US Vice President Kamala Harris has garnered criticism for mourning the "innocent" Palestinians killed during Saturday's IDF raid in which four hostages were rescued, despite revelations that regular Gazans were involved – or at least had knowledge – in the holding and transferring of Israeli captives who were held in highly civilian areas.

"Before I begin, I just say a few words about the morning which I know weighs heavily on all of our hearts," Harris said at a Michigan Democratic Party fundraiser, per Fox News. "On Oct. 7, Hamas committed a brutal massacre of 1,200 innocent people and abducted 250 hostages. Thankfully, four of those hostages were reunited with their families tonight. And we mourn all of the innocent lives that have been lost in Gaza, including those tragically killed today."

A state with a large Muslim population, Michigan is reportedly a concern for the Biden campaign in the upcoming election.

In the hours after Israel freed the hostages, it was revealed that civilians, including a reporter who had worked for Al Jazeera and Palestine Chronicle, held the Israeli hostages as prisoners in their homes. Israeli forces also sustained heavy fire from terrorists as they sought to evacuate the hostages.

"Kamala Harris mourns the terrorist hostage takers," wrote the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

The Republican Jewish Coalition asked, "Why is it so hard for the Biden administration to stand with Israel in its fight to defeat Hamas terrorists and rescue the remaining hostages?"

"Does she mourn the loss of the Hamas guys with RPGs who came to stop the Israelis from leaving, causing many of the casualties? Did they make her list?" wrote Clifford Asness, a Jewish billionaire hedge-fund manager with a large social media following.

Jake Sullivan, the US national security advisor, also said that innocent people were killed. "The exact number we don't know, but innocent people were killed," he told CNN. "Every day that we see more innocent people lost is another horrible, awful, tragic day."

The US vice president was briefly heckled during her remarks.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Kamala Harris criticized for mourning 'innocent' Gazans appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Ahead of the Passover holiday, the government, in partnership with Jewish organizations, has reunited "lone soldiers" serving in the IDF with their families who live abroad.

Under the slogan "Together for Seder," family members from the United States, France, Brazil, Ukraine, and Belgium were flown into Israel.

The soldiers will spend the coming days reuniting with loved ones, some of whom haven't seen each other in years. On Tuesday evening, the second day of the holiday, they will gather for a joint Passover seder.

"Together for Seder" is an initiative of Wings, a joint program of the Israeli government, the Jewish Agency, and the Merage Foundation. The initiative has assisted thousands of immigrants in preparation for their recruitment, during their military service and up to about five years after their release.

A get-together at the Jewish Agency headquarters in Jerusalem on Thursday was held in the presence of Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer and Jewish Agency chairman Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog.

"I am very excited to salute the lone soldiers and their families who came from all over the world," said Sofer. "The fact that these heroes left their homes, studies, family, and work to come and be part of the IDF symbolizes their moving connection to the determination and devotion of the Jewish people for generations.

"I would like to thank the wonderful parents who sent their children to defend our country and, above all, instilled in them the necessary values to do so," added the minister.

Almog noted that lone soldiers "are a symbol of unconditional love for the State of Israel. They choose to tie their fate with the fate of the country, go out and fight, and be an integral part of the war for our existence."

French immigrant Gamliel, 28, was among the troops honored on Thursday. The lone soldier fought for 160 days in Gaza alongside his brother, and Seder night will mark their first family meeting in six years.

"My parents had a difficult five months, to say the least," Gamliel said. "With two sons serving in the depths of Gaza, we weren't in touch with them for weeks. We talk a lot about the situation in Israel and the situation in Paris, and now we will finally sit together face to face."

Each year, approximately 3,000 immigrants without family in Israel volunteer to serve in the IDF. Throughout the military's ongoing Operation Swords of Iron, the Wings program provided them with support and assistance in a variety of areas.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post IDF lone soldiers reunited with family ahead of Passover appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The IDF Home Front Command has lifted restrictions imposed on public gatherings due to Iran's massive drone and missile attack overnight Saturday.

