The IDF has released the name of a soldier who was killed in Northern Gaza: Sgt. Yosef Yehuda Chirak, 22, from Harasha, who was in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, 401st “Iron Trails”. His family has been notified. The IDF is investigating the cause of Chirak’s death, including the possibility of “friendly fire”.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee spoke on Monday at the 17th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem. “I hear people saying often that Israel is facing a seven-front war,” Huckabee began. I beg to differ,” he emphasized. “Well, there may be seven different servers [waiters] coming out of the kitchen, all bringing a different plate, some named Hamas, some Hezbollah, and some Houthi. Just remember one thing. All of the plates came from the very same kitchen —Tehran.” “Tehran is the chef, it is the server, it is the one that brings the poison to all the rest of the world. If we ever forget who our real enemy is – it will be a fatal mistake.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
While the real estate world is chasing deals in Vegas at the ICSC Conference, a group of Yidden at the Madison Title Hospitality Room is closing the real one — davening Mincha. A quiet pause in the chaos, sealing the only transaction that truly matters.
As Israel intensifies its assault on Gaza and prepares for what it calls “total control” of the territory, the Trump administration is signaling a dramatic shift in its support — warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that mass starvation in the enclave could sever the United States’ political and military backing, according to a new Washington Post report. In a video address Monday night, Netanyahu acknowledged for the first time that hunger in Gaza is reaching catastrophic levels, calling it a “red line” that could cost Israel the support of even its “closest friends.” He said long-standing allies — including U.S. lawmakers who have “unwaveringly” supported Israel for decades — are now warning that their backing will not survive images of starving children broadcast around the world. While Netanyahu did not name President Donald Trump directly, officials familiar with recent communications say the message from Washington has been clear: stop the war — or lose us. “Trump’s people are letting Israel know, ‘We will abandon you if you do not end this war,’” one source with direct knowledge of ongoing discussions between the two governments told The Post. “Politically, as in the past, Netanyahu has a way to do that, with a huge majority in the Knesset and in Israel, but he does not have the political will.” The comments follow growing pressure from Trump officials, who in recent weeks excluded Israel from a Middle East tour and multibillion-dollar regional investment deals. Trump himself remarked last week, “A lot of people are starving,” referring to the worsening conditions in Gaza. Israel’s halt on humanitarian aid — including food, fuel, and medicine — has lasted since March 2, the longest such blockade since the war began. In the face of escalating international outcry and political pressure, Netanyahu on Monday reversed course and announced that Israel would resume limited aid deliveries — not through the U.N., but through a new U.S.-backed mechanism involving a private contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Israeli forces would secure aid distribution sites directly. The move appears designed to placate Trump administration officials while maintaining Israel’s broader war aims. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly supported the aid resumption, saying, “It will allow civilians to eat, our friends around the world to continue providing us with international protection … and us to keep fighting, with Hashem’s help, until victory.” Meanwhile, A US official denied the Washington Post report citing an unnamed source who claimed the Trump administration would abandon Israel if it kept the war going in Gaza. The US official says that there may be disagreements, but “the idea that we would abandon Israel is preposterous.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Photos of the personnel from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation [GHF], the US organization that will distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, were revealed by Ynet on Monday for the first time. It should be noted that the GHF is not yet prepared to begin distributing aid to Gaza, and therefore, the aid that was brought into Gaza on Monday following the decision of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is being distributed by the UN and other international organizations. The photos revealed by Ynet show the US personnel receiving bulletproof vests and weapons and being briefed on their mission. The GHF, led by executive director Jake Wood, is utilizing US-based contractors to establish “aid hubs” throughout Gaza, where Gazans will be able to receive humanitarian aid without the involvement of Hamas. The aid will be distributed by experienced combatants employed by GHF, without the involvement of the IDF. These are veterans of elite units in the US Army, who are already in Israel, and they have accumulated extensive experience in combat zones around the world. The boxes they will distribute to families in Gaza will last for a week. It should be noted that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee indicated to reporters that IDF troops will be