IDF Strikes Gaza Ahead Of Expanded Offensive, As Ceasefire Talks Fail
The IDF struck Hamas targets in Gaza overnight on Thursday (15th) and into the early morning hours on Friday (16th), mostly in the northern parts of the Strip.
On Thursday (15th) the military targeted the area of Khan Younis in the southern part of the Strip.
The strikes in Gaza have increased since the targeted attack against Mohammed Sinwar, head of the Hamas military wing and brother of slain leader Yahya Sinwar, on Tuesday (13th).
The attacks were also described as a precursor to an expanded ground offensive on the Strip should negotiations for a ceasefire fail.
Israeli officials said on Thursday (15th) that there has been no progress in the talks in Qatar after an Israeli delegation met there with mediators, including US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but despite the failure to advance in the talks, the team remained in Qatar on Friday (16th) awaiting a government decision.
Missile Launched From Yemen Sends Over A Million Israelis To Shelters. Leaving Lag B’Omer Bonfires
The Houthis launched a missile toward Israel Thursday evening (15th), sending more than a million Israelis scrambling for shelter and secure areas.
The missile was intercepted by the Arrow 3 system. But before that, it led to rocket alerts in dozens of communities in the central region, the Sharon, the Shephelah, and the West Bank. In addition, during the alerts, landings and takeoffs at Ben Gurion Airport were halted.
The alarms were activated while tens of thousands were taking advantage of the beginning of the weekend to party around the country – and while many children were celebrating lag B’Omer around bonfires.
Magen David Adom reported that there were no casualties so far, except for cases of panic and people who were injured on their way to the protected areas. Interceptor parts fell in Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion, landing near a bonfire.
Senior Houthi official Nasr al-Din Amer sent a message to Israel on the social network X, alongside a video of the sirens sounding in the country. “This entity Israel will not feel any calm as long as the attacks and siege on Gaza continue. Yemen will continue to exert military pressure on the Zionist enemy until it stops the attacks and lifts the siege. We will work towards more and more escalation, with the help of Allah.”
Meanwhile, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah reported that the Houthis believe their attacks on Israel have become more effective and could pressure Jerusalem to end the war in Gaza more quickly.
A military source in Sanaa told the paper that Houthi forces plan to double their “operations against Ben Gurion Airport” to the point of halting all air traffic there, “similar to the shutdown of the seaport in Eilat.” The source added that the latest attacks on Ben Gurion Airport conveyed “more than one message” to Israel, claiming that the flight ban would be enforced by force and that the Yemeni threat is ongoing “hour by hour.” He also said drone strikes are planned “to prevent planes from landing or taking off from Ben Gurion.”
Wednesday morning (14th), as children headed to kindergartens and schools, sirens sounded at 7:44 a.m. in the Jerusalem area, the Shephelah, and the West Bank, following a Houthi missile launch that was successfully intercepted. It marked the third launch within 24 hours, after two missiles were fired the previous day— one of which was intercepted, while the other fell short of Israeli territory.
Tzeela Gez Laid To Rest
Thousands gathered Thursday evening (15th) to accompany Tzeela Gez, of Burchin, to her final resting place. She was murdered in a terrorist shooting attack Wednesday night (14th) while on her way to the hospital with her husband to give birth to their fourth child.
The funeral was held at the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in the Givat Shaul neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Her husband Hananel, eulogized her, as did her sister.
Former Chief Rabbi David Lau also eulogized her, stating, “Beyond our prayers for IDF soldiers and the hostages we wish to return alive, and the dead we wish to bring to Jewish burial, we now also pray for the newborn child of Tzeela, that he may live. May his grandfather circumcise him in the covenant of Abraham, and may he live a life of peace.”
Tzeela, on Wednesday evening (14th) was traveling with her husband to the hospital to give birth. She was in her ninth month.
While driving on the road between Burchin and Peduel, terrorists opened fire and hit the car directly.
Thursday morning (15th), Beilinson Hospital announced that despite prolonged resuscitation efforts, doctors were forced to pronounce her death. In a desperate attempt to save the baby, an emergency caesarean section was performed.
