Yeshiva World News

MAMDANI: “Every single person should have housing, even if that requires abolishing property”

The IDF confirmed it eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist working to rebuild the group’s military infrastructure in Kharbat Salim, southern Lebanon. Overnight, Israeli forces also dismantled a Hezbollah structure deemed a threat in Yaroun.

Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff described the tense hours before the ceasefire and hostage deal, when an unexpected Israeli strike nearly derailed the talks. Kushner said President Trump believed Israel was “getting a little bit out of control” and felt it was time to firmly step in to prevent actions that were not in the country’s long-term interests.

The U.S. State Department warned Saturday that it has “credible reports” indicating Hamas may imminently violate the Gaza cease-fire by launching an attack on Palestinian civilians — a move Washington said would be a “direct and grave violation” of the U.S.-brokered truce and would prompt countermeasures to protect people in Gaza. In a brief posting on social media, the State Department said it had informed the guarantor nations of the Gaza peace agreement of the intelligence and demanded that Hamas “uphold its obligations under the ceasefire terms.” The department said only that the planned attack would “undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts” and warned that “measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire” should the attack proceed. No operational details about the alleged plot were released. The warning comes amid growing signs that the fragile truce, negotiated last week and credited with temporarily halting two years of conflict, remains under acute strain. U.S. officials have repeatedly cited disturbing footage and reports of public executions and intra-Hamas violence in Gaza since the deal took effect — developments critics say show the group has been unwilling or unable to disarm fully. President Donald Trump, who helped broker the 20-point peace plan, sternly warned this week that Washington could authorize force if Hamas continues to carry out killings inside Gaza. “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza … we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” the president wrote on his platform — a comment his aides later sought to narrow by saying the United States would not itself occupy Gaza but could support allied action. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment about the intelligence reports. The agency’s public posting underscored how quickly the diplomatic gains around the cease-fire could unravel if armed factions in Gaza disregard the accord’s terms — and how the guarantor nations are now being pressed to enforce compliance. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

WATCH: Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter crews intercepted and shot down a Russian “Geran” kamikaze drone during an air defense operation.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Israel on Monday as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to advance implementation of the agreement, according to Axios.

