The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will be closed from Wednesday through Friday. “As a result of the current security situation and ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, the U.S. Embassy has directed that all U.S. government employees and their family members continue to shelter in place in and near their residences until further notice,” a security alert states. The closure includes the consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. There will be no passport or consular report of birth abroad services, either. “We have no announcement about assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time,” the alert said. “The Department of State is always planning for contingencies to assist with private U.S. citizens’ departure from crisis areas. We will alert the U.S.

A missile launched by Iran almost destroyed a parked car in a Chareidi neighborhood in Haifa but the tefillin inside it were unharmed. B’Chasdei Hashem, no one was injured in the incident. Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev traveled on Tuesday to the impact site and spoke with the residents of the neighborhood, who have been under continuous threat. Iran has been targeting Haifa in their barrages, as there are many strategic assets in the city: the Haifa Port, the city’s industrial zone and oil refineries (the largest of which was hit and is currently closed down), and a naval base. The owner of the car told Maklev that part of the neis was that the missile first hit the nearby water pipe, which quelled the fire before it hit the car.

In a time when the word “mission” takes on new meaning, it’s hard not to be moved by Ari Bar-Shain’s story – an oleh from the U.S., former IDF combat soldier and officer in the Givati Brigade, and now, the driving force behind a support program for religious lone soldiers called Tzalash – Tzava L’Shem Shamayim (Army for the Sake of Heaven). Bar-Shain, 28, was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. At just 17, he left everything behind and moved to Israel alone to study at Yeshivat Har Etzion. From there, he enlisted in the IDF, serving first as a combat soldier and later as an officer in Givati – a formative experience that came with its own unique challenges as a lone soldier in a new country. “I know the difficulties firsthand. I’ve been there,” he says.

Lebanon’s president and prime minister said Monday that their country must stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran because any engagement would be detrimental to the small nation engulfed in an economic crisis and struggling to recover from the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. Their remarks amounted to a message to the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group — an ally of both Iran and the Palestinian terror Hamas group in Gaza — to stay out of the fray. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam spoke during a Cabinet meeting Monday that also discussed the Iran-Israel conflict and the spike in regional tensions over the past four days.

When an Iranian missile slammed into this central Israeli city, Miryam was huddled inside the concrete safe room in her family’s apartment. Miryam was unscathed by the blast. But four people in the building next door were killed, and the explosion blew off the doors to the apartment and destroyed the kitchen and bathroom. “This was the scariest thing I’d ever experienced,” said Miryam, who spoke to AP on condition that her last name not be used because she serves in the military. “But the right thing is to attack Iran; I don’t want them to have this power over us.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long identified Iran as Israel’s greatest enemy, citing its hostile rhetoric and support for terror groups and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

A third victim of the Iranian missile attack that struck a high-rise building in Petach Tikvah in the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning was identified as Daisy Yitzchaki, H’yd, 85. Yitzchaki’s aide was injured in the strike. Two more victims of the missile strike on the Bazan oil refinery in Haifa were also identified: Uri Levy, H’yd, 58, and Igor Fradkin, H’yd, 50. The two men, along with the previously identified victim, Dani Avraham, H’yd, worked at the refinery. Levy, z’l, a resident of Haifa, left behind his wife, three children, and a granddaughter. Fradkin, z’l, a resident of Kiryat Ata, left behind three children. The three men took shelter in the most protected room in the refinery before the strike but a fire broke out at the site, trapping them inside. Hashem Yikom Damam.

In a new development, Israeli authorities have begun preliminary preparations to assist foreign nationals who remain stranded in Israel due to the ongoing security situation. While no official exit plan has yet been announced, Chaim V’Chessed has learned from sources that the developing arrangement may include evacuation by air or sea to a third country. At this stage, the government is focused on collecting data from those affected. Tourists and other foreigners currently in Israel who wish to return to their home countries are encouraged to submit their personal details using this online form. This move comes as part of broader efforts to support the large number of foreign nationals who have found themselves unable to leave the country following the closure of commercial air routes.

Israeli military officials say they are nearing completion of their objectives in their sweeping operation targeting Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure and ballistic missile systems, with a full conclusion expected within the next one to two weeks. The IDF launched the offensive with the stated goal of eliminating what it called the “existential threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear program and long-range missile capabilities. According to briefings by senior military officials, Israel has so far delivered devastating blows to key nuclear and military targets across Iran, significantly weakening the Islamic Republic’s ability to wage war or develop nuclear weapons.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran no longer has control of its airspace. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff,’” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.” He then posted a second message with a direct threat to Ayatollah Khamenei, saying that Washington knows where Khamenei is “hiding” and could kill him, but is refraining from doing so for now. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump writes on Truth Social. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.

Vice President JD Vance defended President Trump’s Iran position as focused only on “using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals.” “I have yet to see a single good argument for why Iran needed to enrich uranium well above the threshold for civilian use. I’ve yet to see a single good argument for why Iran was justified in violating its non-proliferation obligations. I’ve yet to see a single good pushback against the IAEA’s findings,” Vance wrote on X. “Meanwhile, the president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens. He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president.