The operation that resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro is now being described as a turning point in modern combat, with claims that an unfamiliar and extraordinarily powerful weapon was deployed during the mission.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt amplified those claims, urging the public to pay attention as she shared a disturbing eyewitness narrative on X. “Stop what you are doing and read this… ,” she wrote while circulating the account.
According to the testimony, Venezuelan troops were incapacitated almost instantly, with soldiers collapsing to the ground, “bleeding through the nose,” and throwing up blood. The account was attributed to a Venezuelan guard who said he personally witnessed the events.
The guard said the attack began with something unfamiliar and impossible for him to identify. “At one point, they launched something; I don’t know how to describe it,” he said in the account posted on X.
He explained that what followed felt overwhelming and physically crushing. “It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly, I felt like my head was exploding from the inside.
“It was like a very intense sound wave.”
As a result, he said, the Venezuelan forces were rendered helpless and unable to mount any resistance.
According to the guard, the technological gap made fighting back impossible. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons,” he said. “I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.”
He went on to claim that American forces eliminated hundreds of fighters on the ground without losing a single soldier during the engagement.
Describing the moments leading up to the assault, the guard said Venezuelan defenses suddenly went blind. “We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” he said. “The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.”
He said that shortly afterward, only “barely eight” helicopters arrived, unloading roughly 20 U.S. troops. Despite their small number, he said, their technological superiority proved decisive.
Those developments, he said, resulted in a massacre.
“We were hundreds, but we had no chance,” the guard said. “They were shooting with such precision and speed; it felt like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute.”
He repeated that the outcome was lopsided and devastating. “Those 20 men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us,” he said. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The White House did not respond to a New York Post request seeking clarification on whether Leavitt’s repost meant the administration had independently confirmed the account.
Venezuela’s Interior Ministry, meanwhile, asserted that roughly 100 members of the country’s security forces were killed during the operation.
Separately, a former U.S. intelligence source told the Post that the United States has possessed directed-energy weapons for years, including systems capable of causing effects such as “bleeding, inability to move or function, pain and burning.”
The guard said he decided to speak out as a warning to anyone considering confrontation with the United States. “they have no idea what they’re capable of. After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They’re not to be messed with.”
He added that the incident is already reverberating far beyond the battlefield. “Everyone is already talking about this,” he said. “No one wants to go through what we went through. What happened here is going to change a lot of things — not just in Venezuela, but throughout the region.”
{Matzav.com}
Rav Gershon Ribner, rosh kollel of Kollel Nesivos Hatorah and son-in-law of Rav Shneur Kotler, has succeeded in applying classical Talmudical analysis and methodology to understanding all areas of Yiddishkeit, bringing out its profundity and sense.
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Remarks were delivered overnight by Rav Reuven Elbaz, Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr HaChaim and a member of the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah of Shas, as he addressed the condition of Klal Yisroel and the dramatic period through which we are currently passing.
In his words, Rav Elbaz expressed absolute confidence in the nearness of the geulah, speaking with sharp and unequivocal language. “My heart is certain,” the Rav said. “We are not talking about distant times. Not months. We are in moments, in hours, in days — and perhaps in the coming weeks — before the revelation of the true light.”
According to Rav Elbaz, the present reality is not another routine chapter in Jewish history, but a decisive historical turning point. “Our situation today touches the very apple of the Creator’s eye,” he said. “This cannot continue like this. It simply cannot be.”
Rav Elbaz stressed that this is not merely a general belief that “in the end it will be good,” but a complete transformation of reality itself. “Everything will be turned over,” he declared. “I tell you — everything will be turned for the good. Not only ‘this too is for the good,’ and not only ‘all that the Merciful One does is for the good.’ It’s not just that it will be good — it is the good itself.” He reiterated that these words are not abstract consolation, but a tangible reality about to be revealed. “This is exactly what must be. There will be only good. And with Hashem’s help, we will yet see this good revealed, when everything — literally everything — is transformed into white, pure, and refined.”
{Matzav.com}
It is with great sadness that Matzav.comreports the petirah of Rav Yitzchak Shlomo Linder zt”l of the Yerushalayim–Masmidim community and one of the distinguished melamdim at the Boyan Talmud Torah in Yerushalayim. He was 80 years old.
The levayah took place on Motzaei Shabbos, departing from the Shamgar Funeral Home in Yerushalayim and proceeding to Har HaMenuchos for kevurah.
Rav Linder was born in Yerushalayim on the 13th of Shevat, 5706 (1946), to his father, Rav Yechiel Fishel Linder of the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood, and his mother, Mrs. Hadassah.
When he reached marriageable age, he married the daughter of Rav Moshe Pinchas Azriel Eichler, one of the respected figures of old Yerushalayim.
