A special simchah was celebrated today in the city of Modiin Illit, where a local family welcomed their 21st child, bli ayin hara. Even more unusual is the fact that all of the children were born as single births, with no twins among them.
According to sources, the oldest child in the family, who lives in Kiryat Sefer, is just 22 years old. This means that nearly every year the family merited to welcome a new baby boy or girl.
At present, all 21 children are still single and living in their parents’ home.
The extraordinary story even surpasses a previously known “record” of a family in Bnei Brak that also had 21 children, though in that case one of the births was a set of twins.
The baby was born today at Maayanei HaYeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak.
News of the home blessed with 21 children quickly spread throughout the neighborhood, and neighbors have already begun enthusiastically organizing assistance for the mother and her husband.
Oif simchos!
{Matzav.com}Israeli and American forces have succeeded in destroying a large portion of Iran’s ballistic missile launch platforms, a development that significantly limits Tehran’s ability to carry out missile attacks, according to former Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus.
Speaking Monday on Newsmax, Conricus said the campaign against Iran has focused heavily on eliminating the launchers used to fire missiles, which he described as the critical weak point in Iran’s missile capabilities.
“So I’m happy to say that Israel and the U.S. have been successful in taking out approximately 70% of Iran’s missile launchers, the ballistic missile launchers,” Conricus said on “Bianca Across the Nation.”
Conricus explained that destroying the launch infrastructure is strategically more important than the number of missiles Iran still has in its arsenal.
“And that’s a very important figure because that is the bottleneck, and that is the most important number,” he said. “If we take out all the launchers, then they can have stockpiles of weapons — of missiles — but they won’t be able to fire them.”
According to Conricus, Israeli and American forces have concentrated on tracking and striking mobile launch systems across western Iran. The effort involves a combination of intelligence gathering, aerial operations, and precision long-range strikes.
“And that’s what we are hunting now over western Iran in Iranian skies and with continuous steady success,” Conricus said.
The current campaign began on Feb. 28, when President Donald Trump authorized Operation Epic Fury, a sweeping military effort targeting Iran’s missile and drone infrastructure, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command systems, military installations, and air defense networks after tensions escalated in the region.
Defense officials say the results of those strikes have already been visible on the battlefield. Iranian missile and drone launches have dropped significantly as launch platforms and support systems have been destroyed.
Military briefings and open-source analysis indicate that Iranian missile barrages have declined by more than 80 percent since the operation began, largely due to the systematic targeting of the transporter-erector-launchers used to deploy ballistic missiles.
Even with those gains, Conricus noted that Israeli civilians still face the threat of incoming attacks.
“Granted, Israelis still rush to shelters,” he said. “I had to go to shelters … three or four times today.”
Missiles launched from Iran and rockets fired from Lebanon continue to target Israeli population centers despite the damage inflicted on Iran’s launch capabilities.
“We have incoming missiles from Iran and rockets from Lebanon,” Conricus said.
The continued attacks have also resulted in civilian casualties inside Israel.
“Sadly, today, two Israeli civilians were killed,” he said, adding that the total number of civilians killed in Israel from Iranian ballistic missile strikes had reached 14.
“That’s, of course, a tragedy for us,” he said.
Still, Conricus said Israeli society remains determined to withstand the current conflict.
“But Israeli society is strong,” he said. “I think we’re resolute here, and we understand that this is a period that we will have to tough through.”
He added that the broader goal of the military campaign is to weaken Iran’s capabilities to such an extent that the regime will no longer be able to threaten Israel or other countries in the region.
“And eventually, I think when you boil it down to the military mechanics of it, Israel and the U.S. will be able to really degrade military capabilities of Iran and bring that regime to a situation where they don’t have the teeth or the muscle to actually do anything,” Conricus said.
{Matzav.com}
Thirteen residents, including five children, were injured early Tuesday morning after a fire broke out in a residential building on Harav Asi Street in Bnei Brak. Emergency call centers received multiple reports of heavy smoke filling the four-story building.
Four firefighting teams, along with a ladder truck and the shift commander, were dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered flames coming from an electrical cabinet on the first floor, which caused thick black smoke to quickly spread throughout the building’s stairwell. Authorities believe the fire may have been sparked by a heating device that ignited within the electrical cabinet.
Firefighters immediately began extinguishing the flames and conducted thorough searches of all floors to locate and rescue trapped residents. At the same time, crews worked to ventilate the building and remove the heavy smoke. Medical teams who were called to the scene treated 13 individuals suffering from smoke inhalation and transported them to Sheba Medical Center for further treatment.
Due to concerns that smoke could enter apartments, fire dispatchers instructed residents by phone to remain inside their homes until emergency crews arrived.
United Hatzalah issued a statement saying: “United Hatzalah medical teams were dispatched to Harav Asi Street in Bnei Brak following reports of a fire in a residential building. Medics provided treatment at the scene to thirteen victims in light condition (ages 13–70) who were suffering from breathing difficulties caused by smoke inhalation.”
Hatzalah night-duty coordinator Yoel Shechter said: “When I arrived at the scene, I saw an active fire on the first floor of a residential building and a large number of people trapped inside. After firefighters conducted searches and rescues, we, together with medics and paramedics from MDA, provided initial medical treatment to 13 victims, including five children, who showed signs of smoke inhalation. They were evacuated with the assistance of MDA ambulances staffed by Hatzalah volunteers to receive further medical care at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.”
{Matzav.com}