The IDF says it thwarted an attempt to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon near Mount Hermon late Friday night. Troops from the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade and Unit 504 detained several suspects carrying grenades, handguns, RPGs, and ammunition, who were then taken for further questioning.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is wading deeper into the New York City mayoral race, blasting Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa for refusing to drop out and accusing him of effectively delivering City Hall to far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani. Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital, posted data Friday from the prediction market Polymarket, showing Mamdani’s odds soaring to nearly 90%, far ahead of independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Sliwa. “It was not Zohran Mamdani’s debate performance,” Ackman wrote on X. “It was Curtis Sliwa’s statement after the debate that he is not leaving that has tipped the odds to 90% for Mamdani.” Ackman, who has publicly backed Cuomo’s centrist independent bid, said the only way to block Mamdani’s path to victory is for Sliwa to step aside. The billionaire’s intervention marks one of the rare instances of a Wall Street heavyweight openly weighing in on a city race. Sliwa isn’t budging. His campaign fired back late Friday, rejecting the notion that any billionaire should dictate the race. “Billionaires aren’t going to decide the outcome — it’s the voters,” said campaign spokeswoman Maria Sliwa. “Curtis is on a major party line just like Mamdani. If anything, Cuomo should drop out, not Curtis.” Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels crime-prevention group, has anchored his campaign on law and order and says he’ll stay in the race “to give Republicans a choice.” But the standoff is quickly becoming the campaign’s most volatile flashpoint. Ackman’s warning echoed Cuomo’s charge earlier Friday that Sliwa’s presence is splitting the anti-Mamdani vote and ensuring a socialist victory. “Curtis cannot win,” Cuomo said on WABC radio’s Sid & Friends in the Morning. “He was put on by the Republican county chairs because he’s a spoiler. They want Mamdani to win so they can say, ‘Look how crazy the Democrats have become — they elected a socialist who’s anti-cop, anti-business, antisemitic.’ It’ll help them politically, but it’ll kill the city.” Cuomo sharpened his attack by invoking Mamdani’s platform, warning that the 33-year-old assemblyman’s plans to “defund the police” and close Rikers Island without replacement jails would trigger “a mass exodus from this city.” Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, has already rattled the city’s political establishment with his surprise primary win over Cuomo and his rising appeal among progressive voters. If elected, he would become New York’s first Muslim mayor, and like the most left-wing leader ever to run the nation’s largest city. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani is under fire after campaigning side by side with a Brooklyn imam once identified by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — and who has a long record of inflammatory sermons calling for “jihad” in New York. Mamdani, a self-described socialist and left-wing Democrat, appeared beaming in a photo with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, posted to X after Friday prayers at Brooklyn’s Masjid At-Taqwa. Also pictured was Councilman Yusef Salaam (D-Manhattan), a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five.” “Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj,” Mamdani wrote on social media, calling him “one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders.” But Wahhaj, 75, is a deeply polarizing figure. He was named by prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 bombing that killed six people and injured more than a thousand. He has also publicly defended some of the convicted plotters, calling the FBI and CIA the “real terrorists.” In sermons documented by U.S. intelligence agencies, Wahhaj called for an “army of 10,000 men” to wage a “gun-free jihad” on New York, saying, “Let them hear your voice… until the whole city can’t sleep.” “The fact that Mamdani stands with this imam is disqualifying,” said Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa. “New York needs a mayor who protects New Yorkers from terrorism, not embraces terrorists.” The imam’s controversies extend beyond rhetoric. Three of his children were convicted of running a terrorist training compound in New Mexico, where prosecutors said they trained minors to fight nonbelievers. Wahhaj has said he was the one who alerted police, but investigators believe his ideology shaped the cell’s extremist leanings. Wahhaj, who leads the Muslim Alliance in North America, has long served as a mentor to activist Linda Sarsour, one of Mamdani’s closest political allies and a prominent critic of Israel and U.S. counterterror policy. Security analysts say Mamdani’s appearance with Wahhaj raises troubling questions about the candidate’s political alliances. “The evidence demonstrates that Mamdani’s political trajectory has been reinforced by figures with documented extremist views,” an intelligence assessment noted, warning of “a direct national security threat to New York City.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A large fire broke out in a warehouse in Flatbush on Shabbos, spreading to an attached warehouse belonging to Bobbie’s Place — a massive clothing gemach that provides clothing for more than 10,000 children every year. Officials say 106 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene on East 14th Street near Ave M just before 11 p.m. Officials say the fire at the one-story building went on for over four hours. Crews got the flames under control at around 2 a.m. On Motzei Shabbos, volunteers and community members gathered near the scene as the extent of the damage was still being assessed. Early reports indicate that significant portions of the warehouse may have been affected, potentially impacting the gemach’s upcoming seasonal operations. Bobby’s Place has long been a cornerstone of chesed in the community, distributing new clothing to families in need throughout the year. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The body of 75-year-old Eliyahu “Churchill” Margalit Hy”d, who was murdered and abducted by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, was returned to Israel on Friday night. Margalit’s body was positively identified after being transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv. The IDF had previously confirmed his death in December 2023, saying his body was being held in Gaza. His daughter, Nili Margalit, was also taken hostage during the October 7th massacre but was released from captivity on November 30. Eliyahu Margalit is survived by his wife, Daphna, his children Noa, Danny, and Nili, and three grandchildren. On Motzei Shabbos, the IDF announced that troops had brought back two additional caskets containing the apparent remains of hostages from Gaza. The bodies have been transferred to Abu Kabir for identification, a process expected to take up to two days. Hamas did not provide their identities. If confirmed, the latest recoveries would mean that 16 bodies of hostages remain held in Gaza, down from the 28 that were believed to be there at the start of the current ceasefire.

Aid trucks were spotted in Khan Younis as the UN reported that since the ceasefire, an average of 560 tons of food from the U.S. has been entering Gaza each day.

Hamas is reportedly conducting excavations in the Hamad neighborhood of northern Khan Younis, reportedly searching for the remains of missing Israeli hostages. The direction of the digging suggests they may be uncovering a tunnel beneath the residential area.

Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton surrendered to federal authorities Friday after being indicted on 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials. Bolton was indicted on eight counts of transmission of national defense Information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. “From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level — with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2,” the indictment reads. “BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland.” The documents Bolton allegedly transmitted were sent to two individuals unauthorized to view classified documents, the indictment said. Those documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country, a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community, intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future and a covert action in a foreign country that was related to sensitive intergovernmental actions, among other information. “The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.” Bolton’s Maryland home had been raided by FBI agents in August. That search was focused on classified documents agents believed Bolton possessed. “Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” Bolton said in a statement to The Associated Press, referencing President Donald Trump. Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, added to the AP that the “underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago.” “Bolton kept diaries — that is not a crime,” he said, noting that Bolton “did not unlawfully share or store any information.” Lowell told the AP that the charges Bolton faces are linked to portions of Bolton’s personal diaries and included unclassified information that was shared with only immediate family members. Lowell also said this was known to the FBI dating back to at least 2021.

BREAKING: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has surrendered to federal authorities following an 18-count indictment over the mishandling of classified materials.

The IDF says it foiled several attempts to smuggle weapons and contraband from Egypt into Israel using drones early this morning. Troops intercepted multiple drones carrying assault rifles, magazines, ammunition, and other illicit items after they crossed the border.

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he has ordered the IDF to place physical markers along the so-called Yellow Line in Gaza — the boundary established under the current ceasefire — to clearly mark the limits of Israeli military control. He said the markers will serve as a warning to Hamas terrorists and Gaza residents that any attempt to cross or violate the line will be met with fire.