Feed aggregator

A U.S. aircraft carrier strike group centered around the USS Abraham Lincoln has entered the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, a region that includes Iran, according to reports confirmed by a U.S. official.

The official confirmed the deployment to CBS News. The carrier is operating alongside three guided missile destroyers — the USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr., the USS Spruance, and the USS Michael Murphy — and the group is equipped with F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, F-35C fighter jets, and MH-60 helicopters. As of Monday morning, the strike group had not yet gone “on station,” indicating it had not reached its designated operational location.

President Donald Trump has so far refrained from ordering retaliatory military action against Iran despite reports of mass killings of protesters, though the repositioning of U.S. naval forces into the region creates new military options.

At the same time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed terrorist groups across the Middle East are reportedly signaling preparedness for open conflict.

IRGC Gen. Mohammad Pakpour said Iranian forces have their “finger on the trigger” and warned both the United States and Israel against “any miscalculation,” according to reports from Iran-linked Nournews and The Associated Press.

Trump said last week that a “massive fleet” was moving toward Iran “just in case” action is needed, while also emphasizing that the forces may ultimately not be used.

According to a report published Saturday by The Jerusalem Post, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone into hiding amid fears that U.S. airstrikes could target him.

The military buildup comes as unrest continues to grip Iran following widespread protests that erupted in late December. Trump has repeatedly cautioned Iranian leaders against the killing of peaceful demonstrators and against carrying out mass executions of individuals detained during the protests.

{Matzav.com}

The body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili HY”D has been brought back to Israel from the Gaza Strip after 843 days, the IDF confirmed Tuesday, marking the end of all hostage cases in Gaza. In a statement, the military said Gvili’s family has been informed that their son was positively identified and returned to Israel […]

Jared Kushner on Tuesday hailed the recovery of the body of Police Officer Ran Gvili HY”D from Gaza as a historic milestone, saying it marks the end of Israeli hostages being held in the Strip for the first time in over a decade. In a statement posted on X, Kushner wrote that the operation brings […]

BITTERSWEET MOMENT: IDF Soldiers reacting to the news that the last hostage, Ran Gvili HY’D, has been found.

As tensions continue to rise in Minnesota following the killing of a second protester amid demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement, President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is dispatching border czar Tom Homan to the state to help stabilize the situation.

“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. “He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there.
“Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”

Homan’s deployment comes as demonstrations and clashes related to ICE operations have intensified. While Homan has previously urged that rhetoric surrounding the situation in Minnesota be dialed back, many protesters and critics of ICE view him as emblematic of the policies they oppose.

Trump has already sharply criticized Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Democrat Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing them of refusing to cooperate with federal authorities operating in the state.

In his statement, Trump again tied the unrest to what he has repeatedly claimed are politically motivated efforts by Democrats to divert attention from large-scale fraud investigations in Minnesota, which he suggested could reach senior state officials.

“Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets,” Trump’s statement continued.
“Additionally, the DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Homan’s presence in Minnesota will bolster both immigration enforcement efforts and ongoing fraud investigations, amplifying the president’s message in a post of her own on X.

“Tom Homan will be managing ICE Operations on the ground in Minnesota to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” Leavitt wrote, sharing Trump’s message. In addition, Tom will coordinate with those leading investigations into the massive, widespread fraud that has resulted in billions of taxpayer dollars being stolen from law-abiding citizens in Minnesota.”

Republican leaders from Minnesota welcomed the move, including House GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who praised Trump’s decision to send Homan to the state.

“Excellent decision by @POTUS,” Emmer wrote Monday morning on X.
“Tom Homan is a strong leader who will help end the chaos in Minnesota, bring accountability, and step up where local and state officials have failed.”

{Matzav.com}

OPERATION COURAGEOUS HEART: New footage released from the mission to recover fallen hostage Ran Gvili, Z”L.

Radio communications from the commander of the Alexandroni Brigade, Col. M., announcing the finding of the last hostage, Ron Gvili HY’D.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, along with senior officers and IDF troops, were seen today saluting the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili HY’D, after it was located in eastern Gaza City. The forces stood at attention as they sang “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, honoring […]

Former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, an anti-immigration Conservative lawmaker, on Monday became the latest politician from the party to defect to hard-right rival party Reform UK. Braverman, who was fired from her job as interior minister in 2023 after repeatedly diverging from government policy, said she had quit the Conservatives after 30 years and […]

WATCH: El Al passengers flying from Israel to New York are notified of the return of Ran Gavili’s hy”d body.

The chareidi community in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is in deep mourning following a tragic accident that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy on Sunday.

The victim, Michoel Mordechai Habuba z”l, was participating in an activity at a summer camp operated by the Heichal HaTorah community when a tree suddenly collapsed and struck him. The impact caused a severe head injury.

Michoel Mordechai, the son of Rav Dovid Habuba, rosh kollel of Kollel Chafetz Chaim in Buenos Aires, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Despite extensive medical efforts and many tefillos offered on his behalf, doctors pronounced his death several hours later.

