Matzav

Hamas announced on Friday that it will not relocate Israeli hostages currently held in parts of Gaza where the IDF has issued evacuation warnings, placing the blame on Israel should anything happen to the captives.

The Israel Defense Forces recently ordered evacuations from several areas, including Rafah, Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, and northern parts of the Strip. These directives came approximately two and a half weeks after fighting resumed due to the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage deal.

“Half of the living Israeli prisoners are located in areas which the Israeli occupation army has requested to be evacuated in recent days,” said Hudhaifa Kahlout — better known as Abu Obeida — who serves as the spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

“We have decided not to transfer these prisoners from these areas, and to keep them under strict security measures, which are extremely dangerous to their lives,” Abu Obeida stated in a message released in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.

He continued by saying, “if the enemy is concerned about the lives of these prisoners, they must immediately negotiate their evacuation or release.”

“The Netanyahu government bears full responsibility for the lives of the prisoners. Had they been concerned about them, they would have adhered to the agreement signed in January. Most of them would probably be in their homes today,” Abu Obeida added.

In the past, Hamas has threatened to kill hostages if Israeli troops moved close to their holding locations. In one such case in August, six hostages were executed in Rafah while IDF operations were underway nearby.

This latest warning from Hamas came shortly after the military revealed that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met on Friday with relatives of hostages still held in Gaza.

Since assuming his position last month, Zamir has held weekly meetings with hostage families, and the IDF said he plans to continue doing so in the coming weeks.

During Friday’s gathering, Zamir outlined the military’s current objectives in Gaza and emphasized that securing the return of the hostages remains “a supreme goal.”

Nevertheless, many of the hostages’ families have expressed concern that the ongoing military operations in Gaza are endangering their loved ones rather than bringing them closer to freedom.

Among the critics is Jon Polin, father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages killed in a Hamas tunnel last August. In a post on X Friday, Polin took aim at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership during the conflict and beyond.

“Not everything is political. Some things are simply human. The exemplary people of Israel deserve more. Do things with broad consensus. Bring back our 59 loved ones.

“Accept responsibility, say ‘I’m sorry,’ [establish] a national commission of inquiry, [advance] a fair sharing of national service,” Polin tweeted, though he did not mention Netanyahu by name.

Netanyahu has pushed back against calls for a state-led commission to investigate the failures leading up to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre and has continued to push for legislation that would formally exempt ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service.

“Enough with the division, stop blaming, stop dividing, stop ignoring the will of the people, enough with the paranoid TikTok videos,” Polin said in his post.

In recent days, Netanyahu has released a series of social media videos targeting what he calls the “deep state” and denying allegations against his staff in the ongoing Qatargate scandal, which centers around suspected links between Hamas’s Qatari backers and members of the prime minister’s inner circle.

“Why vacation during war? We Israelis deserve better,” Polin added, criticizing Netanyahu’s decision to extend his visit to Budapest for a weekend stay in Hungary with his wife.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is scheduled to head to Washington, D.C., on Monday for a meeting with President Donald Trump, according to a report from Axios.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said the two leaders would “speak about Israel, and we’ll speak about what’s going on.”

“That’s another thing we’d like to get solved,” he added, without elaborating on the specifics of Netanyahu’s visit.

According to Axios, the agenda for the meeting includes discussions on several major issues: the 17% tariffs recently placed on Israeli goods by the U.S., ongoing tensions surrounding the Iran nuclear situation, and the conflict in Gaza.

{Matzav.com}

Former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor is expected to face tough questioning from House Republicans over his alleged role in concealing President Joe Biden’s cognitive issues, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) told The New York Post.

“Dr. Kevin O’Connor will absolutely, positively be implicated in the cover-up of this. He is a massive, massive part,” said Jackson, a medical doctor who previously worked in the White House Medical Unit under three presidents and now chairs the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee.

“I guarantee you Kevin O’Connor has medical information that the American people don’t have,” Jackson continued. “He was probably putting President Biden on lots of medications that we have no clue of — in efforts to try to treat his cognitive decline.”

“I’ve known him for a long time; he’s part of the Biden family. He would do or say anything to cover up and protect that family, regardless of what it meant professionally for him,” Jackson said. “This could not have been covered up without him — and Jill Biden — in particular.”

Jackson claimed that a congressional panel would investigate whether Biden’s presidency was effectively being run by others for a significant portion of his time in office, although there has been no confirmation that any such probe is actively underway.

O’Connor, who spoke to The Post just four days after Biden withdrew from the 2024 race and described his mental health as “excellent,” had previously been invited to speak before the GOP-led House Oversight Committee in 2023. It’s unclear whether he responded to the request.

Jackson also stated that Republicans in the House want to bring in doctors and specialists who may have evaluated Biden, who was 82 years old during his re-election bid, for possible conditions like “Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and whatever else.”

According to visitor logs, neurologist Dr. Kevin Cannard from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times between July 2023 and March 2024. O’Connor later clarified that only three of those visits involved Biden and were part of his annual checkups.

Asked last year whether the visits should raise any alarms, O’Connor told The Post: “No, he’s good.”

Earlier in 2023, the White House shared that O’Connor did not believe Biden needed a cognitive test. That announcement came even as Biden publicly confused the names of deceased and living foreign leaders. Special counsel Robert Hur later declined to prosecute him, citing that a jury would likely see Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

After Biden’s performance in the July 2024 debate, neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts told NBC News, “I could’ve diagnosed him from across the Mall,” noting that Parkinson’s is “one of the easier movement disorders to diagnose” and highlighting the president’s “rigidity,” “shuffling gait” and “slow movement.”

