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Israeli fighter jets struck more than 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon over the past several hours, according to a statement from the IDF. The launchers were reportedly primed for immediate attacks on Israel. The IDF revealed that the total number of launchers targeted included around 1,000 launch barrels. The strikes began in the afternoon and were conducted in several waves, aimed at disrupting Hezbollah’s terror capabilities and military infrastructure. “The IDF continues to damage and degrade the terror capabilities and military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terror organization,” the IDF said in its statement. Following the intensive airstrikes, the IDF issued new safety guidelines for civilians in northern Israel, urging residents in several communities and cities to remain close to bomb shelters. The guidelines affect those living in the Merom HaGalil, Upper Galilee, and Mevo’ot HaHermon regional councils, as well as in Yesud HaMa’ala, Hatzor, Rosh Pina, Safed, Metula, and towns in the Golan Heights, from Katzrin and northward. Residents in these areas are advised to limit their movement outside, avoid large gatherings, guard entrances to their communities, and remain in proximity to bomb shelters until further notice. The IDF said the precautions are essential for civilian safety amid the ongoing hostilities and will remain in effect until further updates are provided. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

On Monday, Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15) joined Jewish students from Columbia University and Jewish organizations from across New York, including the UJA Federation New York (UJA), the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC NY), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the American Jewish Committee New York (AJC New York) to host a roundtable on the disturbing rise of antisemitism on campuses and in communities across America. “In the wake of October 7th, the ADL tabulated a 360% increase in antisemitic hate crimes, registering 3,283 antisemitic incidents between October 7, 2023, and January 7, 2024 – this included attacks aimed at synagogues, community centers, and on college campuses,” said Congressman Lawler. “The horrific displays of violence toward our Jewish community, including right here at Columbia University, is appalling and wrong. We must all work together to combat this terrible scourge, and that’s why I was proud to be here with my colleague from across the aisle, Congressman Gottheimer, and with Jewish students and organizations, to draw attention to this pressing concern and discuss what must be done to combat it.” Congressman Lawler pointed to his Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the House in a broad, bipartisan vote of 320-91 on May 1st, as an important piece of the puzzle. That legislation has been awaiting action in the Senate for over four and a half months, despite its overwhelming support in the House from members of both parties. “Jewish students fearing for their safety cannot afford to wait for us to act,” Congressman Lawler continued. “The Antisemitism Awareness Act codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism and its contemporary examples, which has been used by the last three Administrations to prosecute antisemitic hate crimes. Codifying this definition will provide clarity to existing laws and ensure we are holding those who threaten students accountable. I urge Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring this legislation up at once without any further delay!” “Today, Congressman Torres, Lawler, and I are here to ensure that, as the new school year kicks off, Columbia’s campus — and college campuses across the nation — remain safe for Jewish students and students of all walks of life. No Jewish student should have to worry that wearing their kippah on campus will make him a target, nor a Muslim student with her hijab or a Christian student with her cross,” said Congressman Gottheimer. “While university leadership across the country may have failed our students earlier this year, we will not — we will do everything in our power to keep you safe and always feel welcome.” “Today’s roundtable at Columbia University was a powerful testament to the resilience and steadfast resolve of Jewish students who have been thrust into the daily fight against antisemitism in a post-October 7 world,” said Congressman Torres. “These brave students are committed to ensuring that our campuses do not perpetually descend into safe havens for antisemitic hate cloaked in the thin veil of anti-Israel politics — even when their professors and university administrators fail them. I commend my colleagues Reps. Gottheimer and Lawler for bringing us all together today to have a meaningful and results-driven conversation.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The BAC company, which produced the pagers that detonated in Lebanon on Tuesday, was established by Israel as part of an intricate scheme, according to a report by The New York Times.

Based in Hungary, BAC had a license to use the branding of the Taiwanese firm Apollo Gold.

