture of bias crime trends in the city.

Under the revised approach announced this week, the department will release both the number of complaints flagged for investigation and the number of incidents confirmed by the task force.

“This will ensure that the public has an accurate and timely and more robust view than ever of hate crime activity in New York City,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Tisch acknowledged she had made last month’s change unilaterally and “not in consultation with the mayor.”

Data released alongside the announcement showed 55 confirmed hate crimes in New York City last month, of which 32 — or 58% — were antisemitic. An additional 42 reported incidents remain unconfirmed. Jews make up roughly 10% of the city’s population.

Year to date, there have been 78 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes, accounting for 55% of all confirmed bias incidents across all groups, roughly in line with figures from the same period last year.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Motzei Shabbos confirmed that the IDF attacked Iranian petrochemical factories.

“After we destroyed 70% of its ability to create steel, which is used as the raw material for the weapons used against us, today we attacked their petrochemical factories,” he stated. “These two industries serve as their money machine, which funds their war of terror against us and the entire world.”

“I promised we will continue to crush the terrorist regime in Tehran, and that is exactly what we’re doing,” Netanyahu concluded.

Earlier, the IDF confirmed that its forces struck a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southern Iran, saying that the facilities in the complex produced and exported chemical materials for explosives, ballistic missiles, and other weapons.

The IDF said that the attack not only halted all production of chemical materials but also dealt a severe financial blow to the Iranian regime, with an estimated loss of billions of dollars.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Birchas Kohanim took place at an almost-empty Kosel on Sunday morning due to Home Front Command regulations limiting public gatherings to up to 50 participants.

Meanwhile, while gatherings for tefillah are strictly banned, three Supreme Court justices felt that allowing hundreds of leftists to gather at anti-war protests was so important that they convened this past Shabbos and issued a ruling in defiance of Home Front Command regulations, allowing up to 600 people to participate in protests at HaBima Square in Tel Aviv. The ruling, which was also a flagrant violation of Israel’s status quo of refraining from non-emergency proceedings on Shabbos, sparked outrage, with Deputy Minister Yisrael Eichler calling the ruling “a declaration of war against the kedushas HaShabbos.”

In light of the ruling, the Rav of the Kosel, HaRav Shmuel Rabinowitz, wrote a letter to Home Front Commander Maj.-Gen. Rafi Milo, on Motzei Shabbos, requesting that the restrictions on the entry of mispallelim to the Kosel be re-examined.

“First, I wish to express deep appreciation for your dedicated work and that of your personnel,” he wrote. “The responsibility for protecting the home front and safeguarding every person is a sacred mission, and on behalf of the entire Am Ysrael, I thank you for the devotion and professionalism that saves lives every single day.”

He then referred to the Supreme Court ruling, “I can’t understand why the right to protest is perceived as more important or urgent than the right to daven. The Kosel is the beating heart of the Jewish people. Particularly now, when our soldiers are fighting with great courage and at great risk, the public needs to come to the holiest place left to us since the Churban Bayis.”

“If the security reality allows hundreds of people to gather in city squares for protests, all the more so Jews should be allowed to gather at the Kosel.”

“I request that the guidelines be reconsidered and the public be allowed to come to the Kosel and daven for the welfare of our people, our land, and our soldiers, at least under the same conditions in which other gatherings are permitted. And even more so. Davka during these days, we must not be mevateir on tefillah, our source of strength and hope.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir excoriated the Supreme Court ruling, saying: “The Supreme Court’s decision, issued on Shabbat, endangers the demonstrators, the police officers, and the soldiers. Even at Har HaBayis, the Kotel, and other holy places, the Home Front Command does not allow mispallelim to gather, but the Supreme Court, on Shabbat issues, yet another decision that harms the safety of police and citizens.”

“To allow demonstrators to ignore the law just because they are protesting against the State of Israel? To issue a decision requiring the Home Front Command and the police to respond on Shabbat within one hour?? The time has come to ask: Supreme Court judges who make such decisions, are you part of the Jewish nation?”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Iran retains more than 1,000 ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel, an Israeli Air Force intelligence officer said in an interview with Channel 12 news.

“The Iranians have more than 1,000 missiles that are capable of reaching Israel,” said Lt. Col. “Tet,” who heads missile and drone research within the Air Intelligence Group, the IAF’s intelligence unit.

At the outset of the war, the IDF estimated Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile at approximately 2,500. Since then, Iran has fired more than 500 missiles at Israel and hundreds more at other targets across the Middle East, with potentially hundreds of additional missiles destroyed in strikes.

The pace of Iranian missile fire at Israel has slowed considerably in recent weeks, dropping to roughly 10 to 15 per day from a peak of around 90 on the first day of the conflict. Israeli military assessments have held that launches will continue for as long as the war is active, and that the rate could increase.

The intelligence officer said he does not expect the launches to stop entirely. “In all honesty, I assess it will not reach zero,” he told Channel 12. “I think they will continue to launch ballistic missiles. I don’t think it will be significantly more than what we have seen.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In a dramatic and high-risk mission deep inside enemy territory, U.S. forces successfully rescued a downed American airman from Iran, bringing a tense and dangerous 36-hour ordeal to a stunning conclusion.

President Donald Trump announced the rescue in a powerful statement, revealing the scale and intensity of the operation that unfolded behind enemy lines.

“WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” Trump said.

According to officials, the airman — a highly respected Colonel — had been stranded in hostile Iranian territory, hunted by enemy forces who were closing in “hour by hour.” Despite the danger, U.S. military leadership tracked his location continuously while preparing a complex rescue mission involving special forces and heavy air support.

“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump said.

At Trump’s direction, dozens of aircraft — armed with advanced weaponry — were deployed to secure the extraction. The operation was carried out under constant threat, with U.S. forces striking Iranian positions to prevent enemy forces from reaching the downed airman.

The rescued service member sustained injuries but is expected to recover.

Trump also revealed that another pilot had been rescued in a separate operation just one day earlier — a mission that had been kept secret to avoid jeopardizing the second rescue.

“This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” Trump said.

In a moment of defiance and pride, Trump declared: “WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!”

The president emphasized that both operations were completed without any American fatalities, underscoring what he described as overwhelming U.S. air dominance over Iran.

“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” Trump said.

He concluded by calling the mission a moment of unity and pride for the nation.

“This is a moment that ALL Americans, Republican, Democrat, and everyone else, should be proud of and united around.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)