The announcement came several hours after the IDF had extended the guidelines restricting educational activities across the country and gatherings of over 1,000 people.

Stricter restrictions continue to exist in some areas deemed higher risk, including near the Gaza and Lebanon borders.

Approximately 2.5 million Israeli children were forced to stay home on Sunday as the military banned educational activities nationwide ahead of Iran's long-awaited mass missile and drone attack, which saw over 300 projectiles launched at the Jewish state.

A 7-year-old Israeli Bedouin girl wounded in the attacks underwent surgery Sunday for a severe head wound and remains in critical condition.

Following an operational situation assessment on Sunday morning with senior security officials, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned the public to remain vigilant as the campaign continues.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post IDF lifts restrictions after Iran attack appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Supernova music festival massacre survivors Astar Moshe, 35, and Shlomi Tobi, 37, just welcomed a healthy baby to the world, almost six months to the day following Hamas's Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel.

"The moment came when the delivery-room ID was placed on my hand, right next to my Nova admittance band. Seeing them on my hand, side by side, I started to cry," said Tobi.

Residents of the Haifa suburbs, the couple arranged for Moshe to give birth at the city's Rambam Medical Center.

"We could so easily have been one of those who are no longer with us today or one of the hostages waiting to return home," said Moshe. "Thank God for this treasure we hold in our hands."

Over 360 people were murdered at the Oct. 7 outdoor event near Kibbutz Re'im – nearly one-third of the 1,200 people killed by Hamas terrorists during their invasion of the northwestern Negev. Many more were wounded, and at least 40 were taken back to Gaza as hostages. There were widespread reports of rape and sexual abuse during the massacre.

"A party that became a defining event," Moshe recalled.

"We didn't understand what was happening. We thought it was a code red attack that would soon pass – the usual things. We never imagined such a massacre," she said.

"You were such a hero, you led us away in a mad dash," interjected Tobi.

"All I cared about was keeping the treasure in my womb, my partner, and my friendships. We couldn't look back. There was only death and terror behind us. We had to keep moving forward all the time," said Moshe.

"There were moments when Shlomi told me, 'Astar, you're pregnant, come on, let's stop, rest a bit," she continued. "I couldn't agree to stop for a moment. I told him that if I stopped, I didn't know if I could continue."

The two ran 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) to escape Hamas terrorists, eventually arriving at Moshav Patish, where a family cared for them.

Since then, the couple has faced considerable challenges in returning to their normal routine.

"After going through something like this, it's not easy to act as though everything is fine," said Moshe. "The feelings accompany us every moment of every day, but each one has our own defense mechanisms to rely on."

"We try to see the glass half-full and say 'thank you' for being here. If we survived, then we have a role," emphasized Tobi. "The birth of our child, it feels much bigger than it is. The meaning of a nova is born again. That's the Nova. There is life after this terrible disaster that took so many righteous people, many of them my friends. There is life after, there is hope, and there is love."

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Nova music festival survivors welcome baby appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israel has set a date for the military offensive against the remaining Hamas terror battalions in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday night.

"We are constantly working to achieve our goals – first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas.

This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there," the premier said in a video released by his office.

"It will happen; there is a date," revealed Netanyahu, adding that he had received a "detailed report" on the high-level hostages-for-ceasefire negotiations that ended in Cairo earlier on Monday.

Matthew Miller, the US State Department spokesman, told reporters on Thursday, "To my knowledge, we have not been briefed on that date."

The government has repeatedly emphasized that telling Israel to refrain from operating in Rafah is equivalent to demanding that it lose the war. Many of the 133 hostages still in the hands of Hamas after 184 days are believed to be held in Rafah. Two captives were rescued from the city by special forces in a daring military operation last month.