The blasts, which affected pagers on Tuesday and hand-held radios on Wednesday, appeared to target Hezbollah operatives almost exclusively. Of the more than 3,000 individuals injured and fewer than 40 who died, only four were reportedly unrelated to Hezbollah—one being the son of a Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese MP. However, the son was found to be carrying a Hezbollah pager, casting doubt on the claim that he was an innocent civilian.

The Times also suggested that the Wednesday explosions might have involved “more explosives” compared to those on Tuesday.

While Israel has neither acknowledged nor claimed responsibility for the explosions, a number of current and former defense and intelligence personnel assert that Israel is indeed behind these incidents, which they categorize as “attacks.”

These officials, speaking to The Times under the condition of anonymity, described the operation as both prolonged and intricate.

In February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared that the mobile phones used by his operatives and their families were Israeli “agents” revealing their locations. He urged his followers to bury their phones, advising them: “Put it in an iron box and lock it.”

American intelligence suggested that Nasrallah might have considered pagers a preferable alternative, as they could transmit data without disclosing the user’s location and were more difficult to intercept.

According to The Times, even before Nasrallah made this decision, Israel had initiated the creation of a front company to pose as an international pager manufacturer. Citing three intelligence officers familiar with the operation, the report reveals that BAC, along with at least two other front companies, was established to obscure the identities of the true manufacturers of the pagers.

The Times report emphasized, “BAC did take on ordinary clients, for which it produced a range of ordinary pagers,” but noted, “The only client that really mattered was Hezbollah, and its pagers were far from ordinary” and were produced separately.

Initial shipments of the pagers began in the summer of 2022, but production rapidly escalated following Nasrallah’s condemnation of advanced communication technologies in February. Over the summer, thousands of these devices were delivered to Lebanon, according to two American intelligence officials.

The three intelligence officials also indicated that Hezbollah and its allies were convinced that cellphone communication was neither secure nor fully encrypted, with both cameras and microphones being activated to monitor their users. Consequently, Nasrallah mandated that Hezbollah orders and plans should not be transmitted via cellphone, banning cellphones from meetings. Instead, operatives were instructed to carry pagers at all times, to be used for issuing instructions during wartime.

Israeli intelligence referred to these pagers as “buttons,” the report added. On Tuesday, messages sent to these pagers, apparently from Hezbollah’s senior leadership, triggered explosions when the messages were accessed.

{Matzav.com}

IDF forces thwarted an attempted terror attack on the northern border earlier this week. Golani soldiers stationed on the border spotted the terrorists while they were trying to plant explosive devices near an IDF post. The soldiers directed an aircraft and artillery which fired and eliminated the terrorists. The IDF released headcam footage from a camera found on one of the terrorist’s bodies. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A federal law enforcement agency confirmed it’s opened an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he allegedly cut off the head of a dead whale and took it home two decades ago. The former independent presidential candidate disclosed the investigation on Saturday while campaigning outside Phoenix for Donald Trump. Kennedy’s daughter recalled the whale incident in a 2012 interview with Town and Country magazine, which recently resurfaced and was shared extensively on social media. Kathleen Kennedy said when she was 6 years old, her dad got word that a dead whale had washed ashore. He got a chainsaw, cut off the whale’s head and strapped it to the roof of their minivan for a five-hour drive home. “Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” Kathleen Kennedy recalls. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.” A spokesperson for the National Marine Fisheries Service confirmed Monday that authorities investigating but declined to elaborate, citing a policy against commenting on open investigations. The agency, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, enforces federal laws including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Kennedy told a crowd of Trump supporters in Glendale, Arizona, that he received a letter “saying they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago.” Without confirming or denying he took the severed whale head, Kennedy said the deadline to bring charges passed long ago. He implied without evidence that the investigation was tied to his endorsement of Trump. Kennedy repeatedly declined to elaborate on the investigation when questioned by reporters after his appearance, saying the media only wants to talk to him about “gossipy nonsense.” “I’m not interested in feeding that feature of the mainstream media,” Kennedy said. The whale carcass is the latest bizarre episode involving Kennedy and a dead animal. Last month, Kennedy said he once retrieved a bear that was killed by a motorist and left it in New York’s Central Park with a bicycle on top, sparking a mystery that consumed the city a decade ago. (AP)

