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Salvagers abandoned an effort to tow away a burning oil tanker in the Red Sea targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels as it “was not safe to proceed,” a European Union naval mission said Tuesday. The announcement by the EU’s Operation Aspides leaves the Sounion stranded in the Red Sea, threatening to spill its 1 million barrels of oil. While a major spill has yet to occur, the incident threatens to become one of the worst yet in Iranian-backed rebels’ campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. It also has halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. “The private companies responsible for the salvage operation have concluded that the conditions were not met to conduct the towing operation and that it was not safe to proceed,” the EU mission said, without elaborating. “Alternative solutions are now being explored by the private companies.” The EU mission did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the announcement. The safety issue could be from the fire still burning aboard the vessel — NASA fire satellites detected a blaze in the area the Sounion was anchored on Tuesday. Meanwhile, there’s the threat of attacks by the Houthis, who on Monday targeted two other oil tankers traveling through the Red Sea. The Houthis have suggested they’ll allow a salvage operation to take place, but critics say the rebels have used the threat of an environmental disaster previously involving another oil tanker off Yemen to extract concessions from the international community. The Houthis initially attacked the Greek-flagged tanker on Aug. 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of Operation Aspides rescued the Sounion’s crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, after they abandoned the vessel and took them to nearby Djibouti. Last week, the Houthis released footage showing they planted explosives on board the Sounion and ignited them in a propaganda video, something the rebels have done before in their campaign. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran. The U.S. State Department has warned a spill from the Sounion could be “four times the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster” in 1989 off Alaska. However, it remains unclear if America itself will get involved in the effort to salvage the vessel. Two U.S. aircraft carriers, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Abraham Lincoln, along with their carrier groups, are in the Gulf of Oman to counter a threatened Iranian retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. There no […]

The Prime Minister’s Office, this evening (Tuesday, 3 September 2024), in response to Gantz’s remarks [translated from Hebrew]: “The reality speaks for itself. Since Gantz and his party left the Government, Israel eliminated Hamas’s chief-of-staff and Hezbollah’s chief-of-staff, attacked the Houthis, seized the Philadelphi Corridor – the lifeline by which Hamas arms itself – and carried out a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah, which thwarted its malicious plan and destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the Galilee. Whoever does not contribute to the victory and the return of the hostages would do well not to interfere.”

A car bomb neutralized on Monday near the entrance to the Jewish community of Ateret in the Binyamin region of Shomron was intended to detonate while a school bus was passing by, security officials believe.

According to the Kan News broadcaster, the bomb, which was planted inside a gas cylinder, contained more than 100 pounds of explosive material.

In addition, an initial probe of the incident shows that the bomb contained a camera facing the road, allowing the terrorists to detonate the explosive device remotely when a bus passed by, Kan reported.

Channel 12 News said the vigilance of a local Israeli resident prevented a “major disaster,” with Israeli security forces neutralizing the heavy bomb before school busses entered the town on Monday morning.

Israel Ganz, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council, which has jurisdiction over the area of Ateret, said on Monday, “The terrorism in Yehuda and Shomron requires military action just like in Gaza and Rafah.”

“The population must be mobilized and the neighborhoods and terrorist infrastructures must be razed to the ground,” stated Ganz, whose Yesha Council also represents the 500,000 Israelis living in Yehuda and Shomron.

On Friday, terrorists linked to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction carried out a double car bombing in the Gush Etzion area of Yehuda, wounding two Israeli soldiers and a security guard.

Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades warned that it would “pursue the occupier at every intersection, alley and neighborhood, until it is expelled from our land and our holy sites, Inshallah [‘God willing’].”

Following the attacks, the Yesha Council called on Israelis to gather in protest at intersections in Yehuda and Shomron at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The call for mass demonstrations marked the first time that the organization called for protests against the government since Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition was instated in Dec. 2022.

“The residents of Yehuda and Shomron no longer rely on miracles,” the invitation read. “A war is being waged in Yehuda and Shomron; the prime minister and the IDF should treat it as a war and fight the terrorist infrastructure in the Arab cities just as they fight in Gaza and Rafah!”

Since January of this year, Yehuda and Shomron saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to figures published on Aug. 1 by Rescuers Without Borders.

During that time, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.