stationed at a “distance” from the hubs to provide additional protection. Israel’s goal is to detach the Gazan population from Hamas, both physically – that is, removing them from the combat zones – and practically, by preventing the terrorist organization from exercising its governance over them. According to the report, all humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip in the coming days will be delivered via the “old method” – that is, through trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing, the contents of which will be distributed by the UN and aid organizations. However, according to the government, the aid to enter Gaza via the “old distribution method” will be very limited and will continue only until May 24, at which point the GHF will begin distributing aid. Nine trucks containing medicine, flour, and baby food were allowed into Gaza on Monday, in comparison to about 600 trucks of aid that entered the Strip every day before it was halted by Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met on Monday with a delegation from the pro-Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs, and clarified that “the humanitarian aid now entering Gaza will include baby food and medical equipment, flour for bakeries, and other basic consumer products intended for public kitchens operated by international organizations in Gaza. We are doing this to bridge the period until food distribution begins according to the new plan, the goal of which is: aid to residents and not to Hamas.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Three days after a 10 men escaped a New Orleans jail by slipping through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall, seven of them remain on the run Monday, and up to $20,000 in rewards was being offered for information leading to the capture of each escapee. The FBI on Sunday increased its reward amount from $5,000 to $10,000 per escapee, while the CrimeStoppers reward was increased from $2,000 to $5,000, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was offering $5,000. FBI Special Agent Jonathan Trapp said during a news conference that he believes members of the public may be helping them and, if that’s the case, would be arrested on charges of aiding or abetting them. The men range in age from 19 to 42 and face a variety of charges including aggravated assault, domestic abuse battery and murder. While three men were quickly caught, a multiagency task force has been assembled to scour the region for the seven remaining fugitives. What are jail officials saying? Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of the Orleans Justice Center because of “defective locks,” and possibly with help from people inside her department. “It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said Friday of the jail where 1,400 people are being held. Just days before the escape, Hutson’s office had asked for money to fix faulty locks and cell doors. During the city’s Capital Improvement Plan hearing on May 12, Jeworski “Jay” Mallet, Chief of Corrections for the Orleans Justice Center, said the current system at the jail was built for a “minimum custody type of inmate.” Mallet went on to say that some of the cell unit doors and locks have been “manipulated” to the point that not only are they not secure, but some can’t even be closed properly. But he classified many at the jail as “high security” inmates who are awaiting trials for violent offenses, including charges such as murder, assault and rape. Surveillance footage, shared with media during a news conference, showed the escapees sprinting out of the facility — some wearing orange clothing and others in white. They scaled a fence, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire, and some sprinted across an interstate and into a neighborhood. The escape A law enforcement photograph obtained by The Associated Press shows the opening through which the men escaped. Above the hole are scrawled messages that include “To Easy LoL” with an arrow pointing at the gap. Friday’s escape is drawing intense scrutiny and criticism. It took hours for sheriff’s officials to realize the men had escaped and then more time still to alert New Orleans police, even though some of the missing men are accused of violent offenses and they escaped into a neighborhood less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from the city’s famous French Quarter. “Someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, who said he prosecuted one of the people who escaped, told New Orleans news station WWL-TV he was “angry.” “This is absurd,” he said. “I don’t understand how it is feasible that it could have occurred.” Why did it take […]
Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, President Donald Trump said Monday after separate calls with the leaders of both countries meant to spur progress toward ending the three-year war. The conversations did not appear to yield a major breakthrough. It was not clear when or where any talks might take place or who would participate. Trump’s announcement came days after the first direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022. Those negotiations on Friday in Turkey brought about a limited exchange of prisoners but no pause in the fighting. Ahead of the calls, the White House said Trump had grown “frustrated” with both leaders over the continuing war. Vice President JD Vance said Trump would press Russian President Vladimir Putin to see if he was truly interested in stopping the fighting, and if not, that the U.S. could disengage from trying to stop the conflict. Trump later told reporters that he believed Putin was serious about wanting peace. “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said in a social media post. Trump said the call with Putin was “excellent,” adding, “If it wasn’t, I would say so now, rather than later.” Trump has struggled to end a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, a setback for his promises to quickly settle the conflict once he was back in the White House, if not before he took office. “He’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday before the calls. “He has made it clear to both sides that he wants to see a peaceful resolution and ceasefire as soon as possible.” The Republican president is banking on the idea that his force of personality and personal history with Putin will be enough to break any impasse over a pause in the fighting. He dangled the prospect of reduced sanctions and increased trade with Russia should the war end. After the call, Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing an end to the fighting after a “very informative and very frank” conversation with Trump. Putin said the warring countries should “find compromises that would suit all parties.” Moscow, he said, will “propose and is ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty.” But indicating that little had fundamentally changed about his demands, Putin said: “At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he reaffirmed to Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire. He urged the international community to maintain pressure on Moscow if it refuses to halt its invasion. “Ukraine doesn’t need to be persuaded — our representatives are ready to make real decisions. What’s needed is mirrored readiness from Russia for such result-oriented negotiations.” Zelenskyy said. Trump and Putin addressed each other by first names Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, who previously served as Russian ambassador to the U.S., described the conversation as friendly, with Trump and Putin addressing each other by their […]
POTUS: “We just spent two and a half hours talking to Vladimir Putin and I think some progress has been made. … We also spoke to the heads of most of the European nations”
Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran: “The bill is Big, the bill is Beautiful, and it’s going to be great for America. It will pass. President Trump is the best negotiator in history… The President will get this bill over the line.”
FMR. RNC CHAIR PRIEBUS: “People were put to shame, me & others out there, that talked about Joe Biden’s mental acuity. We were told he was sharp as a tack… The fact is they were managing his decline in a nursing home in the White House.”
A man who tried to help a burglar cash in from the theft of a golden toilet valued at 4.74 million pounds ($6.4 million) was spared jail on Monday after a British judge said he had been taken advantage of by the thieves. Frederick Doe, 37, also known as Frederick Sines, was given a suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court for his role in helping to sell the 18-carat gold fully functioning toilet which was taken in 2019 from Blenheim Palace — the country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born. “Those responsible for this audacious heist, five individuals could be seen on CCTV, were clearly intent on disposing of their ill-gotten gains quickly,” Judge Ian Pringle told Doe. “You foolishly agreed to assist.” The toilet was part of a satirical art installation, titled “America,” by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, whose work of a banana duct-taped to a wall was sold in 2024 for $6.2 million at auction in New York. The toilet weighed just over 215 pounds (98 kilograms). The value of the gold at the time was 2.8 million pounds and it was insured for 4.74 million pounds. The piece that poked fun at excessive wealth had previously been on display at The Guggenheim Museum, in New York, which had offered the work to U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term in office after he had asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting. The theft of the toilet — which has never been recovered and is believed to have been cut up and sold — caused considerable damage to the 18th-century property, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with valuable art and furniture that draws thousands of visitors each year. Of the group who smashed a window to get into the palace before dawn on Sept. 14, 2019, only two have been charged and convicted. James Sheen, 40, previously pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy and transferring criminal property. Michael Jones, 39, was convicted of burglary at the trial where Doe was convicted. Sheen and Jones will be sentenced June 13. Doe punched his fist in the air as he emerged from court, saying he was a good person who “got caught up in something I should not have.” The judge said Sheen approached Doe because he had contacts in London’s jewelry district. In a WhatsApp message, Doe told Sheen he could “sell the gold in a second.” Doe said he had no idea the gold was looted and wouldn’t have sold stolen gold “in a million years.” Doe, who was convicted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property, was given a two-year suspended term and ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid work. “You agreed to assist Mr. Sheen without any hope or expectation of a reward for yourself,” the judge said. “You no doubt, for the last five-and-a-half years, regret doing (that) for James Sheen every day since your arrest.” (AP)