Wall Street romped to records Thursday as a delayed jubilation swept markets worldwide following the Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 jumped 1.7% for one of its best days of the year and topped its last all-time high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 522 points, or 1.3%, to beat its own record set on Monday, and the Nasdaq composite led the market with a 2.5% spurt. The rally was widespread, and the company behind Olive Garden and Ruth’s Chris, Darden Restaurants, led the way in the S&P 500 with a jump of 8.3%. It said sales trends have been improving since a sharp step down in July, and it announced a delivery partnership with Uber. Nvidia, meanwhile, barreled 4% higher and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Lower interest rates weaken criticism by a bit that its shares and those of other influential Big Tech companies look too expensive following the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. Wall Street’s gains followed rallies for markets across Europe and Asia after the Federal Reserve delivered the first cut to interest rates in more than four years late on Wednesday. It was a momentous move, closing the door on a run where the Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the U.S. economy enough to stamp out high inflation. Now that inflation has come down from its peak two summers ago, Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed can focus more on keeping the job market solid and the economy out of a recession. Wall Street’s initial reaction to Wednesday’s cut was a yawn, after markets had already run up for months on expectations for coming reductions to rates. Stocks ended up edging lower after swinging a few times. “Yet we come in today and have a reversal of the reversal,” said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG. He said he did not anticipate such a big jump for stocks on Thursday. Some analysts said the market could be relieved that the Fed’s Powell was able to thread the needle in his press conference and suggest the deeper-than-usual cut was just a “recalibration” of policy and not an urgent move it had to take to prevent a recession. That bolstered hopes the Federal Reserve can successfully walk its tightrope and get inflation down to its 2% target without a recession. So too did a couple reports on the economy released Thursday. One showed fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, another signal that layoffs across the country remain low. The pressure is nevertheless still on the Fed because the job market and hiring have begun to slow under the weight of higher interest rates. Some critics say the central bank waited too long to cut rates and may have damaged the economy. Powell, though, said Fed officials are not in “a rush to get this done” and would make decisions on policy at each successive meeting depending on what the incoming data says. Some investment banks raised their forecasts for how much the Federal Reserve will ultimately cut interest rates, anticipating even deeper reductions than Fed officials. Forecasts released Wednesday show Fed officials expect to cut interest rates by another half of a percentage point […]

In a twist that deepens the mystery surrounding the pager explosions in Lebanon on Tuesday that killed more than 10 Hezbollah terrorists and injured thousands in the organization, Taiwanese electronics company Gold Apollo has distanced itself from the devices bearing its logo that were used in the attack. The firm points to a Hungarian company, operating under license, as the manufacturer.

Following the discovery that the pagers detonated in Lebanon carried the Gold Apollo logo, the Taiwanese company has been scrambling to set the record straight.

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“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” said the company. “Our company only provides the brand trademark authorization and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product.”

An inquiry into the Hungarian company has only raised more questions, chief among them whether it might be a front for those behind the extraordinary operation against the Lebanese terror group.

Hsu Ching-kuang, Gold Apollo’s CEO, addressed journalists in Taipei on Wednesday. Hsu told reporters that Gold Apollo had maintained an agreement with BAC for the past three years. However, the Associated Press notes that he failed to produce any supporting documentation. Nonetheless, Hsu offered an intriguing detail: “BAC’s remittance [way of payment] was very strange,” he said, adding that payments had been sent through the Middle East. He did not elaborate further.

What BAC is remains shrouded in mystery. A review of the company’s website only deepens the enigma. The Opten business registration service shows that BAC was established on May 19, 2022, with a diverse portfolio ranging from business consulting to jewelry sales. While telecommunications is listed among its activities, an investigation by Hungarian news site 24.hu found no evidence of involvement with pager technology.

The company’s registered address is a two-story private residence and its site has been taken off the air.