The newborn is in serious but stable condition. Tzeela’s husband Hananel sustained light injuries and was discharged from the hospital.
On Thursday morning (15th), Hananel published a heartfelt message mourning his wife: “Hello friends, today is a sad day. Last night my wife was murdered. We were on our way to the hospital to joyfully welcome our fourth son,” he wrote.
Despite the immense pain, he expressed gratitude for being alive, writing, “Of course I’m broken, that’s natural, but I also thanked God that I survived and will be strong to continue being a light to the entire world, because we will never let them break us.”
He added: “I am very, very sad, but I will continue to fight for the wellbeing of our people. I love you all. We will survive, we will succeed, and we will thrive. HaShem is One.”
German President Visits Kibbutz Be’eri With Herzog
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This week, visited Kibbutz Be’eri alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog, marking their second joint visit to the southern Israeli community since the outbreak of the war with Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
The emotionally charged visit to the hard-hit agricultural kibbutz near the Gaza border came as fighting in the Strip continues, and coincided with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel,
“Almost a year and a half ago, my wife and I stood here in Kibbutz Be’eri. What we saw then will never leave our memory: houses that were nothing but ruins, burnt trees, everyday objects and toys scattered around – the horror, the suffering,” Steinmeier said during the visit. “It went right through us, but we also felt something else – the will not to give up. The will to rebuild.”
He also addressed the ongoing war, noting that nearly 600 days after the Oct. 7 attacks, Hamas is still holding hostages in the Gaza Strip.
“585 days after the massacre, there are still hostages in the hands of Hamas, including German companions,” said Steinmeier. Germany will not forget them, and I will not forget them. Our voices will not remain silent, as long as they have not returned.”
More than 100 civilians – nearly 10 percent of Kibbutz Be’eri’s 1,100 residents – were killed in the Hamas-led massacre, while another 30 were abducted to Gaza.
For his part, Herzog expressed hope for a better future in the region despite the devastation. “I truly hope and believe that after the horrible period that we have gone through and are going through, we shall also see peace in this region with our neighbors,” he said.
The visit concluded with the symbolic planting of a tree by the two presidents, representing renewal for the community.
Earlier Tuesday (13th), Herzog awarded Steinmeier the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor during a ceremony in Jerusalem, following Herzog’s reciprocal state visit to Berlin.
While in Israel, Steinmeier also held a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
‘A Hand That Shakes The Hand Of Your Murderer:’ Alawites Criticize US-Syria Relations
While some Syrians celebrated President Donald Trump’s announcement to lift American sanctions, others are expressing deep concerns about an uncertain future and the strengthening position of Damascus ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.
In an exclusive conversation with Israel Hayom, a resident from the Alawite region in western Syria expressed mixed feelings about the development. “Lifting sanctions might look like a spark of hope and perhaps will bring good things for the exhausted and wounded people who have been worn down by years of war, hunger, and disappointment. But we must also ask ourselves – what is the price? Will we pay with our resources, our land, or our dignity?” the resident asked.
These comments come against the backdrop of foreign media reports that al-Sharaa is willing to reach an agreement with the United States regarding resources in the country and security arrangements with Israel. On Thursday (15th), Trump met with Al-Sharaa and called on him to join the Abraham Accords with Israel.
“From December 8 until this moment , this homeland has suffered a deep wound in its soul,” the Syrian resident said. “Not just from gunfire, but also from hatred and the deep rift between the various communities and residents that the war has left behind. This hostility cannot be healed except through exceptional grace from Allah. Those who lost their sons, their wives, their property, everything dear to them – who will bring them justice? Will the Americans remove their injustice? Will orphans who never knew their parents receive justice? ”
He added, “We are happy or at least pretend to be happy that the sanctions have been lifted. But what’s the point of happiness if you don’t even have a grain of land in your own home land? What’s the point of a hand that shakes the hand of your murderer?” The resident was referring to Syrian ruler Ahmed Al-Sharaa, whose forces massacred minorities, especially Alawites and Druze.
“You cannot sell the homeland and you cannot buy dignity. Whoever sold their dignity in the name of the homeland never knew its meaning. So they removed the restrictions, but they imposed a heavier burden on the people for life,” he said.
