The Washington Post revealed further details uncovered in the secret documents captured by IDF forces in Hamas command centers in Gaza. For years, Hamas leaders had planned an even deadlier terror assault on Israel than the one it perpetrated on October 7, including Sept. 11-style toppling of  Tel Aviv skyscrapers. Some of the plans were carried out on October 7 but others were more aspirational, including the plan to bring down a Tel Aviv skyscraper. Hamas could not determine how to bring down the skyscraper, continuing that targeting Israel’s rail system and using it to transport terrorists and powerful bombs was more practical.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman SPECIAL LIGHT There is a fascinating Zohar Chadash (Shir HaShirim 1a) that tells us of a special holy light that encompasses every Jewish Neshama on each of th

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was determined to persuade Iran and Hezbollah to join a Hamas cross-border attack on Israel according to minutes of Hamas’s secret meetings seized by the IDF and obtained by The New York Times. The Hamas documents, which consist of minutes from 10 secret Hamas leadership meetings prior to the October 7 attack, also revealed that Hamas initially planned to carry out the attack, code-named as “the big project,” in the fall of 2022.

Staff Sgt. Itay Fogel, H’yd, 22, was killed in combat in Gaza on Yom Kippur. Fogel, z’l, a tank commander from the yishuv of Yakir in the Shomron left behind parents and four younger siblings. His cousin Elkanah Navon, H’yd fell in combat in Jenin just a few weeks ago. Hashem Yikam Damam. (YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

The soldiers of the 121st Battalion of the 8th Brigade blew the shofar at the end of Yom Kippur in southern Lebanon. The IDF stated on Motzei Yom Kippur that forces carried out strikes on over 200 terror targets in Lebanon in the past day and soldiers killed about 50 terrorists in face-to-face combat.. One soldier was seriously injured in southern Lebanon on Friday. (YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

On Friday, Erev Yippur, Hezbollah fired two drones from central Lebanon at central Israel. One drone was intercepted and the second one hit a nursing home in Herzliya. Baruch Hashem, the staff had evacuated the residents to a protected space when the sirens sounded and no one was injured in the attack. Following the drone strike, a fire broke out in the building but was quickly extinguished. The residents of the wing that was hit were transferred to other parts of the building. (YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

The IDF stated on Motzei Yom Kippur that about 320 Hezbollah projectiles were fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon into Israel over Yom Kippur. Over a million Israelis were forced to flee to shelters in the Galil, Accko, Haifa and its suburbs, and Tzfas. Additionally, a drone fired from Syria exploded over Ramat HaGolan. Three people were lightly injured by the force of a rocket in the western Galil and 12 people were lightly injured from falling as they ran to protected spaces. Hamas in Gaza fired two rockets on Yom Kippur from northern Gaza, hitting open areas in Ashkelon. B’Chasdei Hashem, there were no injuries. (YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Thursday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urgently convene the Cabinet for discussions on imposing the death penalty for terrorists and advancing tougher legislation aimed at deterring and punishing terrorism in Israel. “The time has come to impose the death penalty on terrorists who carry out deadly attacks in Israel,” Ben Gvir wrote. “Terrorists who enter our streets and murder innocent people are not deterred enough, and the necessary step is to toughen the punishment.” Ben Gvir pointed out that Article 116 of the coalition agreements between his party and Netanyahu’s Likud includes a commitment from Likud to support the death penalty for terrorists. He insisted that the time had come to fulfill that promise.

The death of a homeless man following a brutal attack in a Borough Park grocery store parking lot has underscored the growing homeless crisis in the neighborhood, leaving residents furious and questioning why more hasn’t been done to address the issue. On the night of September 18, two homeless men were viciously assaulted while sleeping in the parking lot of a ShopRite located between McDonald Avenue and Avenue I. According to police, two men armed with metal pipes and a baseball bat approached 38-year-old Cos Jervis Jonas Ajpuac and a 42-year-old companion, striking them repeatedly in the head and body. Both victims were rushed to Maimonides Medical Center. Ajpuac, who suffered severe internal bleeding, succumbed to his injuries and died on October 2.

A 19-year-old Chassidic man was assaulted in Queens, New York, on October 5 in what is being investigated as a possible hate crime. The incident occurred around 2:40 p.m. outside B’Nei Avraham in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood. According to police, the unidentified assailant punched the victim, who was wearing traditional Chassidic clothing, in the face before fleeing the scene. The attack left the victim with a bruise, though he did not require medical attention. Surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows the suspect wearing a gray T-shirt and a black baseball cap. The video captures the individual smoking moments before launching the unprovoked attack.