The Viznitzer Rebbe, HaRav Yisroel Hager Shlita, of Bnei Brak, who is currently in California undergoing medical treatment, was originally scheduled to return to Eretz Yisroel in time for Pesach. However, due to health concerns the Rebbe will now remain in Los Angeles for Yom Tov. Sources close to the Rebbe’s court tell YWN that doctors have advised against any long-distance travel at this time. As a result, plans for his return to Eretz Yisroel have been canceled, and the Rebbe will conduct the Pesach Sedarim and Yom Tov from his current location in Los Angeles. This unexpected change has altered the plans of many Chassidim both in Eretz Yisroel and abroad who had hoped to be with the Rebbe for Yom Tov.

Nearly 200 family members of Americans slain in the October 7 Hamas massacre have filed a bombshell federal lawsuit against Bashar Masri — a celebrated Palestinian-American developer — accusing him of knowingly aiding and abetting the terrorist group behind the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Masri, long hailed in elite diplomatic circles as a “moderate” visionary and touted by 60 Minutes as a beacon of hope in the West Bank, is now facing explosive allegations that he helped build the very infrastructure Hamas used to wage war — including tunnels, rocket launch sites, and command centers hidden beneath his luxury hotels and industrial parks in Gaza. Filed in D.C.

Israel and Turkey have been holding direct talks to establish a deconfliction mechanism in Syria to avoid the risk of military clashes, the Middle East Eye reported, citing two Western officials. The talks come in the wake of Israel’s airstrikes last week on airbases in Syria at the same time that Ankara was preparing to deploy a team to begin preparations for taking over the bases. “Netanyahu believes there has been progress in the talks with Turkey,” the report claimed. “Turkish and Israeli officials made similar statements at the same time that seem to have been coordinated, saying they were not looking for confrontation over Syria. The U.S.

During the joint press conference of US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following their meeting on Monday, Trump said: “I don’t understand why Israel ever gave up Gaza.” Responding to a reporter’s question about Gaza, Trump said: “You know how I feel about the Gaza Strip. I think it’s an incredible piece of important real estate. I think it’s something that if we were involved in, having a peace force like the US there controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing. Because right now, for years and years, all I hear about is killing and Hamas and problems.

Iran has shifted to maritime routes to smuggle funds and weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, a Western security official told Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath on Tuesday. According to the official, Iran’s Quds Force developed a sea transfer method that bypasses Syria. “After the fall of the Assad regime and increased air restrictions, Hezbollah began using the sea to transport weapons,” he said. According to the report, the maritime smuggling operation is possible due to Hezbollah’s control of the Port of Beirut, which was almost completely destroyed in 2020 due to Hezbollah’s large stores of ammonium nitrate at the site which caught on fire, creating a huge explosion that killed hundreds.

The Rabbanim of Beit Shemesh published a Kol Koreh regarding instructions for bi’ur chametz this year, when erev Pesach falls out on Shabbos. The Kol Koreh, signed by HaGaon HaRav Natan Kupshitz, the Mara D’Asra of the Chareidi kiryah in Beit Shemesh and a dayan in Badatz Edah HaChareidis, and about 30 other city Rabbanim, states that this prohibition applies to flushing chametz down the toilet “whether on its own, and all the more so when it is inside a plastic bag or container.” When Erev Pesach falls out on Shabbos like this year, special preparations are required for the removal of chametz. Many have become accustomed to disposing of chametz on Shabbos by flushing it down the toilet, but the Rabbanim are now paskening that it’s assur.

Dalia Ziada, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, addressed the growing tension between Egypt and Israel. “Military forces are standing on both sides of the Egyptian-Israeli border, aiming at each other, which indicates that the problem of mistrust between the parties has reached a boiling point,” she said. “I hope this doesn’t lead to further escalation in the coming years.” Ziada sharply criticized the Egyptian government, which she says “has been on the wrong side of this war from the start,” and accused Cairo of supporting Hamas, “who has hurt the Palestinians more than anyone else.” Ziada also referred to French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Egypt, claiming it is part of a power struggle between Europe and the United States in the Middle East.

The Houthi’a intelligence chief may have been killed in a series of U.S. airstrikes overnight, according to a report from the Saudi-based news outlet al-Hadath. The report claims Abdul Nasser Al-Kamali, the Iran-backed rebel group’s intelligence chief, was killed in the capital city of Sa’ana, which remains under Houthi control. The alleged strike was part of a wider wave of American air assaults targeting Houthi positions in and around the capital and the neighboring Mar’ib province. A Houthi spokesperson, posting on Telegram, said U.S. warplanes carried out eleven strikes in Sa’ana and surrounding areas, along with nine more in Mar’ib, an inland region where the group maintains a strong presence. U.S.

Nearly 550 days after Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has released a harrowing medical report that tears back the curtain on the nightmarish conditions faced by those still held captive in Gaza. Based on eyewitness testimonies, released hostage accounts, and Hamas propaganda footage, the report details a descent into darkness that survivors and families say is worsening by the day. Fifty-nine hostages remain in Gaza, including the body of a soldier held since 2014. Of those, only 24 are believed to be alive—surviving in a state of physical and psychological torment that pushes the limits of human endurance.

Israel’s Supreme Court convened on Tuesday morning to discuss the petitions filed against the dismissal of the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. The fact that the court has even agreed to discuss the petitions is controversial as Israeli law grants the prime minister and the government undisputed authority to fire the Shin Bet chief. The justices serving on the case are Supreme Court President Yitzchak Amit, a liberal whose authority as president has been challenged by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other government members, liberal justice Daphne Baraz-Erez, and Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, considered a conservative.