BAC has a single owner, 49-year-old Cristiana Arcidiancono-Barsony, who claims Hungarian and Italian heritage. 24.hu‘s investigation revealed that her personal address is an eighth-floor apartment in a residential complex in Budapest’s Újpest district.

According to her online biography, Berson-Arcidiacono holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from University College London, completed post-doctoral work at the London School of Economics, and has consulted for the European Commission, UNESCO, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Curiously, Arcidiancono-Barsony claims to have led BAC since 2019, despite the company’s official establishment in Hungary occurring only in 2022. As of Wednesday noon, BAC’s website had gone offline, displaying a maintenance notice. JNS

{Matzav.com}

A mass grave containing the remains of 23 Jewish Holocaust victims, including 12 adults and 11 children, was uncovered on Tuesday in the town of Strešyn, in southeastern Belarus, according to local media reports. The children were estimated to be between one and seven years old. The site is located in the Gomel region, which fell under Nazi occupation in August 1941 during World War II. At the time, the local Jewish population was forced into ghettos, and their property was looted by the Nazis as part of the Holocaust. According to Belarusian authorities, the mass grave likely contains the remains of Jews who perished due to the harsh conditions in the ghetto. While no signs of execution were found on the bodies, keys and a rusty rifle bullet were discovered in the grave. The discovery was initially made about 15 years ago by a local resident who purchased a house in Strešyn and found the remains during agricultural work on his property. However, he chose not to report the find, even though many local residents were aware that the bodies belonged to Jews who had died in the ghetto during the Holocaust. The timing of the discovery coincides with a growing acknowledgment by Belarusian authorities of Jewish Holocaust victims, after years of promoting a controversial narrative of a “Belarusian genocide” during World War II that downplayed the specific targeting of Jews. In 1939, approximately 40,000 Jews lived in Gomel, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the population. Most Jews managed to flee before the city was occupied by German forces on August 19, 1941. Those who remained were confined to ghettos, where many succumbed to disease and starvation. Estimates suggest that between 3,000 and 4,000 Jews from Gomel died during the Holocaust. This discovery follows a similar finding five years ago, when about 1,000 bodies were unearthed in the city of Brest, near the Polish border. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter called Tuesday’s pager assault on Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon and Syria, which has been widely attributed to Israel, a “terrorist attack,” drawing rebuke from a prominent Brussels-based rabbi.

Folker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote in a statement that the attack “violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law.”

In her statement, De Sutter, a member of the far-left Green Party, wrote: “I strongly condemn the massive terror attack in Lebanon and Syria, which injured thousands of people.”

Several people died and thousands were wounded on Tuesday when more than 2,000 pagers exploded simultaneously in what international media has reported was likely a sophisticated attack by Israel on Hezbollah terrorist operatives. The Iranian proxy group had switched to communicating via pagers out of concern that cellular phones were too vulnerable to Israeli intelligence.

A fresh wave of explosions was reported in Lebanon on Wednesday, reportedly of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah.

Israel has declined to comment on the attacks, for which it has not assumed responsibility. Hezbollah has vowed to avenge the attacks.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the director of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, condemned De Sutter for her remarks, calling them representative of an “upside down” worldview in light of Hezbollah’s rich record of terrorist attacks against civilians.

European Jewish Association Menachem Margolin addresses the EJA’s conference in Amsterdam, June 3, 2024. Photo by Yoav Dudkevitch.

Margolin told JNS: “It’s the clearest expression of a double standard and Israel hatred on a fundamental level. Absurdly, Israel is attacked even when it’s terrorists who are hit.”

Footage from the aftermath of the pager assault showed multiple injured military-age men. The BBC and other media reported nine fatalities, including a young girl.