Terrorists have killed 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in Yehuda and Shomron since the start of the year, the rescue group said.

(JNS)

On the first day of the fall semester, Columbia University students picked up where they left off after spring by protesting Israel.

Former hostage Erez Calderon, 12, speaks in a video pleading for the release of his father, Ofer Calderon, who is still being held in Gaza.

Migrant crime is making up the majority of arrests in New York City.

MIKE PENCE: “I cannot, in good conscience, endorse Donald Trump.”

MK Benny Gantz, Chairman of the National Unity Party, delivered remarks on Tuesday at the Tel Aviv Bar Association’s legal conference, addressing the inflammatory rhetoric aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the hostage deal.

Gantz stated, “I would like to state the obvious here – Netanyahu is not a murderer and I condemn the incitement against him. Sinwar is a murderer, Hamas and Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards – they are our enemies. But Netanyahu has lost his way and regards himself as the state. And this is dangerous. He is the leader of the misconception of survival in power at all costs. That is why he will not make the required legal, economic, social and security reforms.”

During his speech, Gantz also took aim at Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, criticizing his actions during what he described as a particularly challenging period for the country. Gantz asserted, “Even in these difficult days, the Minister of Justice continues to destroy the judicial system and the citizens of Israel. He refuses to convene the committee for the selection of judges and take the basic step – elect the president of the Supreme Court, after more than a year. There are certain norms that once would not have been broken. The Minister of Justice would not have waited for a petition to the High Court of Justice to comply with the law. While our state borders are burning, all other borders in the country are being breached, in the name of petty politics. It looks like we haven’t learned anything.”

Gantz acknowledged that the judicial system itself has seen a breakdown in trust, yet he emphasized that reform in this area must be approached with openness to consensus. He remarked, “Trust has also been broken in the judicial system. I agree that there is room for improvement there as well. It also needs to be open to consensus, for example the appointment of the next three Supreme Court justices. We must not reject ideas for consensus without consideration, as long as the potential judges, whether they are conservative or liberal, are professionally appropriate. The judges should also remember that the majority was not always on their side, and nobody is immune to this. The system is geared towards consensus, and that’s how it should be.”

Looking to the future, Gantz suggested that one of the next government’s primary objectives should be to enact a “basic legislative law” to clearly define the foundational legal principles of the country. He stated, “One of the first moves that the next government should lead is a ‘basic legislative law’ – which will regulate the rules of the game. The basic legislative law is the foundation of the legal system, from which we can regulate other issues: from the number of judges who can invalidate a law, through the definition of the basic laws and the procedures required to enact them. The Basic Law must be passed by a large majority, and preferably by all factions of the House, under the principles presented in the President’s House. With proper work, 100 Knesset members can enact the Basic Law and move us from a constitutional crisis – to a historic constitutional arrangement.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Dozens of Starlink satellite internet stations have arrived in Israel and are slated to be installed in government offices, hospitals, and emergency centers in the northern region in the coming days, according to an announcement by Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Monday. “The station will provide satellite wifi to the entire complex and will allow communication continuity in blackout cases and various other scenarios. And this is just the beginning,” Karhi tweeted. The Israeli Communications Ministry had previously approved the use of Starlink in the country in February, ensuring that Israelis could access broadband services even if ground-based communications were disrupted. “Starlink’s entry into Israel will enable advanced satellite communication routinely and during times of emergency,” Karhi noted when the approval was first granted. In addition to the installations in Israel, the country’s security authorities have also granted limited approval for the use of Starlink in the Gaza Strip. This approval is given on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that the entities involved pose “no concern of risk or possibility of endangering national security,” according to a statement from the ministry. Elon Musk, the founder of Starlink, said he intends to expand support in Gaza. In an August 10 tweet, Musk wrote that he hoped “to do more to help people in Gaza.” The Starlink service began operating in the Gaza Strip in late July and has already made a significant impact. For instance, at the UAE’s Gaza Field Hospital in Rafah, the Starlink service has enabled live video medical consultations. “We added the service to cooperate with Emirati hospitals and specialists from different countries,” said Dr. Sultan Al Kaabi, the hospital’s director, in an interview with The National, an Emirati English-language daily. “We get consultations about certain cases that we don’t have specialty [for] here in Gaza to provide the best treatment.” Initially, Israel had opposed the use of Starlink in Gaza, but later reversed its policy due to evolving conditions in the region. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

