The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday identified the soldier killed in combat in northern Gaza as Sgt. Yaniv Michalovitch hy”d, a 19-year-old tank crew member from Rechovot. Michalovitch served in the 82nd Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade, known as “Saar Migolan.” According to the IDF, two other members of the same battalion — a tank commander and another soldier — were seriously wounded in the same incident. In a separate battle elsewhere in northern Gaza, a soldier from the elite Egoz unit of the Commando Brigade was also seriously injured, military officials said. All wounded soldiers were evacuated to hospitals for medical treatment, and their families have been informed. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The U.S. is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday, a setback for the country as it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia. Certain munitions were previously promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration to aid its defenses during the more than three-year-old war. The pause reflects a new set of priorities under President Donald Trump and came after Defense Department officials scrutinized current U.S. stockpiles and raised concerns. “This decision was made to put America’s interests first following a review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a Wednesday vote on President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cuts package, determined to seize momentum from a hard-fought vote in the Senate while essentially daring members to defy their party’s leader and vote against it. “The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay,” the top four House GOP leaders said Tuesday after the bill passed the Senate 51-50, thanks to Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaking vote. It’s a risky gambit, one designed to meet Trump’s demand for a July 4 finish — and there’s a steep climb ahead.

Hurricane Flossie has strengthened into a powerful Category 3 hurricane off Mexico’s southwestern Pacific coast with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane center said Flossie would begin weakening later Wednesday. The center said Flossie was about 315 miles (505 kilometers) south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas and was moving west-northwest off the Mexican coast at 10 kph (17 mph). It was expected to skirt the coast for a few days while dropping rain on several Mexican states.

In a case seen as a challenge to American free-speech principles, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS’ “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October. Paramount, which owns CBS, said the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the Republican president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology. Trump’s lawyer said Trump had suffered “mental anguish” over the editing of the interview by CBS News, while Paramount and CBS rejected his contention that it was edited to enhance how Harris, the Democratic nominee for president in 2024, sounded.

Sales of Tesla electric cars fell 13% in the last three months as boycotts over Elon Musk’s political views continue to keep buyers away, a significant development given expectations that anger with the company’s billionaire CEO would have faded by now. The plunging sales add to growing signs that Musk’s embrace of U.S. President Donald Trump and far-right politicians in Europe has had a deep and enduring hit to the Tesla’s brand appeal. The new figures also are a possible sign that Tesla could disappoint when it announces second quarter earnings later this month. In the first three months this year, net income fell 71%. Sales fell to 384,122 in April through June, down from 443,956 in the same period last year.

Hamas on Wednesday cracked open the door to a potential ceasefire with Israel but rejected President Donald Trump’s latest US-backed initiative unless it guarantees a permanent end to the war in Gaza. Trump on Tuesday announced that Israel had agreed in principle to a 60-day pause in fighting, urging Hamas to seize what he called a narrowing window for a deal before conditions on the ground deteriorate even further. The president insisted the proposed truce could be the first step toward ending the war that has ravaged Gaza for nearly 21 months. Hamas, however, responded by reiterating its hardline demand: that any ceasefire must fully end the war and include a total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Wednesday sent a strongly worded letter to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman saying that the IDF’s Home Front Command is failing to provide adequate warnings of missile attacks to the Chareidi sector. Karhi wrote, “Yesterday, Israeli citizens, except for the Chareidim, received alerts about missile fire from Yemen towards Israel. They received the alerts on their smartphones, on television, on the radio, and on siren loudspeakers. “In contrast, Chareidi citizens, who own kosher phones, without television, and who listen to Chareidi radio networks, did not receive advance warnings and life-saving instructions in the north and south.

The Iranian military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Persian Gulf last month, a move that increased concerns in Washington that Tehran was preparing to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, two US officials told Reuters. The previously unreported preparations, which were picked up by US intelligence, occurred some time after Operation Rising Lion began on June 13, the officials said. The preparations of the mines, which were not deployed, indicate that Tehran was seriously considering blocking the strait, the world’s most important oil passageway. About a third of the world’s seaborne oil traffic passes through the strait from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Bahrain, as well as liquefied natural gas from Qatar.

IDF forces carried out a special operation overnight Tuesday in southern Syria and arrested a terrorist cell operated by Iran. The operation was carried out following intelligence information compiled in recent weeks during the interrogations of other terrorists who had been detained. During the arrest, weapons were also found, including several guns and grenades. The IDF spokesperson said, “The division’s forces continue to operate and prevent the entrenchment of any terrorist element in Syria in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel and the residents of the Golan Heights in particular.” (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)