Community askanim in Argentina are currently working to prevent an autopsy. Local police have opened an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

{Matzav.com}

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed that its soldiers recovered the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage, from the Gaza Strip.

“Following the completion of the identification process by the National Center of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family of the hostage Ran Gvili, of blessed memory, that their loved one has been identified and will be laid to rest,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

Gvili, a 24-year-old Israel Police Special Patrol Unit (Yasam) volunteer from Meitar, “fell in battle on the morning of October 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip,” the military statement added.

“The IDF shares the family’s grief. The IDF will continue to accompany the families and the returnees and to act to strengthen the security of Israel’s citizens,” it said.

With Gvili’s return, Hamas is holding no Israeli captives for the first time since 2014, when the terrorist organization seized the remains of two IDF soldiers killed during the Gaza war that year, the military noted.

“The return of Ran, of blessed memory, for burial is a painful moment of closure—with the return of the last hostage from the territory of the Gaza Strip to the Land of Israel,” said Defense Minister Yisroel Katz.

Gvili was “a courageous fighter, driven by a deep sense of mission and national responsibility. His bravery on that difficult morning is part of the story of the steadfastness and determination shown by the fighters and security forces in the face of the terrorist attack,” continued Katz.

His return “underscores the State of Israel’s commitment to its soldiers and civilians: to bring every single person home—as we promised the families and the Israeli public,” he said. “That is mutual responsibility.”

Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy on Monday spoke with Gvili’s father, Itzik, “updated him on the details and extended a warm embrace to him and the entire family,” the force’s Spokesperson’s Unit stated.

“The commissioner once again emphasized Rani’s determination and bravery,” it continued. “A officer in the YASAM unit, Rani shielded the civilians of the State of Israel with his body, acting with courage and self-sacrifice in defense of others.

“An honor convoy led by the Israel Police will escort Rani’s coffin” to the Israeli Health Ministry’s National Center of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv, the statement said.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office announced on Sunday that the IDF since late last week had been “conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate” Gvili.

“Operation Brave Heart” focused on a cemetery in northern Gaza and included extensive scanning while utilizing all available intelligence.

Gvili fought with extraordinary courage on Oct. 7. When the attacks began, he left his house, put on his uniform and headed out to fight. Only 10 days before he had broken his shoulder, and was waiting for surgery, his father said in an interview with Israel Hayom last month.

“Rani told us he would not let his friends fight alone, and that even with the fracture he could still hold a handgun,” said Itzik Gvili. “I will never forget the look in his eyes. It was as if he was saying, ‘This is what I have waited for my entire life.’”

Gvili went to the Beersheva police station, joining forces headed toward Alumim, a religious kibbutz located near the border with the Gaza Strip.

During the battle close to Alumim, he rescued about 100 people who had fled the Nova music festival and killed 14 Hamas terrorist forces.

He was shot in the arm and leg during the fighting. He held his position, choosing not to evacuate and radioing information about the enemy forces until he died from his wounds. Hamas then seized his body.

The terror group abducted a total of 251 Israelis and foreign nationals on Oct. 7. Of those, 168 were freed alive and the remaining dead, whose bodies were returned in truce deals or recovered in IDF operations. JNS

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Minnesota law prohibits concealed carry without proper identification, addressing the issue during a television appearance following a fatal shooting involving a federal agent in Minneapolis.

Speaking this week on FOX News’s The Sunday Briefing, Noem emphasized that concealed carry in the state is illegal “without an ID on you.”

Her remarks followed a question from host Peter Doocy, who noted that the man shot and killed by a federal agent during a protest in Minneapolis “was legally a concealed carry permit holder.”

Doocy pressed further, asking, “Is your message to people who [have] concealed carry permits, that if they’re going to go to a protest, they should leave their gun in the car?”

Noem rejected that framing and said the central issue was interference with police activity. “No, my message to individuals is don’t go impede law enforcement operations. That’s not legal, you’re breaking the law when you do that,” she said.

She then returned to the identification requirement, adding, “It’s also breaking the law in Minnesota when you conceal carry without an ID on you.”

The Department of Homeland Security said over the weekend that the man killed in the encounter was armed with a 9mm handgun and had “2 magazines and no ID.”

Minnesota’s statute governing carry permits states: “The holder of a permit to carry must have the permit card and a driver’s license, state identification card, or other government-issued photo identification in immediate possession at all times when carrying a pistol and must display the permit card and identification document upon lawful demand by a peace officer, as defined in section 626.84, subdivision 1. ”

Noem concluded by stressing that physical interference with officers is both improper and unlawful. “You shouldn’t be laying hands on law enforcement, and getting in their faces, and trying to stop them from conducting their work. All of that is part of protocol, but it also is the law, and when people are in violation of the law there [are] consequences for that.”

{Matzav.com}

[Photos below.] The Lithuanian ambassador to Israel paid an official visit on Sunday to Bnei Brak and Ponevezh Yeshiva, marking a symbolic encounter with the living continuation of Lithuania’s prewar Torah heritage in Eretz Yisroel.