“Telling your wife your needs and wants” is a complete waste of time for married men who want to get the passion and I’ll tell you why. So many marriage experts claim they have the secret to a happy marriage and that it all comes down to communication, boundaries and bringing in more money. They tell you to help out more at home, talk about the past, go together to a marriage professional but never stop to take inventory of whether ANY of these methods are actually WORKING in creating happiness and joy! I am not saying those strategies don’t work at all, but they are the long… slow… painful way of having a happy home. And for the few that make it with these strategies, they’ve done it while he doesn’t get what he needs, and she doesn’t get what she needs.  Meanwhile, we’re helping our clients connect with their wives on the highest level, living lives full of passion and excitement and it gets more and more joyful by the day where both husband and wife feel happiness and passion… … all without needing their wife to meet them halfway! To check out how they do this, click below to watch my free presentation where I share all the details … you’re going to thank me for it! 5 Steps Married Men Use to Get Rid of Friction and Create Passion and Intimacy… Without Needing Their Wife to Meet Them Halfway!

Dear Matzav Inbox,

This letter is a plea for our community to wake up and address the increasing number of divorces among our young couples.

The sacred institution of marriage, a cornerstone of our frum life, is facing unprecedented challenges, and we are witnessing a disturbing trend: marriages that end before they truly begin.

We must ask ourselves why this is happening.

Quietly, behind closed doors, the question is whispered, but the answer is seldom confronted. The truth is that many of these couples were never truly married in the first place. Yes, they stood under the chuppah and embarked on what was supposed to be a lifelong journey together. But too often, they were not prepared for the reality of marriage—the depth of commitment, the hard work, the avodah of a relationship, the selflessness required to build a bayis ne’eman together.

When a marriage crumbles within its first year, leaving behind shattered dreams and sometimes even a child, it is a tzarah not just for the couple but for all of us. We have failed them. We have allowed the superficial pressures of society to dictate their choices, pushing them toward marriage before they were ready, before they understood what marriage truly means.

In many cases, these young couples enter marriage with a mindset that is still single. They may wear the outward symbols of marriage—she wears a shaitel, he wears a tallis—but their hearts and minds are not united in the way that marriage demands. They may have been drawn together by fleeting emotions, by societal expectations, or by the allure of a chasunah, but these are not the foundations on which a strong, lasting marriage can be built.

Marriage is a journey, not a destination.

The initial excitement, the joy of being newlyweds, is just the beginning. The real work of marriage begins when the “honeymoon phase” fades and the challenges of daily life set in. It is then that couples must lean on each other, grow together, and face the world as one. But too many of our young couples lack the maturity and the mental preparedness to do this. They are quick to focus on each other’s flaws, to imagine that there is someone better out there, rather than working on themselves and their relationship.

We live in a world where social media creates an illusion of endless choices, where success and wealth seem to come quickly and easily to others. But real life is not like that. Just as no one becomes rich overnight, no one builds a strong marriage without effort, dedication, and time. The real reward of marriage, of life itself, comes from consistency, from hard work, from the daily acts of chesed and ahavah that build a home.

If we want to reverse this trend, we must start before the chasunah, before shidduchim even begins. We must teach our young people what marriage really is, what it requires, and what it offers. We must encourage them to understand themselves, to know why they want to get married, and to be prepared for the journey ahead. And a journey it is.

Let us not be silent. Let us not ignore this crisis. It is time to take action, to support our young couples, and to ensure that when they stand under the chuppah, they are truly ready to build a life together.

