President Trump said tonight that American forces carried out a series of airstrikes against ISIS operatives in Nigeria, describing the operation as a direct response to ongoing attacks against Christian communities in the region.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said the action followed repeated warnings to the terror group and marked a decisive escalation. “I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” the president wrote. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”
Trump emphasized that the military action was conducted under his direct authority, saying the strikes were extensive and lethal. “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” he wrote.
Concluding his message, Trump framed the operation as part of a broader effort to confront extremist violence and protect vulnerable populations, while offering holiday remarks. “Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and [happy holiday] to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
{Matzav.com}
A quick-hitting winter system is expected to sweep through the New York City region late Friday, bringing snow, slick roads, and travel disruptions as the season rush collides with deteriorating weather.
Meteorologists say snowfall should begin toward the end of the day Friday and intensify into the evening as temperatures dip into the upper 20s. Conditions are likely to worsen during the height of rush hour, with both roadways and airports facing delays.
“It looks like a 3- to 6-inch snowfall for the area coming probably very late tomorrow into tomorrow night,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines told The NY Post on Thursday.
Officials stress that while the storm is not expected to paralyze the city, it will still make getting around uncomfortable and slow. “I don’t envision this as a storm that’s going to shut the city down and all that, but it will be a pain in our butts in terms of travel,” Kines said.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch covering New York City, northeast New Jersey, Long Island, and the lower Hudson Valley. The watch goes into effect at 4 p.m. Friday and runs through 1 p.m. Shabbos.
Forecasters project snowfall totals of 4 to 8 inches across the metro area by early Shabbos afternoon. However, they caution that a “reasonable worst-case scenario” could push accumulations as high as 10 inches in some locations.
Snowfall rates may reach about an inch per hour at times, with forecasters noting a “low” possibility of bursts as heavy as 2 inches per hour if stronger snow bands develop.
Either way, “hazardous travel from snow-covered roads” is expected.
AccuWeather described the storm as “fast-moving” but impactful, saying it has a “high likelihood of producing enough snow to require shoveling and plowing in the New York City metro area.”
The company warned of “major slowdowns on roads and at airports,” with senior meteorologist Tyler Roys cautioning that the “fast-moving storm will pack a punch in the Northeast.”
Kines advised that daytime plans on Friday may proceed with minimal disruption, but conditions will decline later in the afternoon. “If you’ve got errands to do during the day – returning presents or whatever – or even traveling, I think for the most part you’re OK. After 3 or 4 p.m. tomorrow, that’s when you start worrying about some snow coming in.”
City agencies say they are preparing in advance. Acting Department of Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan told The NY Post that crews began planning “well in advance of this storm, and we are ready for whatever comes our way.”
The sanitation department also cautioned residents that Friday trash pickup may be affected, posting on X that delays “are to be expected as we work to pick up material and prepare vehicles for snow operations at the same time.”
{Matzav.com}
An escalation was reported tonight as talmidim of the Sephardic yeshiva Yeshivat Kisei Rachamim joined forces with the Peleg Yerushalmi to hold a protest outside Military Prison 10. The demonstration follows the arrest of yeshiva bochur Yair Saada, who was taken into custody at his home in Be’er Sheva and sentenced to ten days in military detention for refusing to report for army service.
Following the arrest, rosh yeshiva Rav Tzemach Mazuz instructed talmidim from both the ketanah and gedolah divisions of the yeshiva to take part in the protest.
The Peleg Yerushalmi announced that buses were dispatched from various locations to the protest site. Earlier in the evening, dozens of demonstrators blocked the Yerushalayim light rail on Rechov Shivtei Yisrael, also in protest of Saada’s arrest.
Saada was detained overnight by military police at his family home in Be’er Sheva after, according to reports, he followed the guidance of rabbonim and did not present himself for enlistment. He was subsequently transferred to Military Prison 10, where he is to be held for ten days.
Officials at the yeshiva said that Saada had been feeling unwell and that his parents brought him home from the yeshiva due to his condition. Several hours after arriving home, military police reportedly arrested him while he was in bed suffering from a high fever. Reports indicated that the “Black Color” alert system, which warns of the arrival of military police, did not operate at the time.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli intelligence officials issued an unusually blunt public statement on Thursday, pushing back forcefully against comments made earlier in the day by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman. The response stood out not only for its speed, but for the fact that the Mossad almost never engages openly with criticism from senior political figures, particularly one who previously served as both defense minister and foreign minister.
The agency’s statement also marked a sharp escalation in tone toward Qatar. For the first time, the Mossad publicly accused Doha of more than just underwriting Al Jazeera. According to the statement, the Qatari-backed network “encourages hatred, antisemitism and terror,” while Qatar itself bears responsibility for “spreading false narratives and incitement against the State of Israel worldwide across multiple platforms.”
Behind the scenes, Mossad officials were reportedly incensed by Lieberman’s remarks, saying they created a misleading impression that the agency had spent years shielding or advocating on Qatar’s behalf. Officials stressed that the Mossad has long viewed Qatar as a hostile actor — a state that hosts terrorists and bankrolls antisemitic activity abroad, particularly on university campuses through Muslim Brotherhood-linked channels.
At the same time, officials emphasized the constraints under which the agency operates. In the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Israel and Qatar, the Mossad serves as the primary channel for contact. That role, they said, has been driven by one overriding consideration: the fate of Israeli hostages. Ran Gvili remains in captivity in Gaza, and since October 7 the Mossad has largely avoided public comment, believing that Qatar remained the most effective intermediary in negotiations, regardless of the broader “Qatar-gate” controversy.