The visit was arranged and accompanied by Uri Maklev, chairman of the United Torah Judaism faction and a long-time interlocutor with Lithuanian officials on issues related to Jewish heritage and the preservation of Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania.

The ambassador’s tour began with a meeting with the yeshiva’s nosi, Rav Eliezer Kahaneman, who outlined the storied history of Ponevezh, from its founding in a Lithuanian town to its rebirth in Bnei Brak by his grandfather, the Ponovezher Rav, following the devastation of the Holocaust.

During the meeting, the ambassador expressed particular interest in historical documentation of the original yeshiva buildings in Lithuania and in efforts to preserve Jewish memory there. Rav Kahaneman also reviewed the dramatic growth of the yeshiva in recent years, along with the extensive construction of new dormitories and study halls.

The ambassador then toured the yeshiva’s batei medrash, where he observed thousands of bochurim and avreichim immersed in learning. Accompanied by MK Maklev, he stood visibly moved by the intensity and scale of the kol Torah filling the botei medrash.

MK Maklev explained the Litvishe method of learning and described Ponevezh as a central hub of the global Torah world, attracting elite talmidim from around the world. The ambassador voiced admiration for the discipline of the learning and the vitality of the Torah discourse he witnessed.

The highlight of the visit was a meeting at the home of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Berel Povarsky. In his home, an extended and reflective conversation took place, during which Rav Povarsky shared personal memories and described the vibrant Jewish life that once flourished in Lithuania before the war.

At the height of the discussion, MK Maklev raised the dire condition of Jewish cemeteries across Lithuania. Rav Povarsky personally asked the ambassador to convey a message to the Lithuanian government urging concrete action to restore and preserve these sacred sites.

{Matzav.com}

Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva Rav Dov Landau offered words of tefillah and chizuk to the family of fallen IDF soldier Ran Gvili, as Israeli forces continue efforts to recover his body from the Gaza Strip.

Family members of Gvili, the last fallen hostage whose remains are still held in Gaza, approached Rav Landau on Sunday evening seeking his brocha that their loved one be found quickly.

Gvili was killed during the Hamas-led onslaught and his body has not yet been returned for kevurah.

In a handwritten response addressed to the family, Rav Landau wrote simply: “May Hashem help that they find him quickly.”

According to the letter submitted to the rosh yeshiva, intensive searches are currently underway to locate the remains of the fallen soldier still in Gaza, and the family requested that the rosh yeshiva daven for his swift recovery. The name given for tefillah was Ran ben Yitzchak.

The appeal and Rav Landau’s response come amid renewed military activity by the IDF in Gaza focused on locating Gvili’s body. Following a meeting of the political-security cabinet on Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that, as part of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, Israel has agreed in principle to reopen the Rafah Crossing in a limited capacity for pedestrian passage only, under full Israeli supervision.

In its statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that reopening the crossing is conditional on the return of all living hostages and on Hamas making a “100% effort” to locate and return all slain hostages.

The statement further noted that the IDF is currently conducting “a focused operation to fully utilize all intelligence information obtained as part of the effort to locate and return the fallen hostage Ran Gvili.” Once that operation is completed, and in line with understandings reached with the United States, Israel will proceed with reopening the Rafah Crossing.

The Prime Minister’s Office stressed that the State of Israel remains fully committed to the return of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and will spare no effort to bring him to burial in Israel.

{Matzav.com}

Bill Clinton issued a sharp public statement Sunday reacting to the fatal shooting in Minneapolis and criticizing President Donald Trump’s actions to roll back immigration policies put in place during the Biden administration.

Posting late Sunday night on X, Clinton shared an image of a lengthy written statement and warned of what he described as a pivotal moment for the country. “Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come,” Clinton wrote. “This is one of them.”

The image attached to the post carried a headline condemning what it called the “horrific scenes playing out in Minneapolis and across America.”

In the statement itself, Clinton described recent events in stark terms, writing:
“In recent weeks, we’ve watched horrible scenes play out in Minneapolis and other communities that I never thought would take place in America.”

He went on to accuse federal authorities of violent and heavy-handed tactics, stating:
“People, including children, have been seized from their homes, workplaces, and the street by masked federal agents. Peaceful protesters and citizens exercising their constitutional right to observe and document law enforcement have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most scarily, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed.”

Clinton said such actions should never have occurred, adding: “All of this is unacceptable, and should have been avoided.”

He further alleged deception by government officials and obstruction of accountability efforts, writing: “To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities.”

Returning to the theme of long-term consequences, Clinton repeated his warning about the stakes involved: “Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back.”

He concluded by urging civic engagement and resistance, writing: “It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the People.”

The remarks quickly drew backlash from conservative commentators, prompting the Clinton account on X to disable replies after a surge of critical responses.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF carried out an airstrike a short time ago targeting a terrorist operative affiliated with the Hezbollah terror organization in the Tyre area of southern Lebanon.