Despite serving as Biden’s top physician for four years, O’Connor—whom the president often referred to as “Doc”—never took questions from the press in the briefing room about the president’s condition.

O’Connor was succeeded by Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, who had also served as Trump’s doctor during part of the 45th president’s term, following Jackson’s tenure.

Jackson said congressional investigators will focus on those who he believes deliberately misled the public about Biden’s health.

“I was saying that this man was not fit to be president when he was candidate Joe Biden in 2020 — and I said that over and over and over and God knows how many times I was on TV,” Jackson said, “talking about [how] this man is not in control.”

“Not only do they know now — but they knew, you know, two or three years ago,” Jackson added. “These people are cashing in on, you know, telling the truth now and writing these books and stuff that’s coming out of the woodwork.”

Since Biden left office, more revelations have surfaced about Democrats’ internal concerns regarding his mental sharpness, including contingency plans if he died in office and growing alarm over how “out of it” he appeared in the days leading up to his June 27 debate against Trump — which longtime adviser Ron Klain labeled a “disaster.”

After that debate, First Lady Jill Biden made headlines when she congratulated her husband onstage, saying: “Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question! You knew all the facts!”

The conservative Heritage Foundation reviewed Biden’s signatures on several last-minute pardons, including those for Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of the House January 6th Committee, and concluded that several were signed using an autopen.

Sources inside the Biden White House later told The Post that one of the president’s aides may have independently chosen to use the autopen for official documents — a claim that was contested by other staffers.

Some of the pardons issued for members of Biden’s family may have also had implications for O’Connor, who had been involved in business discussions with Biden’s brother James. The conversations reportedly centered on a now-defunct rural hospital chain that was later targeted by both the SEC and DOJ for fraud.

James Biden received a pardon covering potential criminal activity spanning from January 1, 2014, to January 20, 2024 — Biden’s final day in office.

“Any of the things that he signed or put into law, are they legitimate?” Jackson asked. “That’s a great question.”

“Was he even aware of what was going on, much less actually, you know, in favor of the stuff he signed?”

{Matzav.com}

Russia launched a deadly missile assault on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih late today, killing at least 19 people, including nine children. It was one of the most devastating strikes on the city since the war began.

The missile attack obliterated part of a residential district in Kryvyi Rih, injuring at least 72 more people, among them a 3-month-old infant, according to Ukrainian officials.

“There were dead children lying there, crying parents — it was horrible,” a 47-year-old woman named Yulia told Reuters.

Zelensky paid tribute to the youngest victims in an emotional post on Saturday.

“Three-year-old Timofiy, unfortunately, died today in the hospital. Seven-year-old Radyslav. Arina, who will also be 7 forever. Nine-year-old German. Fifteen-year-old Danylo. Fifteen-year-old Nikita. Fifteen-year-old Alina. Konstantin, who will be 16 forever. Nikita is 17 years old,” he wrote Saturday on X of the youngest of the dead.

“There is simply no deeper level of cynicism, vileness, or hatred toward people than what Russia embodies today,” Zelensky added.

The Iskander-M missile strike left a large crater in the city and caused widespread destruction — damaging more than 20 apartment blocks, six schools, over 30 cars, and several shops and restaurants, according to a post by Kryvyi Rih Governor Serhii Lysak.

“This can never be forgiven,” said Oleksandr Vilkul, who leads the city’s military administration, in a message on Telegram.

Russian authorities claimed that the strike killed 85 individuals and targeted a restaurant where Ukrainian military officers and Western advisors were allegedly meeting. These claims were reported by state media.

However, Ukraine’s military dismissed the statement as false and accused Russia of spreading lies to distract from the civilian toll of its actions.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook that the weapon used was designed “to affect a larger area and a larger number of people.”

Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s second-biggest city in the Dnipropetrovsk region, has been regularly targeted by Russian attacks throughout the conflict.

Later, a drone strike on the same city killed a 56-year-old woman and injured seven additional people.

In all, Russia launched 92 drones into Ukrainian territory overnight, with 51 of them intercepted by air defense systems, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

“There is only one reason why this continues: Russia does not want a ceasefire,” Zelensky said in a statement Friday. “Every missile, every strike drone proves that Russia only wants war.”

He urged the international community to maintain pressure on Moscow and expressed gratitude to global diplomats for their support, but singled out the U.S. Embassy for its muted response.

“Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih,” Bridget Brink, US ambassador to Ukraine, posted on X Friday.

“This is why the war must end,” she added.

“Such a strong country, such a strong people — and such a weak reaction,” Zelensky responded on X. “They are even afraid to say the word ‘Russian’ when talking about the missile that killed children.

“Yes, the war must end. But in order to end it, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade.”

Brink had spent the day in Kharkiv, visiting U.S.-funded initiatives and inspecting an underground school designed to protect students from Russian attacks, she said in another social media post.

Meanwhile, at a NATO summit in Brussels that wrapped up Friday, global leaders continued to call on Putin to engage with the ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and the U.S.

Nations that have pledged to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine if a truce is reached — referred to as the “coalition of the willing” — are expected to reconvene on Thursday at NATO’s Brussels headquarters, the UK’s Joint Delegation to NATO said.