Sincerely,

Someone Who is Surrounded By the Crisis, Helping Couple After Couple

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{Matzav.com}

Chief Rabbi of the UK Rav Ephraim Mirvis slammed the British government following its announcement that it is suspending 30 arms export licenses to Israel. Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced on Monday that the UK is immediately suspending 30 out of 350 arms licenses due to “the risk that the arms will be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law.” Lammy, who made his announcement as the levayos of six Israeli hostages executed in cold blood last week were still taking place, insisted that it is not an arms embargo and that “the UK continues to support Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law.” He did not mention the murder of the hostages or the over 1,000 Israelis tortured, murdered, and abducted on October 7, including 14 British citizens. He did not mention that five British citizens are still being held in Gaza. Following the decision, Rav Mirvis stated: “It beggars belief that the British government, a close strategic ally of Israel, has announced a partial suspension of arms licenses, at a time when Israel is fighting a war for its very survival on seven fronts forced upon it on the 7th October, and at the very moment when six hostages murdered in cold blood by cruel terrorists were being buried by their families.” “As Israel faces down the threat of Iran and its proxies, not just to its own people, but to all of us in the democratic west; this announcement feeds the falsehood that Israel is in breach of International Humanitarian Law, when in fact it is going to extraordinary lengths to uphold it. Sadly, this announcement will serve to encourage our shared enemies. It will not help to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages, nor contribute to the peaceful future we wish and pray for, for all people in the region and beyond.” Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to the decision on Tuesday, stating: “Hamas is still holding many innocent Jewish hostages while Israel tries to prevent a repeat of the 7th October massacre. Why are Lammy and Starmer abandoning Israel? Do they want Hamas to win?” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said: “Days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, the UK government suspended thirty arms licenses to Israel. This shameful decision will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that savagely murdered 1200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens. Hamas is still holding over 100 hostages, including 5 British citizens. Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas. “Israel is pursuing a just war with just means, taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harm’s way and comporting fully with international law. Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilization, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror. “With or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Nikki Haley, the former US Ambassador to the UN, on Monday, strongly urged President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to handle Hamas as a terrorist organization rather than pressuring Israel to accept a deal for hostage release.

“Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen, was executed in Gaza. Seven Americans are still being held hostage by the same terrorists who murdered Hersh,” Haley emphasized in a post on social media platform X.

“This is unacceptable. The United States should demand the immediate release of hostages from Hamas and their sponsors, Iran. Harris and Biden need to recognize Hamas as a terrorist group and act accordingly, instead of putting pressure on Israel,” she continued.

In an earlier post, Haley urged Biden and Harris to impose sanctions on Iran due to its support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas.

Haley also posted a video from the funeral of Goldberg-Polin, shared by his mother, Rachel, and stated, “How many more of these funerals have to happen before Kamala Harris and Joe Biden start playing hardball and put the sanctions back on Iran? Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, none of these terror groups take this administration seriously. Cut off their money so the horror stops.”

These posts followed Biden’s remark that he does not believe Netanyahu has done enough to secure a hostage deal, responding with “no” when questioned on the matter.

Subsequently, the White House issued a statement after Biden and Harris met with the US hostage deal negotiation team, stating, “President Biden expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder of the six hostages and reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable.”

Biden has been advocating for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, initially proposed in May, but Hamas has repeatedly rejected all offers.

On Motzoei Shabbos, speaking about efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release, Biden said, “It’s time this war ended…I think we’re on the verge of having an agreement.”

He remained “still optimistic” about the possibility of reaching an agreement and noted that “people are continuing to meet.”

“We think we can close the deal, they’ve all said they agree on the principles,” Biden added.

Last Sunday, two Egyptian security sources informed Reuters that discussions in Cairo about a potential ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal concluded without reaching an agreement.

{Matzav.com}

An attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison left 129 people dead, including some who were shot and others who died in a stampede at the overcrowded facility, authorities said Tuesday. Activists alleged the death toll was higher but did not provide a figure. A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were fatally shot by “warning” shots fired by guards as they tried to escape from the Makala Central Prison in the capital of Kinshasa early on Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social platform X. “There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said, adding that order has now been restored at the prison, part of which was burned in the attempted jailbreak. He did not elaborate on the incidents of rape. The prison holds both male and female inmates. It was not known if all 129 fatalities were inmates. Also, it wasn’t immediately clear how the stampede occurred as details of the jailbreak remained sparse. Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with a capacity for 1,500 people, holds over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report. The facility has recorded previous jailbreaks, including in 2017 when members of a religious sect stormed the prison and freed dozens of inmates. Gunfire inside the prison started around midnight on Sunday and lasted into Monday morning, local residents in the area said. “Shots were ringing out everywhere,” said Stéphane Matondo, who lives nearby, adding that military vehicles arrived shortly after and that the main road to the prison was blocked. Videos posted online show bodies lying on the ground inside the prison, many of them with visible injuries. Another video shows inmates carrying bodies that appeared to be lifeless onto a vehicle. There were no signs of forced entry into the prison, which is located in the city center, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the presidential palace. The attempted escape was plotted from inside the prison by inmates in one of the wings, Mbemba Kabuya, the deputy justice minister, told the local Top Congo FM radio. In the hours following the attack, officials visited the prison as authorities convened a panel to investigate the incident. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who is in China on an official visit, has not publicly commented on the incident. Calling for an independent investigation, rights groups and the opposition accused the government of using excessive force and covering up the true death toll. An earlier statement from a senior government official on Monday said that only two people died. Martin Fayulu, an opposition leader, compared the death toll to “summary executions” and said it was an “unacceptable crime that cannot go unpunished.” Makala — among other prisons in Congo — is so overcrowded that inmates often starve to death, activists say. Scores of prisoners have been released in recent months as part of efforts to reduce the number of inmates. Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attempted jailbreak a “premeditated act of sabotage” and promised a “stern response.” His deputy, Samuel Mbemba Kabuya, blamed the country’s magistrates and judges for the overcrowding in prisons, saying people are quickly jailed at the early stage of their trials. Mutamba announced a ban on the transfer of […]

