Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu departed from Israel on Monday morning to Washington, his first visit to the US since returning to office in 2022. Netanyahu is scheduled for a meeting on Tuesday with US President Joe Biden, who announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday, and will also meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. On Wednesday, the prime minister will deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress. Netanyahu is also expected to meet with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump but a meeting has not yet been scheduled.

A terrorist on Monday morning attempted to stab IDF soldiers at the entrance to Netiv Ha’Asara, a moshav in the Gaza border area. The terrorist was neutralized by the soldiers who opened fire. Baruch Hashem, no soldiers were injured. A 61-year-old woman who was nearby and heard the gunfire was treated for shock. According to reports, the terrorist was a US citizen who came to the front gate of the moshav and began speaking with the soldiers in English, saying that “civilians are being killed in Gaza by the IDF” and then ran toward them with a knife. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen traveled for more than 16 hours and over 1,600 miles before striking a residential building in Tel Aviv, killing one Israeli. An IDF investigation has found that the modified Samad-3 drone took a non-direct route, flying west from Yemen over the Red Sea, then north over Sudan and Egypt, before reaching the Mediterranean Sea and approaching Tel Aviv from the west. It was only when the drone appeared on Israeli radar as an unidentified target that it was detected, just six minutes before impact. The investigation revealed that the drone had been tracked for six minutes before dropping in and out of radar coverage, and was in the air for 16 hours, flying at 80-100 knots.

In a move seen by some as a snub to his intraparty rival, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Justice Minister Yariv Levin as Israel’s temporary acting premier while he is in Washington this week. Additionally, Foreign Minister Yisroel Katz has been authorized to convene the security cabinet if necessary during Netanyahu’s absence. The appointments come amid public tensions between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, fueling speculation that the prime minister is seeking to assert his authority within the party. According to Israeli law, an acting prime minister must be designated to assume duties when the leader is abroad or temporarily unable to perform their responsibilities.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has released footage of its airstrike on the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida in western Yemen yesterday. The operation, dubbed “Outstretched Arm,” targeted fuel depots, energy infrastructure, and container cranes used to unload shipments. The strike was carried out by dozens of Israeli aircraft and aimed to disrupt the Houthi economy and prevent the importation of Iranian weapons. The IAF believes the strike will project a message of deterrence to Israel’s enemies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The IAF is now on high alert for reprisal attacks, assessing that Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon will ramp up attacks following the strike. Israel’s air defenses are not foolproof, officials warn, and more successful drone attacks are likely.

Israel’s attack on Yemen on Shabbos was Israel’s first attack against the Houthis since the terror group launched 220 drones at Israel since October 7th and directly followed its first deadly drone strike of Tel Aviv that killed a man and wounded eight others. Israel has been preparing for months to retaliate against the Houthis in the case of any of their drones succeeding in penetrating Israel. The targets that Israel attacked in Yemen were selected months ago, during the early months of the war. About a month and a half ago, the Israeli Air Force carried out a training exercise for missions far from Israel’s border, in cooperation with the Greek army, Ynet reported.

Israel received confirmation on Sunday that after seven failed assassination attempts over decades, the IDF finally succeeded in killing Hamas No. 2 leader Muhammad Deif. Channel 14 News first reported the news and shortly later, the Srugim newsite reported that an IDF official confirmed that the news was true. The IDF carried out the targeted strike to eliminate Deif last Shabbos using bunker-buster bombs and a “ring of fire,” making it unlikely that Deif survived the attack. However, there was no official confirmation of his death until today. Deif, one of the masterminds behind the October 7th attack, was on Israel’s most-wanted list for over 25 years for his role as the mastermind behind many deadly terror attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, including bus bombings.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the ruling of the International Court of Justice on Friday that Israel’s presence in Yehudah and Shomron and east Jerusaelm is illegal by saying that “the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land.” “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland,” Netanyahu s. “No absurd opinion in the Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated that it rejects the ruling, adding, “Unfortunately, the Court’s opinion is fundamentally wrong. It mixes politics and law.

Israel’s Arrow 3 long-range missile defense system on Sunday morning intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen toward Israel. The IDF said that the surface-to-surface missile was downed outside of Israeli airspace. Sirens sounded in Eilat due to fear of falling shrapnel. The missile is the first launched by the Houthis since Israel carried out a major attack in the Hodeidah port area in Yemen in retaliation for its deadly drone strike on Tel Aviv overnight Thursday and hundreds of previous attempted attacks since October 7. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)  

Israel on Shabbos carried out airstrikes against multiple Houthi targets in the Hodeidah port area in western Yemen, targeting oil refineries, a power plant, and weapon warehouses, killing and wounding dozens. In the wake of the strikes, huge fires broke out at the port, fueled by the oil stored there. As of Motzei Shabbos in Israel, the fires were still burning. The attack, which was carried out by over a dozen fighter jets, completely disabled the port, which Israel said is a “significant economic source for Houthi terrorism” due to the weapons transferred there from Iran and the energy infratructure.