Archive for month: April, 2025

News Update

Israel held its official state Memorial Day ceremony this morning on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, honoring the nation’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The ceremony began at 11 a.m., with a two-minute nationwide siren. Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the event saying, “This generation understands all too well what is at stake. Our sons and daughters are determined to hold the perpetrators of the massacre and atrocities to account—and even at this very moment, are doing everything possible to bring our hostages home. This is the light of victory that will shine from the battlefield—the light of sacrifice and spirit. The light of victory carried by the fallen heroes of Israel who gave their lives for our people. Their memory will forever be engraved in our hearts.” Memorial services are being held throughout the country.

Dry conditions and high winds have caused massive forest fires in the hills of Jerusalem, prompting evacuations of residents from area communities and the closing of major highways. Fire and Rescue teams evacuated drivers on Highway 1, the main road connecting the coast to Jerusalem, as flames and smoke spread from the nearby woodlands. Other drivers abandoned their cars and fled on foot to escape the flames.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he has enlisted the help of the military in evacuating people from danger. Israel has also appealed for urgent assistance from Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria and Italy after the Fire and Rescue Authorities said they would be unable to respond to the crisis.

Due to the weather changes and strong winds, the Defense Ministry has asked the public to avoid visiting cemeteries across the country for fear of Remembrance Day poles and structures falling.

The Druze spiritual leader in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, called on Israel to protect the Druze community in Syria, after dozens of Druze were killed in clashes with Syrian security forces. Druze demonstrations erupted in various locations in northern Israel causing major traffic jams and blocking access to nearby military cemeteries for the Memorial Day ceremonies.

According to figures published yesterday by the Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel’s population is 10,094,000, of who 7,732,000 (77.6%) are Jewish or classified as other, 2,114,000 (20.9%) Arab and 248,000 (2.5%) foreign workers. For more, click here.

News Update

Master Sergeant (res.) Asaf Kafri, 26, from Beit Hashmonai, was killed Thursday in combat in northern Gaza. Kafri served as a tank driver in the 79th Battalion of the 14th Armored Brigade. Three other soldiers were wounded in the incident, 2 seriously. The incident took place Thursday at 1:45 p.m., when a terrorist cell from Beit Hanoun fired an anti-tank missile and sniper rounds at an IDF unit near Outpost 39, close to Outpost 40, where Warrant Officer G’haleb Sliman Alnasasra was killed last Saturday.

Earlier today, the IDF struck a terror target in a tent complex in Khan Yunis. Several terrorists were reportedly eliminated.

Security forces arrested Islam Qara’an, the head of a terror cell operating out of the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, along with another terrorist in their hideout. In another operation, a suspected Islamic Jihad terrorist was arrested, preventing what authorities said was a planned terrorist attack.

After nearly 24 hours of battling the flames and evacuating residents, firefighting forces finally gained full control yesterday over the massive wildfire that broke out in the Jerusalem Hills and threatened several communities. Large areas of forest were burned. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues negotiations with Iran and is reportedly willing to allow Iran to have a civilian nuclear program under strict guidelines and oversight, including being prohibited to enrich uranium. President Trump has said that if Iran doesn’t accept a deal, he is prepared to shut down Irans nuclear program militarily, or to let Israel do it, with U.S. support.

News Update

A senior commander of a Sunni terror group, Hussein Atawi, was killed in an Israeli airstrike as he was driving from his home to his office in Beirut. He had survived an earlier attempt on his life last January in southern Lebanon. The IDF said in a statement that Atawi had been involved in planning terror attacks on Israel from Lebanon, targeting troops along the border and that he had been responsible for rocket fire and attempted infiltrations across the border, as well as the planning of attacks against Israeli targets around the world.

The IDF is reportedly preparing for a prolonged campaign in Rafah, due to a lack of significant reinforcements and the expected increase in clashes with remaining Hamas forces in the city. Three brigades — Golani, Givati and the 188th Armored Brigade — are advancing cautiously through Rafah’s southern neighborhoods. Most of the Hamas terrorists from the Rafah brigade are believed to have fled to northern Gaza.

