Today, on the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre, 1,200 chairs—each bearing a photo of a victim murdered that day—were placed at the center of Columbia University’s campus.
Hundreds of people are stranded on Mount Everest at around 5,000 meters after heavy snowstorms hit the Tibetan side several days ago. While some tourists have been evacuated, roughly 200 remain trapped, suffering from hypothermia and altitude sickness, as rescue efforts continue.
This morning, the Nir Oz community joined the “Riders for the Hostages” group in a unified convoy from their temporary home in Kiryat Gat to the cemetery at Kibbutz Nir Oz, commemorating two years since October 7th. The convoy carried photos of the nine kibbutz members still held hostage in Gaza.
Walking down Avenue J in the day preceding sukkos, seemingly every vacant store is suddenly occupied and the sidewalks teeming with street vendors selling arba minim. From the aspiring bachurim looking to hustle during bein hazemanim to the decades old established esrog centers, everyone has the same goal in mind – hidur mitzvah. Despite the friendly competition, it is beautiful to watch on erev sukkos the achdus as one vendor walks over to another to help him out with some extra lulalivim when one is out. Finally, driving around Midwood in the late hours, the glows of peoples sukkahs emanate as they put the finishing touches ahead of the chag. Photo Credits: PB Photo via Kuvien Images
At almost every street corner and in front of virtually every bank on 13th Avenue, one cannot miss the fact that sukkos is around the corner. While some uninitiated passerby may look on at the bustle in the streets, one can not help but notice the minute details of hachanas mitzvahs chag as one peers down the alleyways and driveways. Photo Credits: PB Photo via Kuvien Images
NEC Director Kevin Hassett: “Right now, we just want a clean Continuing Resolution — and any government worker that loses their job… is going to be because the Democrats are being intransigent.”
The IDF said a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today killed Hassan Atwi, a senior Hezbollah terrorist in the group’s air defense unit, along with his wife, when their car was targeted in the town of Zebdine near Nabatieh.
Two people were killed and one was wounded in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the town of Zebdine, on the outskirts of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.
The IDF said it demolished the home of one of two Palestinian terrorists who killed seven people and wounded 15 in a shooting and stabbing attack at a Tel Aviv light rail station in October. The terrorists, Ahmad Himouni, and Mohammad Mesek were both shot during the attack — Mesek fatally by a municipal security officer and Himouni seriously wounded by armed civilians.
Amid Israel’s pause in offensive operations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike that killed a squad of terrorists preparing to launch mortars, while a separate mortar attack lightly wounded an Israeli soldier.
Veteran NYC Hatzalah Paramedic, and founder of Hatzalah Air, Eli Rowe, passes by a small fire in packed Meah Shearim on Erev Sukkos, and immediately keeps the crowd safe.
IDF troops operating in Gaza City last week uncovered long-range rockets that were already primed for launch toward central Israel, the military said. According to the IDF, the discovery was made by soldiers from the 401st Armored Brigade, who also located and safely neutralized the launchers that had been prepared to fire the rockets. In addition, the troops found a cache of weapons and other military equipment in the area, the IDF said.
Russian authorities say they have arrested three men suspected of planning to carry out attacks at synagogues in two separate locations. The country’s FSB security agency says it arrested two nationals from an unnamed central-Asian country who were planning to detonate explosives at synagogue.
IDF soldiers stationed in Gaza discovered that the esrogim they received in their army-issued Sukkos kits were posul, according to a report by Doron Kadosh on Galei Tzahal. The IDF confirmed that some of the esrogim distributed to soldiers were indeed Posul, explaining that the issue stemmed from a “technical problem” in storage conditions handled by an outside contractor. In response, the IDF Rabbinate immediately began replacing the invalid esrogim across all units to ensure that every soldier would be able to properly fulfill the mitzvah
In light of the recent attack in Manchester, Police have been in close and continuous contact with Shomrim since Yom Kippur and have substantially increased their presence across North West London. Throughout Yom Tov, additional police resources will be deployed across the community. This includes enhanced patrols around shuls and mosdos, as well as the presence of armed officers and mounted police, as part of the updated High Holy Days policing plan. As part of this coordinated effort, Shomrim have also intensified high-visibility patrols in marked vehicles to provide added reassurance and deterrence throughout the kehilla. We urge everyone to remain calm, while staying alert and vigilant. We all have a part to play in keeping our community safe. Shul doors must remain locked at all times.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and 170 other members of the Global Sumud flotilla were deported from Israel on Monday, departing from Ramon International Airport in southern Israel on flights to Greece and Slovakia, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Photos released by the ministry showed Thunberg and other detainees walking through the airport dressed in gray sweatsuits and white T-shirts. The deportees represent a broad coalition of activists from across Europe and North America, including Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and the United States, the ministry said. In a statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry maintained that “all the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld,” adding that “the lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign.” The ministry also said that the only instance of violence occurred when a Spanish participant allegedly bit a medical staffer at Ketziot Prison. Thunberg and several other activists have accused Israeli authorities of holding them in unlawful or harsh conditions during their detention. With Monday’s flights, Israel has deported 341 Global Sumud flotilla participants in total, while 138 remain in custody, the ministry said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