The Canadian Parliament was forced into lockdown today after a man barricaded himself inside one of the buildings, triggering a tense security response and prompting authorities to tell people to “hide.”

Police in Ottawa, along with the Parliamentary Protective Services, responded swiftly to an incident at the East Block on Wellington Street — home to senators’ offices and their staff — shortly before 3 p.m., according to a post on X from Ottawa Police. The building was evacuated soon after.

As of this evening, the area remained under a shelter-in-place directive, with officers carrying heavy weaponry stationed throughout the grounds and surrounding streets.

An emergency alert was issued by the Parliamentary Protective Services at 2:45 p.m., instructing those inside to “seek shelter in the nearest room, close and lock all doors and hide,” according to reporting by CTV News.

So far, no injuries have been reported in connection with the incident, police said.

“Stay Safe Ottawa,” wrote Canadian Senator Patrick Brazeau on X, attaching a photo of the emergency notification sent to those on site.

Law enforcement sources informed Global News that the immediate threat has been managed, but a lockdown remains in place as a precaution. Authorities are continuing to treat the event as if it could escalate, aiming to keep the area secure.

At present, Parliament is not in session due to the upcoming federal election, which has dissolved the legislative body temporarily.

Authorities have asked people to steer clear of Parliament Hill and surrounding areas impacted by the lockdown.

According to police, several roads remain closed, including Wellington Street between Bank Street and Sussex Drive.

Massive crowds poured into Washington, DC, today as part of a wave of “Hands Off!” demonstrations held nationwide. The protests were aimed at opposing spending reductions implemented by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and President Trump’s newly introduced “Liberation Day” tariffs. One fiery speaker urged demonstrators to strike fear into the hearts of both men.

Gathering near the Washington Monument, thousands of attendees held homemade signs—many with explicit language—criticizing Republicans, while similar protests took place in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

“Trump and Musk, who want to be dictators and want to be kings and lords, they are afraid of the power of love and truth and justice!” thundered Rev. William Barber II, one of the opening speakers in DC.

“They are afraid of your unity and diversity. Well, let’s keep them afraid until they change,” he added, raising his voice. “This is an outright battle for civilization! We are not going to bow to power drunk neofascist extremists.”

The event was backed by a broad alliance of progressive organizations and marked one of the largest protests in the capital since Trump’s return to office in January. Parallel rallies occurred at more than 1,000 locations nationwide, including in New York City at Columbia University and Bryant Park.

There has been a rise in acts of vandalism targeting Tesla facilities and vehicles across the country, which Trump—who survived two assassination attempts in the past year—has condemned as acts of domestic terrorism.

Among the organizers were Indivisible, which recently called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to resign after he helped avert a government shutdown, and MoveOn.org, a well-known activist group.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who led the House prosecution during Trump’s second impeachment, followed Barber at the podium and praised him, saying he was “the great Rev. Barber.”

Speaking to the energized crowd, Raskin said, “the right to call the president deranged for crashing our economy, destroying $6 trillion of wealth and turning my 401k into a 201k.”

“No moral person wants an economy-crashing dictator who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing,” he continued, drawing applause.

Raskin didn’t limit himself to economic issues, either. He slammed the administration’s foreign policy ambitions.

“We say to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, hands off Greenland! That’s an independent country,” he said. “Hands off Canada! That’s an independent country. Hands off Panama! That’s an independent country. Statehood for Washington, DC!”

Demonstrators brought with them the now-iconic Trump baby balloons and chanted slogans like “DOGE [profanity]!” The event wrapped up peacefully in the afternoon, with no reports of violence or confrontations with police.

Expecting potential unrest, the White House had preemptively canceled its Saturday garden tours and erected anti-riot fencing. Trump himself was not in the capital for the weekend.

In New York, Columbia University—which has been a hub for anti-Israel protests since October 2023—saw only a small turnout, with about 20 mostly older demonstrators holding signs that read “Democracy, not dictatorship” and chanting “hands off our students!”

One protester, 71-year-old retiree Kathryn Graybill, told The NY Post, “I’m very disturbed that people are being picked up and taken to prisons in other countries without due process. That’s against our Constitution. Our Constitution says that no one should deprive anybody of freedom of speech.”

She added, “That happened in Hitler’s Germany and I’m not comfortable with it.”

The Trump administration is currently pursuing the deportation of former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, who allegedly distributed pro-Hamas materials on campus.

Elsewhere in Manhattan, a different group of demonstrators marched past towering skyscrapers with signs shaped like hearts that read “hands off our libraries,” referring to one of Musk’s budget cuts.

Julie Peppito, an artist who crafted two large yellow hand props for the event, said, “painted all the things they wanted the Trump regime to keep their hands off: our rights, our land, all the things we hold dear.”

Among the marchers were Sandy and Eddie Pomerantz, a couple in their 90s, who told The Post that staying active is their secret to staying young.

“We’re still doing everything we did at the age of 25,” Eddie said, recalling their activism from the 1960s. “It is long, long overdue to charge the president of the United States with the attempted murder of our democracy.”

{Matzav.com}

In a moment that caught Kamala Harris and her team completely by surprise, Donald Trump—known for his combative political style—responded with unexpected grace when Harris phoned to concede the 2024 presidential race. He commended her on running a “great” campaign and called her a “tough cookie,” according to revelations in a new book.