For many years, Rav Linder served as a melamed at the Boyaner Talmud Torah in Yerushalayim, where talmidim passed under his guidance and were shaped by his dedication and warmth.
He was among the most respected members of the Eidah Yerushalayim–Masmidim kehilla.
In later years, he resided for an extended period in the Nachalah u’Menuchah neighborhood of Beit Shemesh. In recent months, he moved to Beitar Illit to live close to his children.
He leaves behind twelve children and many grandchildren.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com}
Bris milah could be treated as a potential form of child abuse under proposed new guidance for prosecutors in Britain, following mounting concern from judges and coroners about deaths and severe injuries linked to the procedure.
In a draft framework prepared by Britian’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) addressing “honour-based abuse, forced marriages, and harmful practices,” circumcision is listed among practices that could amount to criminal conduct, The Guardian reports.
The language used in the draft, which was reviewed by the Guardian, has caused alarm within religious communities, with Jewish and Muslim leaders pushing back strongly and stressing the long-standing religious and cultural significance of circumcision.
According to the draft CPS guidance, male circumcision differs from female genital mutilation in that “there is not a specific criminal offence of carrying out male circumcision.”
The document goes on to caution: “However, this can be a painful and harmful practice, if carried out incorrectly or in inappropriate circumstances. It may be a form of child abuse or an offence against the person.”
Concerns over regulation intensified last month after a coroner warned that there are inadequate controls governing who is permitted to carry out circumcisions, following the death of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, who died from a streptococcus infection in 2023.
That case mirrored earlier findings by another coroner relating to the death of Oliver Asante-Yeboah, who died in 2014 after developing sepsis following a circumcision carried out by a rabbi.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that since 2001, circumcision has been identified as a contributing factor in seven deaths of boys under the age of 18. In at least three cases, infants died after suffering catastrophic blood loss: Celian Noumbiwe in 2007, Goodluck Caubergs in 2010, and Angelo Ofori-Mintah in 2012.
Jonathan Arkush, a former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and co-chair of Milah UK, an organization that advocates for the Jewish community’s right to perform religious circumcision, said the draft CPS wording gives a distorted picture.
“To suggest that circumcision is in itself a harmful practice, is deeply pejorative and misplaced,” he said. “Any procedure that is carried out inappropriately or without proper controls, including piercing a child’s ears, could be a harmful practice and a possible case of child abuse.”
He added: “We shall certainly be talking to the CPS. I would very much expect that final draft not to include it, as it is so obviously incorrect and/or misleading.”
Arkush, who practices as a barrister, acknowledged that a circumcision performed improperly could amount to abuse, but emphasized that the Jewish community operates under what he described as rigorous safeguards designed to prevent such outcomes.
“The incidence of complications in circumcision performed in the Jewish community is vanishingly rare,” he said. “Circumcision is a core part of our identity. I have never met any Jewish man who thinks they’ve been harmed by circumcision.”
The Muslim Council of Britain echoed the call for stronger oversight while rejecting the notion that circumcision itself should be treated as abusive.
“Male circumcision is a lawful practice in the UK with recognised medical, religious and cultural foundations, and it should not be characterised in itself as child abuse,” the council said.
“However, where procedures are carried out irresponsibly, without proper safeguards, and cause harm, they may rightly fall within the scope of criminal law. The lack of consistent regulation elsewhere creates unacceptable risks, and addressing those risks to protect young boys should be an urgent priority.”
{Matzav.com}
The body responsible for administering the Nobel Peace Prize dismissed speculation that Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado could pass along or share her prize with President Donald Trump.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute addressed the matter on Friday, responding to comments Machado made earlier in the week suggesting she might hand over the award to Trump.
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others,” the institute said in a statement. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”
The clarification followed remarks Machado made during a Tuesday interview on Fox News’ “Hannity,” where the topic of the prize was raised.
“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Sean Hannity asked. “Did that actually happen?”
Machado replied, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”
“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” she added. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”
Earlier this month, on Jan. 3, Trump announced that the United States had carried out an operation resulting in the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, who is now facing drug trafficking charges in New York.
Trump was later asked on Thursday’s episode of “Hannity” whether he would accept the Nobel Peace Prize if Machado attempted to bestow it upon him.
“I’ve heard that she wants to do that,” Trump said. “That would be a great honor.”
Machado reportedly fled Venezuela in secret last month and traveled to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, which she publicly dedicated to Trump.
“Let me be very clear. As soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated it to President Trump because I believed at that point that he deserved it,” Machado said during her appearance on “Hannity.” “And a lot of people, most people, said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3rd.”
Trump has said he intends to meet with Machado in Washington next week.
In the past, however, Trump has questioned Machado’s standing inside Venezuela, saying she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to govern. He has instead backed Delcy Rodríguez, an acting president aligned with Maduro who previously served as his vice president.
{Matzav.com}