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following an “urgent request” by Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon.

According to the envoy, it will mark the first time since the Oct. 7 attack that the Security Council has convened for an official deliberation on the issue.

Hamas currently holds 101 hostages, including 97 of the 251 captured on Oct. 7.

“It is a disgrace that it has taken the Council 11 months and the brutal execution of six hostages by Hamas terrorists to finally convene this discussion,” Danon tweeted on Tuesday morning, referring to the bodies of abductees recovered from a Rafah tunnel on Saturday.

“I extend my gratitude to the representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom and France for calling for this meeting. The Security Council must unequivocally condemn this Nazi-like terrorist organization and demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” he continued.

The three countries are among the five permanent members of the Security Council, along with China and Russia. Ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. JNS

{Matzav.com}

The incitement in Israel against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reached new heights in recent days, with left-wing provocateurs repeatedly calling him a “murderer” in the wake of the executions of the six hostages in Gaza last week. Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf complained about the incitement in the Cabinet meeting this week, saying that people who call Netanyahu a murderer should be imprisoned. He also slammed opposition leader Yair Lapid who claimed that Netanyahu was responsible for the murders. National Unity chairman Benny Gantz spoke at the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and referred to the incitement against Netanyahu. “I would like to state the obvious here – Netanyahu is not a murderer and I condemn the incitement against him,” he said. “Sinwar is a murderer, Hamas and Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards – they are our enemies.” However, Gantz couldn’t resist the opportunity to slam Netanyahu in other ways, continuing his speech by saying:  “But Netanyahu has lost his way and sees himself as the state. And this is dangerous. He is the father of the conceptzia of survival in power at any cost.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Four former military leaders have strongly criticized Democrat presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), accusing him of exaggerating his military achievements and avoiding deployment to Iraq. Their comments were made during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show that aired Monday. Watch it above.

Retired Minnesota National Guard Command Sergeant Major Paul Herr labeled Walz as a “habitual liar.”

“He’s a habitual liar. He lies about everything! He lies about stuff that doesn’t make sense,” Herr said.

Walz has claimed for nearly 20 years to be a “retired command sergeant major,” when, in reality, he retired as a “master sergeant,” a rank lower.

Herr, along with three other retired senior leaders from the Minnesota National Guard, pointed out that Walz has a history of falsehoods beyond just his military rank.

“He says all these things like, ‘I was a football coach.’ You were assistant coach and you were fired because of a DUI that you lied about being deaf to try and get out of whatever you were trying to get out of there,” he said.

Another misleading claim by Walz involves his statement about carrying weapons “in war,” even though he never served in a combat zone. In response, the Harris-Walz campaign stated that Walz had “misspoke,” and Walz himself later attributed the error to his use of grammar and the intensity of his speech during a recent interview with CNN.

Additionally, Walz misrepresented the method used to conceive his two children, claiming they were conceived through in vitro fertilization when, in fact, intrauterine insemination was used.

“I mean, it just it’s just one habitual lie after another. They keep piling up, and eventually, you can’t present enough blankets to cover it up,” Herr said.