On the call, which took place the day after the election, Harris reportedly said, “I’m calling to concede. It was a fair election. The peaceful transfer of power is important. It’s important to the country,” as detailed in Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History by author Chris Whipple.

She didn’t hang up without getting in a subtle remark about Trump’s often polarizing style, adding, “I hope you’re president for all Americans.”

Rather than reacting defensively, Trump took the high road and expressed admiration for Harris’ campaign effort, even though she had entered the race late. Whipple writes that the president-elect was in a celebratory mood following his unprecedented win.

“You’re a tough cookie. You were really great. And that Doug — what a character! I love that guy,” Trump told her, referring fondly to her husband, Doug Emhoff.

Despite Trump’s cordial tone, one of Harris’ staffers didn’t buy it and viewed his demeanor as suspicious given his usual rhetoric during the campaign.

“I was like, what?” the aide reportedly exclaimed. “Honestly, I felt like, what is this? It’s so manipulative. He’s a sociopath.”

The now-routine concession call almost didn’t happen at all, as technical glitches made the process unexpectedly clumsy, according to Whipple’s account.

Harris’ campaign chief of staff Sheila Nix and her White House chief of staff Lorraine Voles tried to initiate the call from the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. But when Harris attempted to dial Trump, the phones wouldn’t connect properly.

Ultimately, Voles used her own phone to call Trump and then passed it to Harris while she and Nix physically pressed their devices together to complete the conversation, Whipple reports.

As Trump’s voice came through the line, Harris reportedly “felt the weight of the crushing defeat,” capturing the emotional toll of the moment, Whipple writes.

The book, Uncharted, is set to be released on Tuesday.

{Matzav.com}

Eight decades after the liberation of Auschwitz from Nazi control, Jewish visitors now have access to kosher food at the site. Just a short distance from the former concentration camp, travelers will for the first time be able to purchase ready-to-eat kosher meals at the Auschwitz Jewish Center. This center, now functioning as a museum, is also home to the only synagogue that still stands in Oświęcim, the town the Nazis once renamed Auschwitz.

The kosher food service is launching in conjunction with Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on the evening of April 23. In Poland, the solemn day is marked by the March of the Living, an annual event where thousands walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau. The Auschwitz Jewish Center plans to enhance its programming for the event by offering prayer services.

Eighty survivors of the Holocaust are expected to take part in this year’s march, making it one of the most significant survivor gatherings at Auschwitz in recent memory. They’ll be joined by Jewish teenagers from various parts of the globe.

Prior to the Holocaust, the Jewish community made up more than half of Oświęcim’s population. The town boasted over 30 synagogues, as well as kosher bakeries, restaurants, and butchers. Today, only one Jew is known to live there — a woman employed by the Auschwitz Jewish Center. Hila Weisz-Gut relocated in 2023 to live with her Polish partner. Her grandmother survived Auschwitz, though many of her relatives were among the one million Jews who perished there.

Since reopening in 2000, the Auschwitz Jewish Center has welcomed around 800,000 guests. Although that figure represents only a fraction of the over one million annual visitors to Auschwitz itself, the foundation’s leadership believes it’s important to accommodate religious Jewish travelers.

“Opening the city’s first post-war kosher concession was a natural step, ensuring that Kosher-observant visitors could pray or reflect in our synagogue while also enjoying a kosher meal,” said Simon Bergson.

Until now, observant Jews visiting the site had to bring food with them or coordinate catered meals in advance. But the new kosher option at the center is about more than convenience, says Jack Simony, the foundation’s director general.

“This concession is more than just a place to eat – it symbolizes continuity, resilience, and hope for future generations,” he said in a statement.

{Matzav.com}

Azerbaijan’s intelligence agency disclosed today that it had prevented an assassination attempt targeting the country’s chief rabbi, Rabbi Shneur Segal.

Authorities reported that Agil Aslanov, a known drug dealer, was recruited by the Iranian Quds Force to carry out the mission. Aslanov allegedly met with a commander from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps last autumn, who gave him “precise instructions” on how to execute the killing.

Azerbaijani officials stated that Aslanov had accepted a $200,000 payment offer in return for carrying out the murder of Rabbi Segal.

The plot was reportedly stopped in January by Azerbaijani security personnel, who also prevented an attack that had been planned on an educational center within the country.

Aslanov, a Georgian national, has since been apprehended and faces charges related to terrorism and attempted murder.

Rabbi Segal shared with the Washington Post that he became aware of the assassination plot targeting a “religious figure” through media coverage. Despite the threat, he emphasized that, “Jews live in tranquility and without fear” in Azerbaijan.

{Matzav.com}

Tosay, the Hamas terrorist organization released the first footage indicating that hostages Maxim Herkin and Bar Kupershtein, abducted during the October 7 attack, are still alive and in captivity.

Out of sensitivity to the families, the video—or any part of it—will only be released publicly with their explicit consent.

Currently, 59 individuals remain imprisoned in Gaza, with 24 believed to be alive. Since the conclusion of the second negotiated exchange, indications of life have emerged regarding 19 of them.

The Herkin family identified Maxim’s voice in the brief video clip issued by Hamas. Maxim is a Russian citizen, and in the past, Russia has made efforts to secure his freedom.

Two months ago, senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk, who led a delegation to Moscow, commented that any discussion regarding Herkin’s release would only occur during the second phase of the negotiated deal.

Kupershtein, who turned 23 on Sunday, remains captive. He had been working as a security guard at the Nova music festival and was actively involved in helping the wounded during the attack. In a separate video, he is seen restrained and being taken by Hamas operatives.

