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}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}
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}