The Green Party in Belgium and its left-wing coalition partners suffered an electoral defeat in the June 9 general elections. Negotiations on a new coalition led by the right-wing New Flemish Alliance are ongoing. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in four months last week. Jobless claims slid by 12,000, to 219,000, for the week of Sept. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than economists’ expectations for 230,000 new filings. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits, considered largely representative of layoffs, had risen moderately since May before this week’s decline. Though still at historically healthy levels, the recent increase signaled that high interest rates may finally be taking a toll on the labor market. In response to weakening employment data and receding consumer prices, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by a half of a percentage point as the central bank shifts its focus from taming inflation toward supporting the job market. The Fed’s goal is to achieve a rare “soft landing,” whereby it curbs inflation without causing a recession. “The focus has now decisively shifted to the labor market, and there’s a sense that the Fed is trying to strike a better balance between jobs and inflation,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. It was the Fed’s first rate cut in four years after a series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 pushed the federal funds rate to a two-decade high of 5.3%. Inflation has retreated steadily, approaching the Fed’s 2% target and leading Chair Jerome Powell to declare recently that it was largely under control. During the first four months of 2024, applications for jobless benefits averaged just 213,000 a week before rising in May. They hit 250,000 in late July, supporting the notion that high interest rates were finally cooling a red-hot U.S. job market. U.S. employers added a modest 142,000 jobs in August, up from a paltry 89,000 in July, but well below the January-June monthly average of nearly 218,000. Last month, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported. The revised total was also considered evidence that the job market has been slowing steadily, compelling the Fed to start cutting interest rates. This week’s Labor Department report showed that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of weekly volatility, fell by 3,500 to 227,500. The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits fell by 14,000 to about 1.83 million for the week of Sept. 7, the fewest since early June. (AP)

Delta Air Lines announced on Thursday that it will suspend its flights between New York-JFK and Tel Aviv until December 31 due to rising security risks in the Middle East. The airline has issued a travel waiver and advised passengers to anticipate potential changes to its Tel Aviv schedule, including the possibility of further cancellations. Growing fears of a broader conflict in the region have led many international airlines to halt flights and steer clear of impacted airspaces.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke overnight Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant to review regional security developments.

Austin “reiterated unwavering U.S. support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iran’s other regional partners,” and “emphasized the U.S. commitment to deterring regional adversaries and efforts to de-escalate tensions across the region,” according to a readout provided by Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

The secretary also “reaffirmed the priority of achieving a Gaza ceasefire deal that will bring home hostages held by Hamas, and an enduring diplomatic resolution to the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border that will allow civilians on both sides to return to their homes.”

Gallant said that he discussed with Austin the “strategic, regional picture,” and briefed the Pentagon chief “on IDF operations in the southern and northern arenas, focusing on Israel’s defense against Hezbollah threats.

“I expressed my appreciation to the Secretary for his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and contribution to the U.S.-Israel alliance,” the minister said.

During a telephone conversation on Monday, Gallant told Austin that time was running out for an agreed-upon de-escalation with Hezbollah.

“The possibility of a settlement in the north is passing. Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas. The direction is clear,” said Gallant.

On Thursday morning, eight people were wounded when two anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon struck the Ramim Ridge area of Israel’s Upper Galilee.

On Wednesday, in the second wave of such incidents, communications devices used by Hezbollah terrorists exploded across the group’s stronghold in Beirut and in Southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, at least 20 Hezbollah operatives were killed and some 450 were wounded.

On Tuesday, more than 2,700 Hezbollah members were wounded and at least 12 were killed across Lebanon when their pagers exploded, with the terrorist organization saying it held Israel “fully responsible.”

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. JNS

{Matzav.com}

An atzeres tefillah originally scheduled to take place this coming Sunday, September 22, at 450 Broad Street in Newark, NJ, has been postponed.

The event, planned as a response to the ongoing gezeiras giyus (military draft) crisis in Eretz Yisroel, is now on hold after the state of New Jersey declined to approve the necessary permits for the gathering.

The atzeres, which was to run from 1 PM to 5 PM, had garnered support from admorim and gedolei roshei yeshivos. The event, titled “זעקת הגולה” (“The Cry of the Exile”), aimed to bring together participants to daven for the protection of Torah institutions in Eretz Yisroel. Posters and promotional material for the atzeres carried the slogan “כולכם נקבצו באו לך,” urging mass attendance.