Bar’s family has obtained information about his current conditions from individuals who were freed in the previous hostage deal.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters issued a statement: “The families of Bar Kupershtein and Maksym Harkin do not authorize the publication of the video released by Hamas earlier this evening, nor any parts or images from it. The families have requested that their privacy be respected during this time.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rabbi Nochum Frankel zt”l.

Rabbi Frankel was a longtime resident of Monsey, NY, a beloved member of the College Road neighborhood. In Monsey, he was mechanech generations of Yiddishe kinder, teaching in various mosdos for decades.

His passion for chinuch was matched only by the deep care he had for each and every student. He did not merely teach. He inspired. With his ever-present warmth, gentle demeanor, and heartfelt sincerity, Rabbi Frankel instilled in his students a love for Torah, yiras Shomayim, and middos tovos that stayed with them long after they left his classroom.

What stood out most about Rabbi Frankel was not just his dedication to his teaching, but the kindness and humanity that radiated from him in all areas of life. Whether offering a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or a gut vort, he had a way of making others feel seen and valued. His quiet humility and unwavering integrity left an indelible mark on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.

During recent years, even after relocating with his wife to The Enclave in Lakewood, the Frankels would spend the week in Monsey, where Rabbi Frankel continued to teach, including at Bais Yaakov, where he taught for many years.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Henny Frankel, and a wonderful family of prominent bnei and bnos Torah making their mark on their respective communities.

The levayah will be held on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at the Congregation Sons of Israel Holocaust Memorial Chapel, located at 613 Ramsey Avenue, off of East 7th Street, in Lakewood, NJ.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is being accused by Israel’s ambassador and embassy in the UK of spreading “Hamas propaganda” in his message for Ramadan, according to a statement released Thursday.

In a video posted this week, Khan said that “more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, including more than 15,000 children.” His figures appear to come from casualty reports issued by the Gaza health ministry, which is under Hamas control and whose numbers have been questioned.

Earlier this week, Hamas itself revealed updated information that contradicts earlier reports. According to the nonprofit Honest Reporting, which shared its analysis with The Telegraph, roughly 60% of those killed in the conflict have been adult males of combat age. Hamas’s official statistics do not separate fighters from civilians.

“These betrayals of humanity should weigh heavily on our collective conscience. But I’m proud that, while the international community has chosen to avert its gaze, Londoners have not,” the mayor said in his message.

The Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, responded harshly to the remarks on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: “I was extremely disturbed listening to @SadiqKhan’s remarks in a video he released at the start of Eid celebrations. His comments on the casualties from the ongoing war in Israel as ‘betrayals of humanity’ seem a shocking misrepresentation.

“His further comments that ‘the international community has chosen to avert its gaze’ were also absurd. If that were the case, then perhaps it should look towards Hamas and the atrocities they have committed.”

In a statement to The Times, the Israeli embassy reinforced that the war was triggered by Hamas’s violent assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. “The war is a result of the brutal and horrific attack by Hamas, a proscribed terror organization in the UK, which was imposed on Israel on October 7, 2023,” the embassy said.

The statement also expressed concern over Khan’s failure to mention the terror group or its actions. “It is alarming that throughout the message, there is no mention of Hamas or any condemnation of terrorism and a call for the release of 59 hostages that are being held in horrific and inhumane conditions.”

The embassy further criticized Khan for overlooking Hamas’s violent treatment of Palestinians and pointed out that the group murdered people of multiple faiths on October 7. “Hamas terrorists murdered people of all faiths and none, with impunity,” the embassy said, adding that over 20 Muslim Israelis were killed and six others kidnapped during the attack.

“The values that Mr Khan speaks of must not be applied selectively,” an embassy spokesman added.

Responding to the controversy, a spokesperson for the mayor said, “The mayor has repeatedly conveyed his outrage at attacks by Hamas on Israel and has strongly condemned these acts of terrorism. He is deeply saddened by the loss of all lives and continues to support calls for a permanent ceasefire.”

This is not the first time Khan has faced backlash over his public comments about the Gaza conflict. He previously apologized to UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis after suggesting that the rabbi’s criticism of calls for a ceasefire was Islamophobic.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge in Maryland has ordered the Trump administration to take immediate action to bring back a man who was wrongfully deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, intensifying ongoing legal tensions between the judiciary and the White House.

“This was an illegal act,” U.S. Federal District Judge Paula Xinis told lawyers from the Justice Department during a hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland. The case involves Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with legal status and a valid work permit, who was detained and sent to El Salvador last month—even though he was granted protection from deportation by an immigration judge back in 2019.

Judge Xinis instructed the federal government to ensure that Abrego Garcia is returned to the United States no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 7, emphasizing that his continued presence in El Salvador amounts to serious and irreversible harm.

“From the moment he was seized, it was unconstitutional,” Judge Xinis said from the bench. “If there isn’t a document, a warrant, a statement of probable cause, then there is no basis to have seized him in the first place. That’s how I’m looking at it,” the judge said.

The Department of Justice acknowledged that an administrative blunder led to Abrego Garcia’s removal. Still, government attorneys claimed in legal filings that he is affiliated with MS-13 and argued that the judge no longer has the power to order his return since he is not currently on U.S. soil.

Attorneys for Abrego Garcia strongly disputed that reasoning, insisting that Homeland Security must act without delay to bring him back from El Salvador.