Mossad sources said they never harbored illusions about Qatar’s conduct during this period. Officials acknowledged being fully aware that Doha ran what they described as a “poison machine” of bots that smeared Jews and amplified terrorist propaganda. In private meetings, Mossad chief David Barnea and his team voiced harsh criticism of Qatar but deliberately avoided moves that could sever lines of communication. When discussions arose inside Israel about shutting down Al Jazeera, Barnea and the Mossad opposed immediate action, arguing that such a step could undermine Qatar’s leverage with Hamas. The agency supported closing the network, but only after the hostages were returned.
“There was a need to show responsibility for human lives, because the Qataris were advancing a deal and had leverage over Hamas,” officials familiar with the deliberations said.
Lieberman claimed earlier Thursday that a meeting held this month in New York between Barnea and Qatari officials resulted in the creation of four joint working groups, including a “communications group.” Speaking at the Ogen conference hosted together with Yediot Achronot, he said the purpose of that group was to address “media issues and Qatar’s image.”
Mossad officials flatly rejected that version of events. They described the New York meeting — mediated by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff — as confrontational and tense, saying Israel leveled severe accusations against Qatar. According to the officials, Witkoff also conveyed pointed criticism from Washington. Responding to claims that Israel agreed to help rehabilitate Qatar’s image, they said, “It never happened. The opposite is true. The meeting was very tough, and Israel made harsh claims against Qatar. Witkoff also delivered strong criticism of the Qataris.”
“We made no concessions to the Qataris,” the officials added, explaining that any issues that might jeopardize the hostages were immediately taken off the table. “The country that held the switch to the hostages’ lives was Qatar. But make no mistake: no one tried to improve Qatar’s image.”
In its official statement, the Mossad said, “The report about the establishment of a communications team for Qatar is unfounded, false and baseless. The trilateral meeting held in New York, with the participation of the U.S. president’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, addressed a range of weighty issues related to the Middle East and the Gaza Strip, including senior Hamas figures hosted in Qatar.”
The statement went on to say, “The only media-related issue raised at the meeting was a clear demand by the United States and Israel that Qatar act regarding Al Jazeera’s negative coverage, which encourages hatred, antisemitism and terror, and a firm demand that Qatar cease spreading false narratives and incitement against the State of Israel worldwide through multiple platforms.”
Despite the Mossad’s unusually sharp rebuttal, Lieberman said he was not backing down. “All the details regarding the meeting between the Mossad chief and Qatari representatives in New York are correct,” he said. “The briefings coming out of the prime minister’s office are exactly like the hysterical briefings following my warning during Sukkot about the Iranian threat. There is nothing new under the sun.”
A man who has publicly styled himself as the chief rabbi of Saudi Arabia said this week that he was turned away at the kingdom’s border, even though he held a valid visa and has spent years traveling in and out of the country.
Rav Yaakov Yisroel Herzog announced the incident Monday in a post on X, writing: “With profound regret, I announce that I was barred from entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upon arrival, despite holding a valid entry visa, and despite having spent a significant portion of the past years living and serving in this blessed Kingdom.”
Herzog has in recent years presented himself as a religious point person for Jewish visitors and residents in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that the kingdom has no officially recognized Jewish community and enforces strict limits on public expressions of non-Islamic faiths. His high-profile approach has reportedly clashed with the preference of other Jews in the country to maintain a low profile.
In a follow-up statement, Herzog described the personal impact of the refusal. “This incident has left me — against my will — distant from the Jewish community that I serve with love within the Kingdom, a community that has lived under the spirit of peace and goodwill embodied by the Saudi royal system and the great Saudi people,” he wrote.
Saudi Arabia generally bars entry to holders of Israeli passports, but Herzog, who was born in New York and holds both US and Israeli citizenship, has previously been able to travel between Jerusalem and the kingdom. That apparent flexibility, however, did not extend to his most recent attempt to enter the country.
The denial comes at a time of heightened regional tension. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel have cooled amid the fragile ceasefire involving Israel and Hamas. At the same time, Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Riyadh to formalize relations with Israel, an effort Saudi leaders have resisted.
Saudi officials have continued to emphasize that any normalization would depend on progress toward Palestinian statehood. “Saudi Arabia is not considering a normalization deal with Israel. Should Israel become a normal country with normal acceptance of international law, then Saudi Arabia will consider normalization,” former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal said Sunday in comments to The Times of Israel.
Herzog said he was given no explanation at the airport or by the Interior Ministry for the decision to bar his entry. Still, he insisted that responsibility did not lie with the country’s top leadership, saying he was “convinced that this measure did not emanate from the Royal Court or from the Saudi government itself.”
He added: “Despite my complete trust in the integrity of Saudi institutions and the sound intentions of its leadership, I cannot ignore the possibility of the existence of dark forces seeking to obstruct the path of reform, openness, and tolerance that the Kingdom is pursuing with determination.”
The Saudi Ministry of Interior did not respond to requests for comment from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Herzog has previously promoted kosher food availability in Saudi grocery stores and advertises services such as ritual circumcision on his website. Those activities exist alongside Saudi law, which prohibits the public practice of religions other than Islam.
The incident follows another episode highlighting religious sensitivity in the kingdom. In March 2024, a US government delegation focused on international religious freedom cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after a rabbi traveling with the group was instructed to remove his yarmulka while in public.
{Matzav.com}