Despite ongoing operations in Rafah, the IDF acknowledges that its focus is shifting northward to what officials describe as the most formidable challenge yet: the densely populated humanitarian zones in Al-Mawasi, along the coast between Rafah and Khan Yuni. The IDF has not yet entered the area, which is believed to harbor thousands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists and their commanders.

IDF commanders stressed that extensive precautions are being taken to reduce the risk to hostages believed to be held captive in tunnels. For more, click here.

A new round of negotiations is due to restart in Doha in the coming days. According to a BBC report on Monday, a new proposal by Qatari and Egyptian mediators calls for a 5 to 7-year truce, the release of all of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of IDF troops from the Strip. A Saudi report said that Hamas is willing to hand over governance of Gaza to any Palestinian entity agreed upon “at the national and regional level”.

News Update

Prime Minister Netanyahu met with President Trump in the White House yesterday. He wasn’t successful, at least for now, to get the 17% tariff on Israeli exports to the U.S. removed. Netanyahu pledged to remove all tariffs and other trade barriers on US exports to Israel. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2024, Israeli exports of goods to the US (including diamonds) were worth $17.2 billion, while imports from the US were worth $9.2 billion. Israel’s trade surplus with the US is the largest it has with any country. With China, Israel had a trade deficit in goods in 2024 of $10.8 billion. Israel already had removed all tariffs on U.S. imports prior to Netanyahu’s visit, but that didn’t help remove the 17% tariff on Israeli goods. In its interest rate announcement yesterday, the Bank of Israel stated: “Exports of goods to the US, which constitute about 13% of total exports of goods and services, will be significantly affected by the tariffs imposed by the US government, and in addition, the other export components will be adversely affected by the damage to world trade.”

Early today, a female terrorist threw stones and attempted to stab IDF soldiers at a junction near Ariel. The terrorist was neutralized and no soldiers were injured.

Iran is reportedly using the Port of Beirut to smuggle weapons in to resupply Hezbollah, which controls the port.

Israel and Turkey have reportedly been holding direct discussions on Syria to avoid the risk of a military confrontation. According to the report, Israel attacked military sites in Syria last week, including the air bases at Aleppo and the T4 base, at the exact time that Ankara intended to dispatch a technical team to examine the bases and present a preliminary review before they would be rebuilt. The sources said that Netanyahu informed his government that there was a small window of opportunity to target the bases before Turkey moves assets into them and once those assets were there, Israel would not attack the bases.

An envoy of Sudan’s military leader secretly visited Israel to ask for military assistance and diplomatic support in exchange for Sudan signing the Abraham Accords. For more, click here. 

An Israeli court handed down life sentences on two terrorists, cousins, who carried out a fatal attack in Ra’anana in January 2024 in which they murdered Edna Bluestein, 79, a social worker from Raanana, and injured over a dozen others. The court also ordered them to pay 2.3 million shekels in compensation.

News Update

During an overnight operation in which Israeli troops were seizing weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure in the Tasil area of southern Syria, armed men opened fire on them. Troops called in artillery and air support, killing 10 gunmen, according to Syrian sources. Yesterday, Israeli airstrikes targeted Damascus International Airport, the T4 airbase near Homs and the military airfield in Hama. Security officials also claimed that Turkish elements were involved in attempts by Syrian rebel groups to establish weapons production infrastructure at the T4 base. Syrian defense sources claimed at least 15 personnel were killed in the Hama strike. The targets reportedly included infrastructure and strategic weapons left behind by the Assad regime. Israel warned Syria’s new leader that it would continue to act to protect its security interests.

The IDF expanded its ground operation in southern Gaza, moving to completely cut off Rafah from the rest of the Strip. Since midnight, the Air Force has struck roughly 60 locations across Gaza from the air, including weapons depots and terrorist compounds.

Hamas said that it would not respond to Israel’s counterproposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, and will stick to its proposal to release 5 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of terrorists held in Israel.

Hungary’s government has decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, as Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in the country for an official visit. As a founding member of the ICC, Hungary is theoretically obliged to arrest and hand over anyone subject to a warrant from the court, but Hungarian President Orban made clear that Hungary would not respect the ruling which he called “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable.”