“They’re coming before this court and saying we’ve tried nothing, and we’re all out of options,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia’s lawyers.

Erez Reuveni, representing the Justice Department, urged the judge to give the Trump administration more time to work out the issue internally.

“I would ask the court to give us the defendants one more chance to do this” without an order from the court, Reuveni asked at the end of the hearing. Judge Xinis rejected that request.

When pressed by the judge about why Abrego Garcia had been apprehended last month, Reuveni admitted he could not provide an answer.

At the time of his arrest, Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, all of whom are American citizens.

“In a blink of an eye, our three children lost their father, and I lost the love of my life, his mother lost his son, his siblings lost their brother,” said Jennifer Vasquez, Abrego Garcia’s wife, during a press conference held earlier Friday in Maryland.

“Our entire family is broken” by ICE’s “error,” she said, calling her husband a devoted father and exceptional spouse who “pushes everyone around to find their happiness, even in tough times.”

Despite the family’s description of Abrego Garcia as a loving and peaceful man, the White House painted a very different picture.

“You would think this individual was Father of the Year, living in Maryland, living a peaceful life, when that couldn’t be further from the truth,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier this week.

However, Abrego Garcia’s legal team insists that the government has not presented any credible proof linking him to MS-13. They argue the accusation stems solely from a 2019 tip by a confidential informant who claimed he was in the gang while living in New York—a state where Garcia has never resided—and the fact that he wore a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie. His lawyers maintain that he has no criminal history in the U.S. or anywhere else.

During Friday’s proceedings, Judge Xinis expressed doubt over the government’s allegations.

“That’s just chatter in my view. I haven’t been given any evidence,” Xinis said. “In a court of law when someone is accused of membership in such a violent and predatory organization, it comes in the form of an indictment, a complaint, a criminal proceeding that then has robust process, so we can assess facts.”

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers explained that he had been taken into custody by police in Prince George’s County, Maryland in 2019, while waiting for day labor work outside a Home Depot. They said he was never again interrogated about MS-13 or formally accused of gang involvement after that incident.

An immigration judge later granted Abrego Garcia a legal protection known as “withholding of removal,” concluding that he was more likely than not to face danger if sent back to El Salvador. Both his lawyers and government attorneys agree that this status should have prevented his deportation.

Nevertheless, on March 15th, Abrego Garcia was placed on a plane with hundreds of others alleged to be gang members and flown to El Salvador, where he remains confined in a high-security facility.

Officials in the Trump administration maintain that the deported individuals were connected to MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, two gangs classified by the U.S. as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Yet, many of the deportees reportedly have no criminal backgrounds, and advocates say they were expelled without the opportunity to challenge the accusations.

Attorneys and family members for a growing number of those deported insist that they were mistakenly targeted, largely based on their tattoos rather than any evidence of criminal behavior.

At Friday’s rally in Maryland, Vasquez voiced support for others affected by similar actions under the Trump administration.

“The only thing we have at the end of the day is our faith and our strength to fight back,” Vasquez said. “We must fight for our husbands, our children, our neighbors, our loved ones — fight for Kilmar and fight for all the immigrant families lighting a candle for the loved ones that disappeared.”

{Matzav.com}

The American stock market has plunged sharply following President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of sweeping tariffs, and a video shared by Trump himself on social media today suggests that the downturn is part of his deliberate strategy.

On Friday morning, Trump shared a link via his Truth Social account to a one-minute video that begins with the claim: “Trump is crashing the stock market…this month, but he’s doing it on purpose.”

WATCH:

The brief clip attempts to explain Trump’s reasoning behind the newly announced tariffs. These tariffs have been widely criticized by economists and Wall Street analysts alike, triggering a severe market collapse. On Thursday, the S&P 500 plummeted by 4.8%—its steepest drop in almost five years—and the index continued its descent THIS morning, falling an additional 4.2%.

The video, which originated from a March 15 TikTok post with under 18,000 followers, argues that Trump is executing a “wild chess move” and engaging in a “secret game” designed to “force” the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates. According to the theory, this would allow the federal government to refinance a substantial portion of its $36 trillion debt “very inexpensively.”

While that idea may seem far-fetched, there has been a notable decline in U.S. Treasury yields this week. The 10-year Treasury note, often used as a benchmark for various types of loans, dropped more than 10 basis points to a six-month low of 3.9%. Lower yields could theoretically make borrowing cheaper. However, if these changes come at the cost of triggering a recession, marked by rising inflation, reduced consumer spending, and lower corporate profits due to tariffs, it’s a pyrrhic victory at best.

There are also less destructive ways to bring yields down, such as boosting investor trust through responsible government spending. This was a theme during the early part of Trump’s second term, when Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency helped bolster belief in efforts to curb the growing national debt.

It’s also worth noting that the current 10-year yield is not historically low. As recently as last September, it was below 3.6%, and from 2012 to 2021, it stayed under 3.5% for long stretches.

Trump took to social media again today to publicly urge the Federal Reserve to lower rates, writing: “This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates.” Trump has a history of pressuring the Fed—an independent body—to follow his preferences on monetary policy, dating back to his initial term. Powell appeared unmoved by the calls in his prepared statement Friday, where he said: “While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”

The video Trump shared also declared that he’s “taking from the rich short-term and handing it to the middle class through lower prices,” noting that “94% of all stocks are owned only by 8% of Americans.”