According to estimates, the final four Hamas battalions – with some 3,000 gunmen – are concentrated in Rafah. Netanyahu has said that all battalions must be defeated to prevent the terror organization from regrouping and reestablishing itself to threaten Israel again.

Around 64% of Israelis support expanding the military operations against Hamas to Rafah, even if it means a clash with the United States, which opposes such a move, according to a poll published last week.

The Biden administration is pressing Israel to refrain from a full-scale ground incursion, claiming the move could lead to a humanitarian "disaster" in Gaza. Instead, the White House favors a limited operation aimed at high-value Hamas targets and securing the border with Egypt.

The administration is seeking to explore alternative plans when a senior Israeli delegation visits Washington, though a date has yet to be set.

"We were hoping to be able to do it this week, but I'm not sure," White House advisor John Kirby told reporters on Monday. "I'm not expecting one this week." He claimed Israel had committed not to launch an operation in Rafah prior to holding the delayed meeting in Washington.

The meeting was originally scheduled for late last month but was canceled by Netanyahu at the last minute after the US failed to veto a UN Security Council resolution on March 25, decoupling the demand for a ceasefire from the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

Last week, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and the head of the National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi held a virtual discussion about the Rafah operation with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other American officials.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Netanyahu: Date set for IDF offensive in Rafah, essential to victory appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The IDF has withdrawn all ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip, with only one brigade remaining in the coastal enclave, a military spokesperson said Sunday.

This comes after four consecutive months of fighting in the former Hamas stronghold of Khan Younis and six months since the start of the war.

According to the reports, the last brigade remaining in the Strip is the Nahal infantry unit, which is there to secure the Netzarim Corridor that splits the Gazan north and south, enabling the IDF to control movements in the area. It crosses the Strip from the Be'eri area in southern Israel to the Mediterranean coast.

The Netzarim Corridor prevents Gazans from returning to the north of the Strip and allows for humanitarian aid to enter directly into northern Gaza.

Four IDF commandoes were killed in action in southern Gaza on Saturday, the IDF announced on Sunday. Terrorists emerged from a tunnel in Khan Younis and ambushed the soldiers at close range, the army said.

The attack raised the military's death toll to 604 on all fronts since the war started. Their deaths bring the number of soldiers slain since the start of ground operations in Gaza on Oct. 27 to 260.

The IDF said on Saturday that it had destroyed three Hamas attack tunnels in the Khan Younis area, some of which reached into Israeli territory. The tunnels had been under intelligence and technological surveillance for several years, according to the military.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post IDF withdraws all troops from southern Gaza appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden Thursday, days after an Israeli airstrike led to the unintentional deaths of seven humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip. 

Biden called on Netanyahu to increase humanitarian efforts in the strip and said Israel needed to "announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers," a White House readout of the phone call said. 

He added that "US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps," as per the readout. 

During a White House press briefing on Thursday afternoon, John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, declined to say what specific policy changes Washington would make if Israel failed to meet US conditions.

"If we don't see changes from their side, there'll have to be changes from our side," Kirby said. "There has to be tangible steps. Let's see what they announce. Let's see what they direct. Let's see what they do." 

Thursday's call is the first publicly acknowledged time Netanyahu and Biden have spoken since the passage of a UN Security Council resolution in March that called for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. It did so in the same sentence but without explicitly tying the two together. That resolution passed 14-0, with the United States abstaining.

Biden used similar language on Thursday, per the White House readout.

"He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home," the White House stated.

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Gaza policy will change unless Israel meets US conditions, Biden tells Netanyahu appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Four Israel Police officers were injured overnight Tuesday in a vehicular assault close to the Kochav Yair Junction in central Israel.

Magen David Adom emergency medics treated the victims on the scene, one of whom was seriously hurt. Another was moderately wounded and the other two sustained light wounds.

The officers had been operating a makeshift checkpoint geared towards catching car thieves, according to police. The terrorist, identified as a 26-year-old resident of the adjacent Arab Israeli town of Tira, then drove to the nearby Eliyahu Crossing that leads to Judea and Samaria. He attempted to stab security guards there, who responded by fatally shooting him.