{Matzav.com}

As Iran threatens to attack Israel over the assassination of a Hamas leader in the Iranian capital, its long-vaunted missile program offers one of the few ways for Tehran to strike back directly, but questions loom over just how much of a danger it poses. The program was behind Iran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel in April, when Iran became the first nation to launch such a barrage since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein lobbed Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War. But few of the Iranian projectiles reached their targets. Many were shot down by a U.S.-led coalition, while others apparently failed at launch or crashed while in flight. Even those that reached Israel appeared to miss their marks. Now a new report by experts shared exclusively with The Associated Press suggests one of Tehran’s most advanced missiles is far less accurate than previously thought. The April assault showed “some ability to strike Israel,” said Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies who worked on the analysis. But “if I were supreme leader, I would probably be a little disappointed.” If Iranian missiles are not able to hit targets precisely “that recasts their role,” Lair added. “They’re no longer as valuable for conducting conventional military operations. They may be more valuable simply as terror weapons.” As an example, he recalled the harassing missile fire seen on cities in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when Iran could fire a variety of missiles at a large city and hope some got through. Iran has repeatedly said it will retaliate for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh. Israel is widely suspected of carrying out the assassination, though it has not claimed it. The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tacitly acknowledged the country’s failure to strike anything of importance in Israel. “Debates by the other party about how many missiles were fired, how many of them hit the target and how many didn’t, these are of secondary importance,” Khamenei said. “The main issue is the emergence of the Iranian nation” and the Iranian military “in an important international arena. This is what matters.” A fusillade of missiles and drones Retaliation had been expected for days after a suspected Israeli strike on April 1 hit an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria, killing two Iranian generals and five officers, as well as a member of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. Footage aired on state television showed that Iran’s April 13 assault began with Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami speaking by telephone with Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guard’s aerospace division. “Start the ‘True Promise’ operation against Zionist regime’s bases,” he ordered. As the missiles headed skyward, people across Iran stopped what they were doing and pointed their mobile phones at the launch noise from their cars and the balconies of their homes. Videos analyzed by the AP showed multiple launch sites, including on the outskirts of Arak, Hamadan, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Tabriz and Tehran. Grainy footage later released through pro-Iranian military social media accounts showed missiles thundering off truck-based mobile launchers. Iran’s bomb-carrying Shahed drones, widely used by Russia in its war on Ukraine, leaped off metal […]

Turkish authorities claim to have detained a key operative connected to Israel’s Mossad national intelligence agency in Istanbul, the country’s pro-government Hürriyet newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Liridon Rexhepi, a Kosovo national who was said to have entered Turkey on Aug. 25, was arrested on Friday after Ankara’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) identified him as an “operator of a financial network supporting Mossad’s activities in the country,” Hürriyet said.

Rexhepi stands accused of sending funds to field operatives in Turkey who, acting on orders of Israel’s Mossad, conducted drone surveillance, engaged in psychological warfare targeting “Palestinian politicians” and gathered intelligence on Syria from Turkish soil, according to the report.

MIT uncovered several payments to Turkish operatives via Western Union and, following his arrest, Rexhepi was said to have admitted to making the transfers during police questioning, Hürriyet reported. The Kosovar was subsequently “arrested and sent to prison,” per the report.

Turkish intelligence found that the Mossad sent funds to its operatives in Turkey, mainly from Kosovo and other Eastern European countries. The funds received by Turkish operatives through Western Union and cryptocurrency were allegedly also used to pay Syrian contacts.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has become ever more hostile towards the Jewish state and closer to Hamas since the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, in which some 1,200 people were murdered.

In May, Erdoğan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “vampire who feeds on blood,” urging Muslims to fight the Jewish state.

“The world is watching the barbarity of … a vampire who feeds on blood called Netanyahu, and they are watching it on live broadcast,” he said.

Two months ago, Erdoğan told Newsweek that Palestinian terrorists in Gaza are “simply defending their homes, streets and homeland.

“What is between Israel and Gaza is not war,” he continued. “Israel has been treating Gaza as an open-air prison for years. They are usurping Palestinians of their homes, businesses and farmlands throughout Palestinian territory using thieving terrorists they call settlers.”

In January, Turkish authorities arrested 33 individuals on suspicion of conducting espionage activities on behalf of the Mossad. The alleged agents were accused of surveillance, assaults and abduction attempts. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}