U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised U.S. citizens who are seeking to evacuate from Israel on Wednesday. He directed Americans to a program that guides those who wish to depart toward evacuation flights as well as cruse ships. “Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel–The U.S. Embassy in Israel is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures. You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) You will be alerted w/ updates,” he wrote, providing a link to the program.

The 15,000 Jews living in Iran are living in what members of the kehilla describe as a state of existential dread in the wake of Israel’s launch of the war, Ynet reported. Jewish life in Iran has come to a standstill, sources familiar with the situation said. “People have vanished from the streets,” said one source. “They’re staying inside their homes, terrified. They’re not going to work. There are no gatherings, no tefillos in shuls—nothing. They’re simply afraid to show their faces.” According to the report, the main fear of Iranian Jews is not of the regime but of mob violence, of angry Iranians retaliating for the Israeli attacks and carrying out lynchings, chalilah.

Iran’s Mission to the UN rejects US President Donald Trump’s assertion that Tehran has offered to come to the White House for negotiations to resolve the ongoing conflict with Israel. An official statement reads: “No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to “take out” Iran’s Supreme Leader. Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance. Iran shall respond to any threat with a counter-threat, and to any action with reciprocal measures.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A short while ago, YWN reported on our live blog that three Iranian government aircraft were being tracked heading from Iran to Oman. One had already landed in Oman, and the other two were a short while from landing. YWN notes that previous negotiations between U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff  and Iranian officials took place in Oman. Trump said on Monday that he might send U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet Iranian officials. This morning President Trump was asked by a reporter “if it’s too late” for negotiations, to which he responded “nothing is too late”. Are Iran’s genocidal leaders fleeing the country, or are they rushing there in a last-ditch attempt to revive negotiations with the US? Time will tell. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump stepped onto the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday morning to thank workers installing new flagpoles. But it was his impromptu remarks to the press moments later that fueled global intrigue, as the president addressed the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran—and hinted at the high-stakes decision facing his administration: whether to join Israel in direct military action against the Islamic Republic. “For 40 years, they’ve been saying ‘death to America,’” Trump told reporters. “If you go back 15 years, I was saying we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.” Pressed on whether negotiations with Tehran were still possible amid the intensifying war, Trump quipped, “Nothing is too late.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday stubbornly refused US President Donald Trump’s call for the Islamic Republic’s “unconditional surrender.” Too cowardly to speak in person, he issued a statement that was read by a TV host on Wednesday as a “message to the Iranian nation.” “Intelligent people who know Iran and the Iranian nation and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening rhetoric because the Iranian nation will not surrender,” the statement said. “The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable consequences.” Khamenei’s statement comes amid reports that US President Donald Trump is considering joining Israel in the war against Iran and its nuclear program. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Residents of the Pardes Katz neighborhood in Bnei Brak told B’Chadrei Chareidim about the tremendous neis they experienced when an Iranian missile hit a school building. The missile struck the Otzer HaChaim Bais Yaakov school, causing it to collapse and seriously damaging the neighboring ALEH rehabilitation center and the Mishkenot Shimon shul and other nearby apartment buildings, killing Avraham Cohen, H’yd. The school, which only a few days ago was bustling with hundreds of students, is now a pile of rubble. Several hours before the missile strike, several teachers cleaned out the school’s bomb shelter so that the neighbors could use the shelter during the sirens.

Israel is running low on defensive Arrow interceptors, the Wall Street Journal claimed on Wednesday, citing a US official. The dwindling supply raises concerns about Israel’s ability to defend against long-range ballistic missiles if the war doesn’t end soon, the report says. The US has been aware of the issue for months, and the Trump administration has been bolstering Israel’s defenses with systems on the ground, at sea, and in the air. According to the report, there is now concern that the US could also run out of interceptors. “Neither the U.S. nor the Israelis can continue to sit and intercept missiles all day,” said Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

For the first time since the start of Israel’s war against war, Iranian forces succeeded in downing an Israeli Hermes 900 UAV (Kochav) overnight Tuesday. The UAV was shot down in the Isfahan region in central Iran while on a mission to hunt missile launchers and surface-to-surface missiles. It was downed by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. The IDF confirmed that a drone was downed in Iran but said that there is no fear of information being leaked. “During operational activity, surface-to-air missiles were fired at an Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle,” the IDF stated. “The aircraft crashed in Iranian territory.

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday morning issued a sharp threat to the Islamic Republic ahead of further IDF attacks in Iran. He wrote on X: “A tornado is sweeping through Tehran. Symbols of government are bombed and collapsing—from the broadcasting authority and soon more targets—and masses of residents are fleeing. This is how dictatorships collapse,” he said. The statement came after dozens of air force fighter jets bombed a centrifuge production site and a number of weapons production sites of the Iranian regime in the Tehran area overnight Tuesday. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)