As of now, no further details have been provided regarding a rescheduled time or location for the event.

{Matzav.com}

At a rally for Donald Trump on Wednesday, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani shouted emphatically, vowing to go after those who are targeting the former president. This came just days after an individual was arrested for carrying a firearm at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida on Sunday. The Secret Service confirmed that Trump was not within the man’s line of sight. The event followed an earlier incident two months ago, where a gunman shot Trump in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which resulted in one death and two injuries. Republicans have pointed to Democrats’ rhetoric, particularly calling Trump “a threat to democracy” after his attempt to contest the 2020 election, as a potential cause for these incidents. Before Trump took the stage at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, Giuliani – who had previously served as Trump’s personal lawyer – fired up the crowd with a forceful speech. “NO MORE ATTACKS! NO MORE ATTACKS!” Giuliani yelled. “NO MORE! STOP IT!” Referring to his time as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the 1980s, Giuliani added, “I’ll find them! I did it to the mafia! I can do it to them! If you’re behind it, I’m looking at you and I’m gonna get you!” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Lebanese Health Ministry announced on Thursday afternoon that the death toll from the two days of “exploding devices” has risen to 37 and 2,931 wounded. According to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad, 25 people were killed on Wednesday and 12 on Tuesday. However, Israeli officials estimate that Hezbollah is hiding the true death toll from the explosions and it’s likely that dozens more were killed. Additionally, Ynet reported that officials believe that the elite Radwan Force suffered severe losses, including senior command members. According to the report, the terrorists who were killed ranged in age from 16 to 54 and were from many regions of the country but mostly from the south. Other regions where operatives were killed include the Dahieh suburb of Beirut (a Hezbollah stronghold), the Bekaa Valley, and the Akkar region in the north. The video below shows the plane on which 95 injured terrorists were flown from Lebanon to Iran for medical treatment: Hezbollah has reported a total of 477 fatalities since the start of the war. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Israeli Defense Ministry Yoav Gallant recently apologized to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in a bid to stave off his firing, Maariv reported on Thursday, citing conversations among the premier’s associates.

According to Maariv political correspondent Ben Caspit—one of the most vocal critics of the prime minister in the Israeli press—Gallant this week also “admitted some mistakes and offered to open a new page.” Netanyahu hemmed and hawed in response, the reporter claimed.

“It’s not that I think there was real reconciliation between Gallant and Netanyahu,” Caspit wrote, noting that the possibility of an all-out war with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, among other things, has “reduced the viability of the entire move at a furious pace.”

Speaking at the Ramat David Airbase near Haifa on Wednesday, Gallant declared that Israel is “at the beginning of a new period in this war.

“The prime minister, the [IDF] chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet, of the Mossad, and the defense minister, all of them are participating in a joint effort … to bring the residents back [to the evacuated north],” he added.

On Monday, Netanyahu was reportedly in negotiations to replace Gallant with New Hope Party chief Gideon Sa’ar, who left the emergency wartime government for the opposition in late March.

Expanding the coalition will help advance a hostages-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas, Netanyahu said in conversation with advisers, according to reports. The Prime Minister’s Office denied holding talks with Sa’ar, while a New Hope spokesperson claimed that there was “nothing new” to report.

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12, Netanyahu also offered lawmakers of the New Hope Party reserved spots on the Knesset candidates slate of his ruling Likud Party in a future election in exchange for Sa’ar backing the coalition until the end of the government’s term in October 2026.

Netanyahu and Gallant have been at odds since the 2023 judicial reform crisis. In May of last year, while Netanyahu was abroad, Gallant called a solo press conference and urged the prime minister to halt the judicial reform legislation amid massive street protests throughout Israel.

Some 24 hours later, Netanyahu announced his intention to fire Gallant. Nationwide protests against the government’s judicial reform agenda intensified, and the prime minister reversed his decision.

Four months ago, Netanyahu and other members of his coalition slammed Gallant after he demanded that Jerusalem commit to Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip post-war with Hamas.