Most economists agree the tariffs will raise, not lower, prices for consumers. The stock ownership statistic seems to reference a 2023 Federal Reserve report indicating that 93% of market value is held by the top 10% of earners. But that doesn’t mean market downturns don’t affect the broader public. Gallup reports that roughly 61% of Americans own stocks, and Census data shows most Americans hold retirement accounts like IRAs or 401(k)s.

The video also attributes praise to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, claiming he believes Trump is making the “best economic moves” in fifty years. However, Buffett never said that. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, denied the statement in a release Friday, stating the “comments allegedly made by Warren E. Buffett…false.” In fact, Buffett recently criticized tariffs in a CBS News interview, referring to them as “an act of war” and calling them “a tax on goods” ultimately borne by consumers.

Trump’s apparent embrace of a stock market downturn marks a stark departure from his past reliance on market performance as a benchmark for presidential success. “If we lost this election, I think the market would go down the tubes,” he said in October. He also boasted that the “market has gone through the roof” and often touted gains during his presidency as an “amazing achievement.” Since the November election, however, the S&P has dropped by approximately 13%.

{Matzav.com}

Israel is prepared to bring the conflict in Gaza to a close immediately—on the condition that all hostages are freed and Hamas is no longer present in the territory, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in Paris.

“The way is very simple,” Sa’ar said, “hostages back, Hamas out.”

He noted that efforts are still underway to reach an agreement that would extend the current pause in fighting and secure the return of captives. “We are still giving a chance to negotiations to extend the ceasefire and release our hostages on the basis of [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, but it is not open-ended,” he warned, referencing a plan aimed at freeing five Israeli hostages.

Militant factions in Gaza are still holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 taken during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of Israel. Among those held are at least 35 individuals whose deaths have been verified by the IDF.

On March 18, Israel resumed heavy airstrikes in Gaza, followed by the launch of a fresh ground campaign, officially breaking the nearly two-month-long truce with Hamas.

The ceasefire brokered on January 19 was intended to lead to negotiations on a second phase after a few weeks. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to proceed, reiterating his position that the war will not conclude until Hamas’s command structure and military strength are fully dismantled. Hamas, for its part, turned down several proposals to prolong the initial ceasefire while continuing the hostage release process.

France has called for a revival of the January agreement and a complete cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

In additional comments Thursday, Sa’ar said that both Israel and France share concerns about Lebanon, emphasizing a mutual interest in preserving the current calm and ending Iran’s influence in the country through Hezbollah. “We are interested in the stability of Lebanon, the continuation of the ceasefire, and the release of Lebanon from Iranian occupation,” he stated.

Sa’ar referred to France as a “friendly country,” and said he had extended an invitation to Barrot to visit Israel.

{Matzav.com}

The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security agency revealed on Friday that they successfully targeted and killed Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad earlier in the day. Awad was a top figure within the Military Intelligence structure in Gaza and maintained close ties with senior leaders of the Palestinian Mujahideen terror group.

According to the statement, Awad played a leading role in the October 7 attacks, infiltrating Nir Oz multiple times during the massacre. He is believed to have had direct involvement in the kidnapping and brutal murder of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. He was also implicated in the abduction and burial of Gad and Judi Lynn Weinstein, as well as the capture of several Thai nationals.

“As part of his role in the terrorist organization, Mohammad Awad was actively involved until his death in recruiting terror operatives in Judea and Samaria and within Israel, through whom he used to plan and carry out attacks against Israelis,” the statement said.

“During the war, the Palestinian Mujahideen terrorist organization and Mohammed Awad in particular were involved in the execution of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip,” it continued.

“The IDF and ISA will continue to operate to locate and eliminate all of the terrorists from different terrorist organizations who took part in the murderous October 7th massacre,” the joint statement concluded.

The Bibas family—Yarden Bibas, his wife Shiri, and their young sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, just 9 months old—were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of October 7, 2023.

Yarden was separated from his family after he reportedly left the safe room in a desperate effort to defend them. Videos shared online showed him, visibly wounded and bleeding, being taken away on a motorcycle. Other footage captured a terrified Shiri holding her two redheaded sons close as they were surrounded by armed militants.

After spending 484 days in captivity, Yarden was released on February 1 as part of a truce and hostage exchange with Hamas. Later that same month, the remains of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were returned to Israel. Following forensic analysis, Israeli authorities confirmed that the three had been murdered by their captors, contradicting Hamas’s claim that they died during an Israeli airstrike.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said he is suing Yair Golan—who leads The Democrats Party—for defamation, demanding 320,000 shekels ($86,500) in compensation.

The suit filed by Netanyahu’s lawyers, which also demands that Golan refrain from spreading further slander, came in response to March 31 remarks in which the left-wing leader had said that the premier should “be investigated on the suspicion that he sold Israel’s security for profit.

“He should be probed for the fact that the money that funded Hamas and the October [7, 2023] massacre reached the top levels of his office—and possibly even him,” Golan added, in reference to the recent arrest of two of Netanyahu’s aides on suspicion of illegal dealings with Qatar.

Netanyahu’s attorneys noted that The Democrats used Golan’s speech in an online fundraising appeal, accusing the party of promoting “fake news, wild incitement and slander with the intention of causing harm, while doing so for the sake of money.”

The Israel Police’s Lahav 433 National Unit for International Crimes and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) arrested Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, a current and former aide to Netanyahu, respectively, earlier this week.

