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Reports in Lebanon indicate that over 3,000 Hezbollah terrorists were injured in the pager explosions earlier today, with 200 critically injured, and 9 confirmed dead.

Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the explosions, releasing a statement which said: “After reviewing the facts, we hold the Israeli enemy responsible for this attack, which harmed civilians and resulted in deaths and injuries.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu held consultations with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and other Defense officials, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv. The current events have likely postponed the firing of Gallant for the time being, with a source close to Bibi telling Channel 13: “It is not feasible to replace the Defense Minister in the midst of a complex security situation; the decision was made – but it will probably not be implemented in the immediate future.”

Reuters reported that the exploding pagers were in fact the latest model, only brought in by Hezbollah in recent months. Al Hadath also reported that the pagers had only been recently distributed to Hezbollah terrorists.

The explosions occurred in multiple locations, including ‘dozens’ of simultaneous explosions inside Syria. In Damascus, a car exploded after a device inside detonated.

According to Lebanon’s LBCI network, the explosions may have been caused by an overloading of the batteries inside the pagers. Some terrorists reportedly felt their pagers heating up, and discarded them before the explosions.

Reports from Al-Hadath also indicate that the wounded include senior Hezbollah terrorists, and their staff. The network reported that the son of senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah was injured in the explosions. An-Nahar in Lebanon reported that the son of a Hezbollah Member of Lebanese parliament, Ali Ammar, is among those killed.

Hezbollah has informed Reuters that Hezbollah terror head Hassan Nasrallah was not injured in the explosions.

{Matzav.com}

Iran’s foreign minister has strongly condemned what he and other officials say was an Israeli attack in which hundreds of pagers exploded across Lebanon and parts of Syria. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reports that Abbas Araghchi makes the comments in a phone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah, as well as in Syria. IRNA reports that during the phone call, Araghchi offered condolences and expressed solidarity with the Lebanese government and nation. He also says Iran is ready to provide treatment for the injured people or their transfer to Tehran. (AP)

A flame that towered over a southeast Houston suburb had subsided Tuesday, but continued to burn following a massive pipeline explosion after a vehicle drove through a fence and struck an above-ground valve, officials said. “Progress has been made as first responder crews worked through the night. The fire is significantly smaller,” according to a statement from the city of Deer Park. City officials have said investigations by police and local FBI agents have found no preliminary reports that would suggest a coordinated or “terrorist” attack and that “this appears to be an isolated incident.” The investigation included efforts to learn more about the driver of a vehicle that was incinerated by the pipeline explosion as flames scorched the ground across a wide radius, severed adjacent power transmission lines and ignited homes at a distance. Police did not provide any information about the person’s condition. An evacuation area included nearly 1,000 homes and initial shelter orders included schools. The City of La Porte said it has slightly reduced the evacuation area south of the pipeline fire, but did not say how many people were affected. Operators shut off the flow of natural gas liquids in the pipeline, but so much remained in the miles of tubing that firefighters could do nothing but watch and hose down adjacent homes. The statement by Deer Park said Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based owner of the pipeline, expects the fire to burn itself out later Tuesday. Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jr. described intense heat from the fire that has continued burning for nearly 24 hours as ladder trucks showered houses from above. Firefighters initially were dispatched Monday morning, after an explosion at a valve station in Deer Park, adjacent to La Porte, rattled homes and businesses, including a Walmart. Deer Park officials said an SUV drove into the valve after going through a fence on the side of the Walmart parking lot. Deer Park spokesperson Kaitlyn Bluejacket has said four people were injured. She didn’t provide details about the severity of the injuries. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement that 20 miles (32 kilometers) of pipeline between the two closed valves had to burn off before the fire would stop. Anna Lewis, who was walking into the nearby Walmart when the explosion happened, said it sounded “like a bomb went off.” She said everyone inside was rushed to the back of the store and then taken across the street to a grocery store before being bussed to a community center. “It scared me,” she said. “You really don’t know what to do when it’s happening.” Geselle Melina Guerra said she and her boyfriend heard the explosion as they were having breakfast in their mobile home. “All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Guerra, who lives within the evacuation area. Houston, Texas’ largest city, is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight in the area, including some that have been deadly, raising recurring questions about the adequacy of industry efforts to protect the public and the environment. Both Energy Transfer and Harris County Pollution […]

The number of injured in Lebanon stands at 3600 and continues to rise, close to 400 /seriously critically injured

A Jewish mass grave containing 23 bodies was located Tuesday in Belarus, local media reported.

The remains of 12 adults and 11 children between the ages of one and 7 were uncovered in the town of Strešyn in the country’s southeastern Gomel region, which was occupied by the Nazi Germany in August 1941.

The local Jewish population was forced into a local ghetto and its property was looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

According to the assessment of the Belarus authorities, the Jewish mass grave contains the remains of some of those who did not survive the conditions in the ghetto, Israel’s Kan radio reported.

No evidence of execution was found on the remains, but keys and a rusty rifle bullet were uncovered in the grave.

The official news agency of Belarus, Balta, reported that a local who bought a house in Strešyn about 15 years ago had discovered the bodies during agricultural work he carried out on the grounds. But he chose not to report the find to anyone, even though he and many of the local residents knew that these were the remains of Jews who died in the local ghetto.

The news come at a time when Belarussian authorities are belatedly acknowledging that Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, after years when they were promoting a controversial narrative of a “Belarusian genocide” during World War II.

About 40,000 Jews lived in Gomel in 1939, comprising nearly 30% of the total population.

Most of the Jews were able to leave the district before Aug. 19, 1941, when the city was occupied by German troops.

The Jews who remained were incarcerated in three ghettos where mortality rates were very high.

The total number of Holocaust victims from Gomel is estimated at 3,000-4,000.

Five years ago, about 1,000 bodies were found in the southwestern Belarusian city of Brest near the border with Poland, in a dark reminder of the Holocaust.

(JNS)

The rebel group’s spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam called the attack “a heinous crime and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.” “Our condolences and sympathy go to the families of the martyrs in the valiant Islamic resistance, asking God Almighty to have mercy and forgiveness for them, and to grant a speedy recovery to the wounded,” Abdelsalam said in a post on X. “We are certain that Lebanon is capable of facing all challenges, and has a resistance movement capable of deterring the Zionist enemy entity and making it pay a heavy price for any escalation it may undertake against Lebanon.”

Florida law enforcement will launch a criminal investigation of the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. DeSantis’ announcement means a state-level probe will run parallel to the federal investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged Monday with federal firearms charges. “We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable,” DeSantis told reporters. Additional and more serious federal charges are possible as the investigation continues and Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury. Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities spotted a firearm poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. Prosecutors asked that Routh remain locked up as a flight risk. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month. Routh did not fire any shots, never had Trump in his line of sight and sped away after an agent who spotted him shot in his direction, officials said. He was arrested in a neighboring county. It was the second apparent assassination attempt targeting Trump in as many months. On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump’s ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee. (AP)

“Telling your wife your needs and wants” is a complete waste of time for married men who want happiness and I’ll tell you why. So many marriage experts claim they have the secret to a happy marriage and that it all comes down to communication, boundaries and bringing in more money. They tell you to help out more at home, talk about the past, go together to a marriage professional but never stop to take inventory of whether ANY of these methods are actually WORKING in creating happiness and joy! I am not saying those strategies don’t work at all, but they are the long… slow… painful way of having a happy home. And for the few that make it with these strategies, they’ve done it while he doesn’t get what he needs, and she doesn’t get what she needs.  Meanwhile, we’re helping our clients connect with their wives on the highest level, living lives full of happiness and excitement and it gets more and more joyful by the day where both husband and wife feel happiness and excitement… … all without needing their wife to meet them halfway! To check out how they do this, click below to watch my free presentation where I share all the details … you’re going to thank me for it! 5 Steps Married Men Use to Get Rid of Friction and Create Happiness and Excitement… Without Needing Their Wife to Meet Them Halfway!

Reports suggest that at least 18 senior Hezbollah commanders were injured in Western Syria, mainly around the Damascus countryside, as a result of today’s pager attack, which is believed to have been carried out by Israel.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric: “Developments in Lebanon are extremely concerning, particularly within the extremely volatile environment. This follows the detonation of THOUSANDS of electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah members.

On Monday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” where she expressed concerns that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric of “hate and division” poses a threat to national security.

Clinton remarked, “I’m very hopeful, and even optimistic that Americans who do not want to see a continuation of this politics of hate and division will reject Trump.”

She elaborated, “The focus here is Donald Trump, his demagoguery, and his threat to both our country and the global community. You know, they were relentless in their criticism of President Biden’s perceived shortcomings during the debate and even called for his resignation. I believe Donald Trump has repeatedly proven himself unfit to be a presidential candidate, much less a president.”

Clinton went on to say, “I think an increasing number of Americans are turning away from the kind of disorder that he embodies. We cannot go back. That’s the message from the Harris campaign: we’re not going back. We’re not returning to the failures in protecting American lives during COVID. We’re not going back to the troubling alliances with dictators that jeopardize innocent lives and compromise America’s security. We cannot afford to give this dangerous individual another opportunity to harm our nation and the world.”

{Matzav.com}

The election director in Cobb County, an Atlanta suburb where votes will be fiercely contested in this year’s presidential race, recently organized a five-hour training session. The focus wasn’t solely on the nuts-and-bolts of running this year’s election. Instead, it brought together election staff and law enforcement to strategize on how to keep workers safe and the process of voting and ballot-counting secure. Having a local sheriff’s deputy at early voting locations and panic buttons that connect poll managers to a local 911 dispatcher are among the added security steps the office is taking this year. Tate Fall, Cobb County’s election director, said she was motivated to act after hearing one of her poll workers describe being confronted during the state’s presidential primary in March by an agitated voter who the worker noticed was carrying a gun. The situation ended peacefully, but the poll worker was shaken. “That made it really real for me — that it’s so easy for something to go sideways in life, period, let alone the environment of Georgia and elections,” Fall said. “I just can’t have someone being harmed on my conscience.” Across the country, local election directors are beefing up their security in advance of Election Day on Nov. 5 to keep their workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with. Their concern isn’t just theoretical. Election offices and those who run them have been targets of harassment and even death threats since the 2020 presidential election, primarily by people acting on former President Donald Trump’s lies that the election was stolen from him through widespread fraud or rigged voting machines. The focus on security comes as threats of political violence have been on the rise. Trump was the target of a potential assassination attempt over the weekend, just nine weeks after another threat on his life. Federal agents last year fatally shot a Trump supporter who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden, and the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was severely injured in a hammer attack by a man promoting right-wing conspiracy theories. In just the last year, a gun was fired at a window of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, election office, several election offices in five states were sent letters filled with a white powder that in some cases tested positive for the powerful opioid fentanyl, and bogus 911 calls were made to the homes of top state election officials in Georgia, Maine, Michigan and Missouri in a potentially dangerous situation known as swatting. “This is one of the things that I have to say is just crazy, outrageous to me — the election threats to workers of both parties and their families, the bullying, the harassment,” Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said during a recent agency-sponsored online event. “These folks, they are not doing it for pay. They’re not doing it for glory. They’re doing it because they believe it’s the right thing to do to defend our democracy.” Her agency has completed more than 1,000 voluntary physical security assessments for election offices since the start of 2023. Election officials have been using that help to identify gaps and request money from their local governments to make upgrades. They also have been aided by a […]

About an hour ago, an Israeli airstrike targeted Majdel Selem. There are several deaths. This is the second such airstrike in south Lebanon today, including Blida.

Hezbollah: – We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for the criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the martyrdom of a number of people and the injury of a large number with various wounds. – Our martyrs and wounded are the symbol of our jihad and sacrifices on the road to Jerusalem, a victory for our honorable people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and continuous field support. Our position of victory, support and endorsement of the valiant Palestinian resistance will remain a source of pride for us in this world and the hereafter.

Dear Matzav Inbox,

Thanks for this platform. The letters you share and the topics addressed here seem to be ones that are issues that really lie at the core of our frum community. Thank you.

It’s high time someone spoke up about something that’s been bothering me for a while. Just as we are super careful about what we eat, making sure it’s all under proper hashgacha, we’re sorely lacking when it comes to what’s coming into our minds and hearts through the screens in our homes and in our hands.

Every day, we see more and more podcasts, videos, and other media being shoved into our frum world, spreading all sorts of wrong hashkafos and even kefirah. Usually, it’s just plain ameratzus and ignorance, with zero halachic and hashkafic knowledge.

These things are slipping into our lives under the radar, and it’s clear that we’re not paying enough attention. Where’s the supervision? Where’s the vigilance to make sure that what’s out there aligns with our Torah values?

It’s about time we had some kind of hashgacha for all the content we’re exposed to, just like we have for our food. And by the way, I include this very website. I hope you’ll print that. Everything should have to pass some level of scrutiny.

We wouldn’t think of eating something without checking if it’s kosher—so why are we so careless about what’s coming into our minds through our phones and computers?

Chazal tell us that what we see and hear affects us deeply. We need to be careful and make sure that our neshamos are protected from harmful influences. Let’s get some proper oversight in place and make sure that our community isn’t being led astray by things that have no place in our lives. I hope we haven’t already gone too far.

Sincerely,

C. D.

To submit a letter to appear on Matzav.com, email MatzavInbox@gmail.com

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The opinions expressed in letters on Matzav.com do not necessarily reflect the stance of the Matzav Media Network.

Hezbollah in a new statement blames Israel for the pager bombings, and vows to respond.

Americans spent a bit more at retailers last month, providing a small boost to the economy just as the Federal Reserve considers how much to cut its key interest rate. Retail sales ticked up 0.1% from July to August, after jumping the most in a year and a half the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Online retailers, sporting goods stores, and home and garden stores all reported higher sales. The data indicate that consumers are still able and willing to spend more despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and the higher interest rates intended to combat those rising prices. Average paychecks, particularly for lower-income Americans, have also risen sharply since the pandemic, which has allowed many Americans to continue spending even as many necessities became more expensive. And price increases are slowing, with inflation falling to a three-year low last month of 2.5%. The impact of inflation and consumers’ health has been an ongoing issue in the presidential campaign, with former President Donald Trump blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the post-pandemic jump in prices. Vice President Kamala Harris has, in turn, charged that Trump’s claim that he will slap 10% to 20% tariffs on all imports would amount to a “Trump tax” that will raise prices further. A slowdown in hiring and a recent rise in the unemployment rate have fueled concerns the economy is sputtering, yet steady spending should boost growth. The Federal Reserve’s Atlanta branch estimates that the economy grew at a solid 2.5% annual rate in the third quarter. “With consumption still very healthy, for now, recession fears appear overblown,” Olivia Cross, North America economist at Capital Economics, said. The Fed could provide a further boost to consumers and the economy by lowering borrowing costs. It is likely to reduce its key rate at its meetings in November and December as well as on Wednesday. Such cuts should, over time, lower rates for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. Average mortgage rates have already fallen in anticipation of the Fed’s actions. Consumers have been showing signs of stress, with credit-card debt rising and savings rates falling, trends that could weigh on spending in future months. Kamie Meeks, a 22-year-old college student in New York City, said that inflation has made her better at finding lower priced goods. She does her food shopping at the discounter Aldi. She shops mostly online at Walmart and at Chinese retailers like Shein and Temu. It’s easier to “find deals” online, Meeks said. In August, sales jumped 1.4% for online retailers in August and rose 0.7% at health and personal care outlets. Yet they were flat for restaurants and bars, a sign that consumers are holding back from some discretionary spending. Gas stations reported a 1.2% drop in sales, which mostly reflected a decline in prices last month. Auto sales also ticked lower. On Wednesday, Fed policymakers will decide whether to cut their key interest rate by a typical quarter-point or a larger-than-usual half-point, from its current level of about 5.3%, a 23-year high. Wall Street is increasingly expecting a reduction of a half-point. With inflation headed back to the Fed’s 2% target, many economists also argue that the central bank does not need to keep rates that high. At the same time, some Fed policymakers […]

On Tuesday, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured in the scores of Hezbollah pager explosions.

The report did not specify if Amani had been carrying his own pager which exploded, or if he was in the vicinity of someone else when their pager exploded.

Al Jazeera later reported that Amani’s injuries were ‘superficial,’ citing Arab media sources.

Possibly over 1,000 members of Hezbollah were injured when the pagers exploded, causing panic in the streets. Videos of the explosions occurring in shops and on the street are going viral on social media. The explosions occurred in locations across Lebanon, including Hezbollah strongholds in the Beirut area.

The explosions occurred only hours after it was reported that Hezbollah attempted to assassinate a former top Israeli Defense official in Tel Aviv.

{Matzav.com}

An Israeli aerial strike on Monday killed the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket and missile unit in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.

Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was embedded and operating inside the humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis when he was eliminated in the precision attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“Al-Hashash was responsible for the Islamic Jihad’s rocket attacks in the Rafah Brigade and was an important source of knowledge […] within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza,” the IDF said.

“During the war, al-Hashash was responsible for firing rockets from inside the Humanitarian Zone toward Israeli civilians.”

The military emphasized that before conducting the strike, many steps were taken to minimize the threat to noncombatants, including the choice of munitions, aerial surveillance and the collection of additional intelligence.

“The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to systematically abuse civilian and humanitarian infrastructure to carry out terrorist activities and attacks on Israeli civilians,” the IDF statement concluded.

 

“The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in defense of the State of Israel.”

Soldier seriously wounded

A reserve soldier in the IDF’s 846th Battalion, Givati Brigade, was seriously wounded during combat operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said on Tuesday morning.

He was evacuated to a hospital for treatment and his family was notified.

IDF’s 5th Brigade deployed to Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor

The Israel Defense Forces’ 5th Infantry Brigade has been stationed in the Netzarim Corridor that splits the Gaza Strip between north and south, the army announced on Monday.

It is the second time the brigade has operated in the coastal enclave since Israeli forces entered the territory on Oct. 27.

The brigade’s first tour of duty entailed protecting Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip in the first days of the war and ridding them of terrorists, before months of combat in the areas of Beit Hanun, Kherbat Ahzaa and the central corridor.

The brigade falls under the command of the 252nd Division, which in recent months has been operating against Hamas and working to expand the axis dividing the northern and southern Strip.

“In the last few days, the brigade’s fighters completed a series of training and exercises at the Ground Forces Training Center (GTC). The forces carried out training and exercises in warfare in open and built-up areas and raised their operational competence in preparation for their mission in the center of the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.

“In addition, the forces completed logistical preparation and held mobility, supplies and immediate medical response training in preparation for the fighting.” JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

The Saudi-owned Alhadath news channel reports that “senior Hezbollah leaders and their advisers” are among the injured in tye mysterious explosions involving hundreds of pagers in Lebanon this afternoon. Meanwhile, several Hezbollah members in and around Damascus, Syria, were killed and critically wounded after their pagers exploded. These incidents occurred simultaneously with coordinated explosions in Lebanon.