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The IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA) announced that they have eliminated Walid Haniyeh, a senior Hamas terrorist who helped lead the October 7 massacre and was responsible for recruiting and training operatives in the organization’s elite Nukhba force.

According to the military, Haniyeh served as the deputy commander of a Nukhba company within Hamas’ military wing. In recent years, he played a key role in expanding the terrorist organization’s ranks by recruiting additional operatives and overseeing the military training of fighters under his command.

The IDF said Haniyeh personally commanded a terrorist cell that infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7 attack and also participated in the cross-border assault. Officials said he directed the operation and provided operational instructions to the terrorists responsible for abducting Israeli civilians and taking them into the Gaza Strip as hostages.

The military also noted that Walid Haniyeh was the nephew of Ismail Haniyeh, the former head of Hamas’ Political Bureau.

Following the operation, the IDF emphasized that its forces remain on high alert in southern Israel and will continue taking action against emerging threats.

“Troops under the Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the IDF said.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump announced today that he is nominating retired Oklahoma State Trooper Lance Schroyer to serve as the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, praising the longtime law enforcement officer as a proven leader with decades of experience combating crime and working alongside federal immigration authorities.

Sharing the announcement on Truth Social, Trump highlighted Schroyer’s nearly three decades in law enforcement and pointed to his own electoral success in Oklahoma as he introduced his nominee.

”Lance has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, noting he won all of the state’s counties in three successive elections.

If confirmed, Schroyer would become the first Senate-confirmed ICE director since 2017. The position has remained vacant due to years of partisan disputes in Washington over immigration enforcement policy.

Trump praised Schroyer’s record, describing him as a “PATRIOT with real operational experience, and proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst, including spearheading 287g Law Enforcement partnerships with ICE!”

The president also emphasized Schroyer’s hands-on role in immigration enforcement, saying he has firsthand experience removing illegal immigrants from American communities and enjoys strong support among ICE personnel.

He noted Schoyer’s firsthand experience getting “Illegal Aliens OFF our streets” and said just like Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, “he LOVES the men and women of ICE.”

Mullin assumed leadership of the Department of Homeland Security after winning Senate confirmation following President Trump’s decision to remove his predecessor, Kristi Noem.

The ICE director’s position has been vacant since former acting director Todd Lyons stepped down in April. His resignation followed the January shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during anti-ICE demonstrations.

Trump urged senators to act swiftly on Schroyer’s nomination despite Congress currently being in recess through the week of July 4.

Trump called on the Senate — in recess through the week of July 4th — to confirm Schroyer immediately.

Schroyer has maintained a minimal public profile online. A LinkedIn page bearing his name contains no posts or personal information beyond his job title, while local news reports from 2015 and 2016 documented his response to several serious highway traffic accidents during his tenure with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

{Matzav.com}

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani officially opened the city’s public pool season today by jumping into an East Harlem swimming pool fully dressed in a business suit—while apparently violating the very rules swimmers are expected to follow.

Mamdani made the splash at the Thomas Jefferson Pool, where he joined dozens of children for the ceremonial kickoff to the summer season. Instead of changing into swimwear, however, the mayor entered the water in his suit, despite regulations requiring all swimmers to wear proper bathing attire.

He even left his black socks on before making what spectators described as a modest cannonball into the pool.

The stunt delighted many of the children in attendance.

“It was so fun. I didn’t think he would do it! And then he shook my hand. That felt amazing,” said Mila Mader, 12.

“I told my brother, Leo, I was like, ‘Oh my God, the mayor shook my hand.’ He shook my brother’s hands, too.”

Mamdani’s jump revived a tradition that had largely disappeared in recent administrations. Earlier this year, The City reporter Katie Honan asked whether he planned to bring back the custom of mayors taking an opening-day plunge.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the last New York City mayor to participate in the ritual, while both Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams opted not to continue the tradition.

“I’m gonna be honest, I may do it. I may commit to it,” Mamdani said in March, though he did not officially announce his plans until this week.

City regulations require everyone using public pools to wear bathing suits. Male swimmers must also wear trunks with mesh lining unless they choose to wear Speedos, which are permitted under the rules.

According to the Parks Department, those requirements are intended to help maintain proper chemical balance and sanitary conditions in the pools.