Urich and Feldstein are reportedly suspected of contact with a foreign agent, money laundering, bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

The Qatar probe was launched in response to allegations that Feldstein, while employed as a spokesman on military affairs for the prime minister, also worked for a firm seeking to boost Doha’s image.

Netanyahu, who testified to police in the affair on Monday, has denounced the Qatar probe as aimed at bringing down his government by targeting staff of the Prime Minister’s Office.

“This is a political witch-hunt aimed solely at one thing—preventing the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet and bringing about the downfall of a right-wing prime minister,” stated the premier on Monday evening.

In an additional video statement on Wednesday, Netanyahu described Qatar as “a complex country, not a simple country,” while emphasizing that Doha is not designated as an enemy country, “and many praise it.

“Do you know who really praised Qatar? First of all, the opposition leader, Yair Lapid,” charged Netanyahu. In January, Lapid met with senior Qatari officials and said Doha wanted to broker an agreement with the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip “as soon as possible.”

Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s leadership and has provided the organization with hundreds of millions of dollars, played a role in mediating the freedom of hostages held by the terrorist group.

Doha has rejected accusations of playing a double game, saying that the United States requested that it open the mediation channel with Hamas. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

President Trump announced this afternoon that he is extending the deadline for the sale of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok by 75 more days.

The move came shortly after China responded to Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs with its own set of retaliatory duties, pushing back against the administration’s offer of reduced rates if Beijing agreed to divest from the app.

“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president emphasized the desire to continue working constructively with Beijing while defending his aggressive trade policies as essential to maintaining national interests.

“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to “go dark.” We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

{Matzav.com}

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, went to the tape on Friday, accusing the U.N. Security Council of “political theater” for calling another emergency meeting on the humanitarian plight in Gaza without addressing the anti-Hamas protests occurring in the Strip.

The envoy played a recording of the protests on his cell phone, with anti-Hamas chants fully audible. “The Gazans have the courage you don’t have,” Danon told the council.

Backed by China, Pakistan, Russia and Somalia, Algeria called the session, ostensibly to discuss developments since the mid-March breakdown of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, including the humanitarian situation and risks to aid workers in Gaza.

United Nations officials had expressed outrage earlier this week about an incident on March 23, in which the bodies of 15 emergency response personnel from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the United Nations were buried in a bulldozed grave in Gaza.

The United Nations claimed Israeli forces killed a team of personnel, struck additional units who followed and buried the personnel and their ambulances together. The Israel Defense Forces said the emergency vehicles in question approached Israeli military positions in a suspicious manner and without prior coordination.

Danon decried the global body’s rush to judgment, stating that nine Hamas terrorists, including Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki, who took part in the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were eliminated in that operation.

“How did nine Hamas terrorists find themselves traveling inside Red Crescent ambulances? The presence of those terrorists puts everyone’s lives at risk,” Danon said. “If we truly want to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, the vetting system of such organizations must improve immediately.”

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, told the council that “there must be an independent, prompt and thorough investigation into the killings, and those responsible for any violation of international law must be held to account.”

Younes Al-Khatib, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said that “it’s worth noting also that during the communication with the team, the dispatch could hear a conversation in Hebrew between the Israeli forces and the team, meaning some were still alive when they were under the control of the Israeli forces.” Al-Khatib did not describe any of the contents of the conversation.

“Every death, including those of U.N. and humanitarian workers that many have discussed today, would have been avoided had Hamas accepted the bridge proposal on the table last month,” Dorothy Shea, interim U.S. envoy to the United Nations, told the council.

Other vehicles passing safely along the same route on March 23 had coordinated their movements with the IDF, Shea noted.

“Hamas’s reckless decisions have caused enough bloodshed,” she said. “They have no right to represent Palestinians anywhere and must leave Gaza.”

Several ambassadors criticized recent comments by Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, about the potential for Israel to occupy portions of Gaza. Many expressed concern over food insecurity in Gaza as Israel has prevented the entry of aid and commercial supplies since March 2 to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

The U.N. World Food Programme, which has repeatedly declined requests from JNS to verify its claims that a famine occurred in Gaza, warned that hundreds of thousands of Gazans were at risk of extreme hunger and malnutrition.

Earlier this week, the agency claimed that 25 Gazan bakeries it had supported were forced to shutter due to dwindling flour and cooking-gas provisions. Video emerged of Gazans looting hundreds of packages of flour from an UNRWA warehouse in Gaza City. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Former NBA star Amar’e Yehoshafat Stoudemire, who completed his geirus several years ago, celebrated his wedding last night.

The simcha was attended by close friends and family, marking a significant milestone in Stoudemire’s personal journey.

Stoudemire, known for his illustrious basketball career with the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, long expressed a deep connection to Yiddishkeit. He began exploring his roots in 2010 after learning about his family’s heritage from his mother. This exploration led him to visit Eretz Yisroel and eventually undergo a formal conversion process. In 2020, he completed his geirus, adopting the Hebrew name Yehoshafat Ben Avraham.

In an Instagram Q&A, Stoudemire expressed his desire to remarry to someone Jewish who shares his commitment to Torah values. He emphasized the importance of building a righteous family and raising children according to traditional Jewish teachings.

Stoudemire’s journey from professional basketball to embracing Yiddishkeit has been well-documented, his story serving as an inspiration and chizuk to many.

Below is a clip from Stoudemire’s chupah, courtesy of Sparks of a Nation: