Yeshiva World News

The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes against Iranian air defense batteries in southwest Iran a short while ago, the IDF says.

The IDF Home Front Command, after a recent assessment, has maintained its guidelines, allowing gatherings of up to 30 people in most areas if a shelter is accessible, and up to 50 outdoors and 100 indoors near Israel’s borders. Workplaces nationwide can operate under these conditions, but schools remain closed, with the guidelines in effect until Saturday night when a new assessment will be conducted.

YWN UPDATE: ISRAEL AT WAR – THE NUMBERS AS OF FRIDAY AT 3:00PM • Over 520 ballistic missiles launched. • About 400 Drones. • More than 50 impact sites. INJURIES: • 24 people were murdered. • 1,217 people injured: 12 in serious condition, 49 in moderate condition, 1,156 with light injuries. DAMAGES: 30,735 damage claims received by Israel Tax Authority: • 25,040 related to buildings. • 2,623 related to vehicles. • 3,006 related to other property. • 8,190 people were evacuated from their homes.

Peak sunshine has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere — the summer solstice. Friday is the longest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice marks the start of astronomical summer. It’s the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the shortest day of the year and winter will start. The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words “sol” for sun and “stitium” which can mean “pause” or “stop.” The solstice is the end of the sun’s annual march higher in the sky, when it makes its longest, highest arc. The bad news for sun lovers: It then starts retreating and days will get a little shorter every day until late December. People have marked solstices for eons with celebrations and monuments, including Stonehenge, which was designed to align with the sun’s paths at the solstices. But what is happening in the heavens? Here’s what to know about the Earth’s orbit. Solstices are when days and nights are at their most extreme As the Earth travels around the sun, it does so at an angle relative to the sun. For most of the year, the Earth’s axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun. That means the sun’s warmth and light fall unequally on the northern and southern halves of the planet. The solstices mark the times during the year when this tilt is at its most extreme, and days and nights are at their most unequal. During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice, the upper half of the earth is tilted toward the sun, creating the longest day and shortest night of the year. This solstice falls between June 20 and 22. Meanwhile, at the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is leaning away from the sun — leading to the shortest day and longest night of the year. The winter solstice falls between December 20 and 23. The equinox is when there is an equal amount of day and night During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit line up so that both hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight. The word equinox comes from two Latin words meaning equal and night. That’s because on the equinox, day and night last almost the same amount of time — though one may get a few extra minutes, depending on where you are on the planet. The Northern Hemisphere’s spring — or vernal — equinox can land between March 19 and 21, depending on the year. Its fall – or autumnal — equinox can land between Sept. 21 and 24. On the equator, the sun will be directly overhead at noon. Equinoxes are the only time when both the north and south poles are lit by sunshine at the same time. What’s the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons? These are just two different ways to carve up the year. While astronomical seasons depend on how the Earth moves around the sun, meteorological seasons are defined by the weather. They break down the year into three-month seasons based on annual temperature cycles. By that calendar, spring starts on March 1, summer on June 1, fall on Sept. 1 and winter on Dec. 1. (AP)

A Hezbollah commander who the IDF says was responsible for numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel was killed in a drone strike earlier today. The strike in Shabriha, near Tyre, eliminated Mohammed Khader al-Husseini, the commander of Hezbollah’s firepower unit in the Litani river area, the IDF says.

Israel was rocked Friday by a fresh barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran, triggering a rare nationwide alert and sending millions of civilians scrambling to bomb shelters across the country. The IDF confirmed that approximately 25 ballistic missiles were fired from Iranian territory in the latest attack. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel—including in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheva—as air defense systems engaged incoming threats. Loud explosions were reported in multiple regions, including the south, center, and north of the country. The Home Front Command issued a rare directive instructing civilians across the nation to seek shelter and remain indoors. After the attack subsided, it later announced that citizens could safely exit bomb shelters. While southern and central Israel reported no injuries, Haifa bore the brunt of the assault. According to Magen David Adom (MDA), 17 people were wounded in the northern port city, including a 16-year-old boy and a man in his 40s who were seriously injured by shrapnel. A 54-year-old was moderately wounded, and 14 others sustained light injuries. All were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Medics and emergency responders rushed to impact sites across the country, with confirmed fragment damage reported in Beersheba and several central cities. It remains unclear whether Iran used a cluster bomb warhead—a device designed to disperse smaller munitions over a wide area—in the attack. The IDF continues to assess the extent of the damage and monitor for additional threats. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

DELUSIONAL: Senior IRGC General, Mohsen Rezaei: “Any ceasefire now will lead to renewed war. We must not allow the enemy, which is currently in a weak position, to revive itself with a ceasefire. We have used less than 30% of our military capabilities. We are gradually escalating the war.”

The Magid HaRav Boruch Rosenblum warns parents not to frighten and traumatize their children while sheltering and instead sing with them, and do not drag them down 5 flights of stairs in middle of the night, instead go to a safe room.

IDF: For the first time, the Israeli Air Force used the “Barak” air defense system to intercept a hostile UAV that entered Israeli territory. Developed in Israel, the Barak system is designed to neutralize aerial threats.

Tehran experiencing loud celebrations — oh wait, that’s just the IAF throwing a going-away party for Iran’s missile program.

This morning, the IAF completed a series of strikes on military targets belonging to the Iranian regime in the area of Tabriz and Kermanshah in Iran. During the strikes, over 25 fighter jets struck over 35 missile storage and launch infrastructure components in the areas of Tabriz and Kermanshah in Iran.

In light of the continued closure of Israeli airspace, El Al has announced an alternative route home for stranded passengers — by sea. In coordination with Mano Maritime, a cruise ship will sail from Limassol, Cyprus, to the port of Ashdod on Wednesday, June 26. The voyage will be free of charge for El Al and Sun D’Or customers whose flights were cancelled due to the ongoing situation. Other travelers can book a one-way ticket for €550 through the El Al website. The ship, which can accommodate approximately 1,500 passengers, will first depart from Ashdod to Limassol on Monday, June 24, carrying ticketed passengers from Israel to Cyprus.

UPDATE: Rambam Hospital reports they have 12 injured patients. 2 serious, 2 moderate, and 8 lightly injured.

Terroriat Ali Saadi Wasfi al-Agha, was killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a hideout in central Gaza, the IDF announced. According to the IDF, al-Agha played a key role in the October 7 attacks and was personally involved in the abduction, murder, and burial of Israeli hostages, including Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein. The military said the bodies of Haggai and Weinstein were discovered earlier this month in al-Agha’s home in Khan Younis.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz has ordered the IDF to escalate its military campaign against Iranian regime targets in Tehran, aiming to destabilize the government and deter further missile attacks on Israeli cities. Following a high-level assessment Friday morning with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials, Katz directed the IDF to focus on symbolic regime assets, including the Basij paramilitary force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as Iran’s internal repression apparatus. The goal, he said, is to “bring about the destabilization of the regime and increase deterrence against missile attacks on Israel’s home front,” while continuing to degrade Iran’s nuclear program. Unconfirmed reports from Iran International, citing Israeli security sources, indicate that a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on the Fordow nuclear facility—Iran’s most fortified and sensitive enrichment sites—could be imminent, possibly as early as Friday night. The Fordow site, buried 300 feet underground near Qom, is a linchpin of Iran’s nuclear program. Initial Israeli airstrikes reportedly caused little damage to the facility, and military analysts believe a bunker-busting weapon would be required to neutralize it. Signs of U.S. military readiness have added to speculation of impending action, despite reports that President Trump is wavering in his decision. In recent days, three KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tankers departed from Travis Air Force Base in California, and four more launched from Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma—aircraft essential for extending the range of U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers – the only aircraft capable of deploying the 30,000-pound GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), specifically designed for deeply buried targets like Fordow. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Damage inside an apartment in Beersheva following an impact by an Iranian ballistic missile.