This was not the first time Mamdani has made a public splash while dressed in formal clothing.

During last year’s mayoral campaign, he ran into the frigid waters off Coney Island in a business suit during the annual Polar Bear Club Plunge, using the event to promote his pledge to freeze rents if elected.

That campaign promise moved closer to reality on Thursday, when the New York City Rent Guidelines Board approved a freeze on both one-year and two-year leases for approximately one million rent-stabilized apartments across the city.

{Matzav.com / Photo: NY Post}

The United States carried out a large-scale wave of airstrikes against multiple Iranian military targets on Saturday after Tehran allegedly violated the ceasefire agreement with another attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting President Donald Trump to warn that Iran’s continued aggression could threaten the country’s very existence.

Announcing the operation on Truth Social, Trump said the strikes were directed at Iranian military assets responsible for recent attacks.

“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage location, and costal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” President Trump posted on Truth Social after ordering the attack.

He followed with an even sharper warning to Tehran.

“It is very possible that they will never learn!” he wrote. “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

According to U.S. Central Command, the latest military action followed another alleged Iranian violation of the ceasefire. Officials said Iran had been given an opportunity to halt its attacks after Friday’s U.S. response to the drone strike on the M/V Ever Lovely, but instead launched another one-way attack drone.

CENTCOM says that after the US struck Iran Friday in response to an Iranian attack on a ship called the M/V Ever Lovely, the Iran “was given a chance to honor the cease-fire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit M/T Kiku this morning at 4:30 a.m. ET.”

Military officials said Saturday’s operation focused on key components of Iran’s military infrastructure.

Military officials said the new today attacks “targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities.”

Despite the escalating conflict, the U.S. military indicated that maritime traffic through the strategic waterway remained active.

The military also said that “commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue.”

CENTCOM added that the strikes were launched under direct presidential authorization.

The message from CENTCOM said attack began “at the Commander in Chief’s direction.”

Iran swiftly denounced the operation. The country’s Foreign Ministry, speaking through the semi-official Tasnim news agency, accused the United States of carrying out unlawful military aggression.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told its semi-official news agency counterpart Tasnim that Iran condemns the “savage attacks, which targeted Iran’s coastal surveillance facilities,” adding that they constitute violations of international law.

Iran also urged neighboring Gulf states not to assist Washington in future military operations.

The Ministry also called upon its neighbors in the Persian Gulf “to adhere to the principles of good neighborliness” and to “observe the fundamental principle of international law” by preventing the US from using their territories and facilities.

Senior U.S. officials told Fox News that Saturday’s operation represented a significant escalation over the previous night’s strikes.

Senior US officials told Fox News that the barrage was “It’s a larger strike than last night.”

“It’s a larger strike than last night,” the official told Fox News.

The officials said Iran had an opportunity to de-escalate but instead chose further confrontation.

“Iran had a chance to stop shooting … and they didn’t take it,” the official said, adding, “instead, they attacked another ship in Hormuz this morning, the MT Kiku.”

The latest exchange marked another major setback for the already fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, which has unraveled rapidly following a series of military incidents in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Friday’s U.S. strikes had been launched after Iran targeted the cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely, while Tehran later responded with a retaliatory drone attack aimed at U.S.-linked facilities in Bahrain.

The renewed fighting now threatens to derail the broader diplomatic initiative spearheaded by Vice President JD Vance.

Meanwhile, commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continues to face major disruptions as tensions remain high.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed Friday that his administration would not accept the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to revoke deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants, calling the ruling one of the most damaging blows to immigrants in recent history.

Responding to the court’s 6-3 decision, the socialist Muslim anti-Israel mayor released a video message condemning both the ruling and the administration’s immigration policy.

“To have people who frankly taught the world about freedom have their own freedom put into jeopardy by the actions of a Supreme Court and federal administration — it is not only cruel, it’s not something we will ever accept,” Mamdani said in a video statement after Thursday’s bombshell 6-3 ruling.

The Supreme Court concluded that the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) law does not permit judicial review of the administration’s decisions, preventing lower federal courts from blocking the Trump administration’s move to terminate deportation protections for more than 350,000 Haitians and approximately 6,000 Syrians living in the United States.

Soon after the ruling was issued, Mamdani appeared alongside immigration advocates, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James before issuing an additional statement through City Hall.