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. The court’s order, with only one noted dissent, puts on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month. The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife. (AP)
The IDF releases footage from the opening strikes of its new offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots.” Hundreds of targets were hit since Friday, including tunnels, weapon depots, anti-tank missile launch posts, terror operatives, and other infrastructure, the military says,
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clinched the political support needed to become the nation’s top health official by pledging to work within the decades-old federal system for approval and use of vaccines. Yet his regulators are promising big changes that cloud the outlook for what shots might even be available. The Food and Drug Administration will soon “unleash a massive framework” for how vaccines are tested and approved, according to Commissioner Marty Makary. Details aren’t yet public but the plan is being overseen by the agency’s new vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, an outspoken critic of FDA’s handling of COVID-19 boosters. Makary and other Trump administration officials already have taken unprecedented steps that raise uncertainty about next fall’s COVID-19 vaccinations, including delaying FDA scientists’full approval of Novavax’s shot — and then restricting its use to people at higher risk from the virus. They’ve also suggested seasonal tweaks to match the latest circulating virus strains are new products requiring extra testing. The changes cross multiple health agencies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t yet acted on an influential advisory panel’s recent recommendations on use of a new meningitis shot or broader RSV vaccination. A meeting of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” allies was recently told to expect an end to COVID-19 booster recommendations for children — something that vaccine advisory panel was supposed to debate in June. And researchers around the country lost National Institutes of Health funding to study vaccine hesitancy. “I think you have to assume that RFK Jr.’s intention is to make it harder for vaccines to come to market,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a vaccine expert at Johns Hopkins University. The changes are “looked at suspiciously because this is someone with a proven track record of evading the value of vaccines.” Raising doubts about vaccines In a Senate health committee hearing last week, Kennedy wrongly claimed that the only vaccines tested against a placebo, or dummy shot, were for COVID-19. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who chairs the committee, briefly interrupted the hearing to say, “For the record, that’s not true” — pointing to placebo-controlled studies of the rotavirus, measles and HPV vaccines. Concerned by rhetoric about how vaccines are tested, a group of doctors recently compiled a list of more than 120 vaccine clinical trials spanning decades, most of them placebo-controlled, including for shots against polio, hepatitis B, mumps and tetanus. “It directly debunks the claim that vaccines were never tested against placebo,” said Dr. Jake Scott, a Stanford University infectious disease physician who’s helping lead the project. Antivaccine groups argue that some substances scientists call a placebo may not really qualify, although the list shows simple saline shots are common. Sometimes a vaccine causes enough shot-site pain or swelling that it’s evident who’s getting the vaccine and who’s in the control group — and studies might use another option that slightly irritates the skin to keep the test “blinded,” Scott explained. And when there’s already a proven vaccine for the same disease, it’s unethical to test a new version against a placebo, he said. “We can’t always expect placebo-controlled trials,” Scott said. “It’s imperative that be communicated clearly to the public, but it’s challenging especially when there’s so much noise in social media and so much misinformation.” Trump officials held up vaccine decision The administration’s promise of a new vaccine framework comes ahead of a Thursday meeting where FDA advisers […]
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing the Democratic New York attorney general’s real estate transactions, Director Kash Patel confirmed in an interview with Fox News on Sunday. The investigation is focused on whether the state Attorney General, Letitia James, committed fraud on a mortgage application. A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has issued subpoenas on the matter. James, who won a civil case last year against the Trump Organization and Trump himself over allegations of faulty business practices, is the first public official who investigated the president to now face potential criminal prosecutions themselves. While Patel declined to share details about the investigation, he said in an interview on Fox News “this case, I can tell you, is being handled by our professional pros who are subject matter experts, reporting directly to headquarters, which reports to (Deputy Director Dan Bongino) and I.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