On Sunday, an Israel Defense Forces officer was wounded in a stabbing at Beersheva's central bus station. Magen David Adom medics treated the victim, a man in his 20s, for moderate wounds. He was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in good condition.

The terrorist was shot and killed by another Israeli soldier who was on the scene, according to the military. On March 14, a terrorist killed Israeli soldier Uri Moyal in a stabbing attack at a gas station near Beit Kama in the northern Negev. The Israel Security Agency later identified the terrorist as Fadi Abu Latif, 22, originally from the Gaza Strip.  A resident of Rahat, Abu Latif lived in the Strip until he was 18. He was granted Israeli citizenship in 2019.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post 4 police officers injured in terror ramming in Israel appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A naval base building in the southern Israeli city of Eilat was lightly damaged by a drone attack overnight Sunday.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The UAV was launched from Iraq and entered Israeli territory from Jordan.

Sirens sounded in the area of the Red Sea resort town around 1:30 a.m.

Video: The attack on Eilat

"IDF soldiers identified a suspicious aerial target that crossed from the east towards Israeli territory. The target fell in the area of the Gulf of Eilat. No injuries were reported and there was light damage caused to a building," the IDF said.

On Monday afternoon, the IDF confirmed that the Eilat naval base was struck and that the incident is being investigated.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for the attack, claiming it struck a "vital target" in Israel.

The umbrella group of Iranian-backed radical Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria is composed of Kata'ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhadaa.

The Erbil-based Kurdish news website Rudaw describes the Islamic Resistance in Iraq as "a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups" associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It has attempted other attacks on Israeli territory in recent months, including launching two drones from Syria at northern Israel in early January, which were shot down by Israeli Air Force fighter jets. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said the attacks were "in support of Gaza."

In December, Jordanian air defenses intercepted an armed drone fired by the group that was headed towards Eilat.

The terrorist group said, "The Mujahideen [holy fighters] of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted a target in the occupied Umm al-Rashrash, Eilat with appropriate weapons," per Rudaw.

Jordan's Ministry of Defense later said it shot the drone down.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have also launched multiple missile and drone attacks at Eilat in support of Hamas. Most of the launches were thwarted by Israeli, U.S. or Saudi forces or missed their targets.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Drone attack damages Eilat navy base building appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering Monday morning at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem following hernia surgery.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The procedure "ended successfully" and Netanyahu was "awake, talking to his family, and his situation is perfect," Alon Pikarsky, the hospital's director of general surgery, said in a video statement.

Netanyahu was scheduled for the procedure on Sunday night after his medical team discovered the hernia during a routine checkup over the weekend.

The operation was performed under full anesthesia, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin served as acting prime minister while Netanyahu was sedated.

On Dec. 31, following routine annual checkups by his medical team, Netanyahu received a clean bill of health after undergoing an emergency cardiac procedure earlier in the year.

"During the past year, [the prime minister] underwent annual routine examinations without any unusual findings," said a letter signed by Netanyahu's personal physician, Dr. Tzvi Berkovitz, and professor Alon Pikarsky, head of surgery at Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center.

"The prime minister maintains a healthy lifestyle and a proper diet. The state of his health is completely normal," added the physicians.

A separate note from Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer in Ramat Gan touched upon the condition of Netanyahu's heart, noting that the premier was outfitted with a cardiac pacemaker several months earlier.

"The pacemaker implanted in his body is working properly, the electrical indicators are within the norm, he is not dependent on the pacemaker, and no unusual incidents have been recorded," wrote professor Roy Beinart, director of Sheba's Arrhythmia Institute.

"From a cardiac point of view, the prime minister is completely stable and does not need additional treatment besides routine monitoring," said Beinart.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Netanyahu recovering after successful hernia surgery appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.