“The Supreme Court just sparked one of the largest attacks on immigrants in modern American history. In one fell swoop, thousands of Haitians and Syrians now risk losing the right to live and work in the country they call home,” Mamdani also said in a statement issued by City Hall.

He warned that New York City would feel the effects of the ruling more than many other places because of its large Haitian and Syrian populations.

“This decision will cause enormous pain across the five boroughs. Here in New York, it falls hardest on our Haitian community, one of the largest in the country, alongside Syrian families,” the statement said.

Seeking to reassure affected residents, Mamdani pledged that the city would continue to stand behind immigrants with Temporary Protected Status.

“To the tens of thousands of New Yorkers with TPS who are watching the news, frightened about what comes next, hear me clearly: New York City is your home. You belong here. We will not turn our backs on you.”

City Hall also announced that the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs would soon release updated guidance and additional resources for impacted migrants.

“You will not face this cruelty alone. This administration will stand alongside immigrant New Yorkers today, tomorrow, and every day that follows,” Mamdani said.

New York City’s sanctuary policies generally prohibit local agencies and law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement or participating in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

Since taking office in January, Mamdani has expanded those sanctuary protections. In February, he signed an executive order barring ICE agents from entering city-owned properties—including public schools, homeless shelters, and hospitals—without a judicial warrant.

The executive order also directed a review of city agencies to ensure compliance with sanctuary policies, called for recommendations to strengthen enforcement of those rules, and required additional training for municipal employees.

“We will make it clear once again ICE will not be able to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant. That means our schools, our shelters and our hospitals,” Mamdani said at the time.

According to city figures, New York is home to roughly 115,000 Haitians and nearly 12,000 Syrians.

Temporary Protected Status has been available to Syrian nationals since 2012 following the outbreak of the country’s civil war, while Haitians have been eligible for the designation since the devastating 2010 earthquake.

The Supreme Court previously issued a similar ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan migrants.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump declared Friday that even Iran’s own leadership and citizens were relieved by the death of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, while also touting his administration’s military and diplomatic actions against Tehran as having prevented the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Trump made the remarks during a speech before the Faith and Freedom Coalition, where he reflected on key moments from his presidency and highlighted what he described as major successes in confronting Iran.

Recalling the January 3, 2020 U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed Soleimani, Trump argued that the operation was welcomed even within Iran. He claimed that the country’s late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, “and all of the people in Iran were happy about” Soleimani’s death “because they were afraid of him too.”

Trump also disclosed that Israel had originally planned to participate in the operation but ultimately withdrew shortly before it was carried out.

“And I said to a couple of generals that we had who were very good, I said, ’What do you think, generals, can we do it?’ Because we worked on it for 30 days, worked on it with Israel. They said, ‘We’ll do it, sir…we’ll do it better. And he was dead the next day.”

Turning to last week’s Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran, Trump praised the accord as a landmark achievement, saying it delivered results no previous administration had managed to secure.

Calling the agreement “historic,” Trump said it accomplished “what no president has ever been able to accomplish before, that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. We’re not going to let that happen. And thanks to the power and skill of the United States Armed Forces, Iran today has no Navy, no Air Force, no anti-aircraft capability, no radar, virtually no manufacturing. Their drone capacity has been cut by 82 percent. Their missile capacity has been cut by 80 percent. Their rocket launchers have been cut by 90 percent.”

The president also renewed his criticism of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement negotiated during the Obama administration, which he withdrew the United States from during his first term.

Labelling former President Barack Obama “a disaster”, Trump continued, “He gave [Iran] $1.7 billion in cash. Gave it to Iran. Thought he could buy their friendship. And it was just the opposite. They used the money, and they built missiles and everything else. And I terminated the JCPOA, which was his agreement. It was the Iran nuclear deal. It was a disaster.”

Trump concluded by arguing that withdrawing from the Obama-era agreement and later authorizing military action against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure had prevented a far greater threat.

He further stated that if he had not terminated the Obama-era deal, “Iran would have had a nuclear weapon. If I didn’t send the B-2 bombers in 10 months ago, they would have had a nuclear weapon. We obliterated that nuclear dust. And then you wouldn’t have Israel. Israel would be gone.”

{Matzav.com}