A Group Of Non-Jews Meets The Jewish State
Israelis have become inured to the constant criticism leveled at them from all over the world. They sometimes forget that this is the side of the story emphasized by mainstream media and tend to overemphasize it themselves, not realizing that those who do support Israel are often simply doing so under the radar, but that they most certainly exist.
A clear and heartening example of this could be seen at the Jerusalem’s Dan Panorama hotel this week when forty-three non-Jews from all over the world came to see Israel for the first time in their lives. The group spent ten days touring the country, enjoyed an enlightening morning at the Knesset, met with various rabbis and public figures, and visited Christian and Biblical sites that had them radiating excitement.
Israel National News was invited to meet the group and explain the rationale behind its news coverage. We talked about promoting a pro-Israel and pro-Religious Zionist outlook that sticks to truth, facts, IDF figures and not those of Hamas and other anti-Israeli sources, calls terrorists “terrorists and not militants,” provides a forum for the Jews of Judea and Samaria as well as for religious Zionist viewpoints that are often ignored by mainstream media.
The tour was the initiative of Mark Blitz founder of a ministry in Tacoma, Washington who has been leading tours to Israel like this one multiple times a year for over a decade, part of a personal campaign to counteract media bias and change attitudes of non-Jews to what the Jewish State is all about.
“We are here in Israel for the sole purpose of getting non-Jews from all over the world to love Israel, to love the Jewish people. We have people from five different nations on our tour, including Kenya, and the Dominican Republic, and I want them to see the truth. I want them to see the facts. I want them to see the authenticity of what is happening on the ground here in Israel. There is nothing like seeing for yourself,”Blitz said.
“We firmly believe in the concept of Judea and Samaria, not the ‘West Bank’ and that Jews have a right to build communities in Judea and Samaria as well as everywhere else in Israel. They also have a right to lead peaceful lives, although we want Israel to defend itself the way it must when the need arises. All the people on our tour want authenticity, the truth, to see the facts the way they are.” Everyone seconded his remarks.
Gerald McGlothlin, Newsmax contributor and media strategist, confessed that this was his first time in Israel, and that he had fallen in love with the country.
“Each time I come,” said Blitz, “the groups go back with a highly positive view of the country and its people because that is where the truth lies. I want Israelis to realize that they have much more support than they think they have,” he concluded.
Former Gaza Hostages To March In Annual Israel Parade In New York City
NEW YORK – The annual Israel Day Parade on 5th Avenue, a massive parade through the center of Manhattan, will take place on Sunday (18th), with the plight of the hostages the centerpiece of the annual show of support for Israel.
The march is a significant show of support for Israel in the city, and a moment of solidarity for theJewish community, as Jewish New Yorkers continue to deal with the fallout from the October 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel.
This year’s march will feature Israelis formerly held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, including Eliya Cohen, Ilana Gritzewsky, Andrev Kozlov, Aviva and Keith Siegel, and Doron Steinbrecher. The former hostages are marching to raise awareness of the 58 captives still held in Gaza.
This year’s parade logo is a bright multicolored tree with a yellow ribbon on its trunk in support of the hostages.
The theme for this year is “Hatikvah” meaning “The Hope” – the title of Israel’s national anthem.
New York’s political leadership has remained staunchly supportive of Israel despite some tensions surrounding the war. An array of elected officials typically attend the parade, including officials from Israel.
The parade takes place on the iconic Fifth Avenue. The procession starts at 11:30 a.m. at 62nd Street. The event will be broadcast live on local news outlet Fox 5 NY.
The parade will include Jewish groups marching together, floats, performers playing music, and thousands of students from area day schools will march. Tens of thousands of other participants usually join the march.
The parade will take place under heavy police security, in addition to security provided by Jewish community groups.
There are near daily anti-Israel protests on the city streets and college campuses, and the parade acts as a counterweight and a show of force in support of the Jewish state. Only a handful of anti-Israel protesters typically show up at the march.
The annual parade began in 1965 with an impromptu march by thousands of Zionist youth in support of Israel. JCRC has managed the event since 2011.