Earlier this month, after news broke that the Israel Defense Forces found the bodies of six hostages in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza, Gallant demanded that Netanyahu renege on a decision to keep IDF troops on the enclave’s border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

The majority of Likud voters have lost faith in Gallant and would like to see him fired, according to a JNS/Direct Polls survey carried out in July.

Sa’ar announced on March 25 his decision to quit the unity government, two weeks after breaking up his alliance with Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party and being denied a spot on the now-dissolved War Cabinet.

The New Hope Party chief said at the time that he had “prioritized the establishment of the emergency government” in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre, before adding, “In retrospect, maybe I was wrong about that.”

At the time, Sa’ar blamed the government for what he described as a failure to accomplish its war goals and said the military campaign against Hamas had been managed “contrary to the national interest.” JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

PM Netanyahu is currently holding a security consultation with senior ministers and defense chiefs at the Kirya in Tel Aviv. During the meeting, Israeli military officials will present various plans for the northern front, focusing on the growing threat from Hezbollah.

JetBlue Airways will open its first airport lounges next year in New York and Boston in a bid to compete with larger airlines for premium travelers. The airline said Thursday that it will open an 8,000-square-foot lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York late next year, followed shortly by an 11,000-square-foot one at Boston Logan International Airport. JetBlue said the lounges will primarily be for top-level members of its TrueBlue frequent-flyer program and those who get a new, premium JetBlue-branded credit card that is not yet available. The airline will also sell day passes if space is available. Jayne O’Brien, head of marketing and customer support for the New York-based airline, said the lounges are part of building stronger service for premium leisure travelers on the East Coast. “The lounges are something we have been looking at for a while, and now is the right time to put in these extra benefits for our most valuable customers,” O’Brien said in an interview. JetBlue declined to say how much it will cost to build and operate the lounges, which are a staple at key airports for American, Delta and United. Delta and United have reported that revenue from premium passengers is growing faster than other segments. O’Brien said JetBlue will consider whether to open lounges at other airports after it sees results from JFK and Boston. (AP)

Lebanese media report that the IDF has initiated a fresh series of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, specifically targeting the Mahmoudiyeh area. According to the reports, over 50 sites have been struck in under an hour. These airstrikes coincide with a heavy rocket barrage hitting northern Israel.

United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk on Wednesday denounced the pager explosions in Lebanon that occurred the previous day, according to a report by CNN.

Turk labeled the event as a breach of international humanitarian law and urged for an “independent, thorough and transparent investigation” into the incident.

His remarks did not address the separate walkie-talkie blasts that took place in Lebanon on Wednesday, focusing solely on the pager explosions from Tuesday.

“Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law,” Turk said in a statement on Wednesday, as reported by CNN.

Turk further emphasized that those responsible for ordering and executing the attack “must be held to account.”

Though Israel has not officially responded regarding the pager and walkie-talkie explosions, there is widespread speculation that the Mossad was involved.

The New York Times revealed on Tuesday that Israel is suspected of executing the operation by inserting explosive material into a fresh batch of Taiwanese-manufactured pagers sent to Lebanon.

The pagers, ordered by Hezbollah from Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company, had been altered before arriving in Lebanon, according to officials who spoke with The New York Times. Most of the devices were the AP924 model, though other Gold Apollo models were part of the shipment as well, the report stated.

Two officials mentioned that small amounts of explosive material, around one to two ounces, were hidden next to the batteries in each pager. A trigger switch was embedded in the devices, allowing the explosives to be detonated remotely.

At 3:30 p.m. local time in Lebanon, a message was sent to the pagers that appeared to come from Hezbollah’s leadership, according to two officials. However, the message was actually used to trigger the explosives.

Sky News, in its Arabic-language broadcast on Tuesday, reported that the Mossad had planted explosive materials within the pager batteries and then detonated them by increasing the temperature inside the batteries.

Hezbollah has accused Israel of orchestrating the blasts and has pledged to retaliate. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the attack, describing it as a “terrorist act” and holding Israel responsible.

{Matzav.com}