DF forces shot warning shots on Wednesday morning at Hezbollah terrorists who approached Kfar Kila, a Lebanese border village overlooking Metula, only hours after a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect at 4 a.m. The head of the Metula Local Council, David Azoulay, reported: “Just a few minutes ago, eight Hezbollah vehicles and a motorcycle arrived in Kfar Kila. The IDF fired warning shots to drive them away. Nothing has changed since October 7.” Defense Minster Yisrael Katz ordered the IDF to respond forcefully to the presence of any Hezbollah members, issuing a statement saying: “In light of the entry of Hezbollah members into Kfar Kila, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz instructed the IDF to operate decisively and uncompromisingly against such phenomena.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, ending over a year of conflict along Israel’s northern border. The fighting, initiated by Hezbollah after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel, had resulted in massive death, destruction and displacement on both sides. The ceasefire comes after months of escalating violence that displaced some 60,000 northern Israeli residents and caused widespread damage in Lebanon. The Israeli security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-to-1 vote late Tuesday. The deal, brokered with U.S. involvement, includes a 60-day transition period during which Israeli forces will withdraw from southern Lebanon.

President Joe Biden announced from the White House Rose Garden that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group. The ceasefire is set to take effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday. The announcement follows extensive negotiations involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and French President Emmanuel Macron. The ceasefire comes after Israel’s national security cabinet voted overwhelmingly in favor of the agreement, with 10 ministers supporting the proposal and one, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, opposing it. The Prime Minister’s Office said, “Israel appreciates the U.S.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced plans to present a ceasefire framework to the cabinet on Monday night, marking a potential pause in the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu stressed that the ceasefire’s success would depend on Hezbollah’s compliance, warning that any violations would be met with decisive military action. In a televised address, Netanyahu assured the Israeli public that the ceasefire agreement, developed in coordination with the United States, would not restrict Israel’s ability to defend itself. “If Hezbollah violates the agreement or attempts to rearm, we will strike,” he declared. “If it tries to rebuild terror infrastructure near the border, we will strike.

A joint American-French statement is expected to be issued shortly after 10 p.m. local time announcing that a ceasefire has been reached in Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati is set to deliver a parallel statement welcoming the development. But as Israel’s government prepares to give final approval to the agreement, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz vowed to respond decisively to any breaches of the truce. “We will act against any threat, anytime and anywhere,” Katz told UN Special Envoy for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, according to a statement from his office. Katz underscored concerns that Hezbollah might use the ceasefire to rebuild its military presence near the Israeli border.

As Israel prepares to sign a ceasefire deal with Lebanon, the IDF spokesperson announced on Tuesday that Golani forces have reached the Litani River, the first time IDF forces have operated in the area since it withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000. Reserve forces of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion carried out a special operation on the slopes of the Litani and the river itself. Channel 12 News reported that soldiers used rappelling ropes to descend some of the slopes of the mountain. Gun battles took place with Hezbollah terrorists in the Litani River area. Soldiers also operated in the Wadi Saluki area. In both areas, soldiers found hundreds of weapons, bunkers, dozens of short and long-range rocket launchers, and many ammunition stockpiles.

The murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, H’yd has left the Jewish kehilla in the Emirates shaken. UK’s Guardian reported that Rimon Market, the small kosher supermarket managed by Rabbi Kogan, H’yd, in Dubai was closed on Sunday. The store had suffered online harassment from Palestinians over the past year. An Associated Press journalist who visited the site on Sunday said that the mezuzahs on the front and back doors of the supermarket appeared to have been ripped off. The Israeli and Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates began operating openly in 2020, when the UAE became the first Arab country in 30 years to establish official relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the US during the Trump administration.

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and a key architect of the 2020 Abraham Accords, has announced a $1 million donation to the Chabad of the UAE following the kidnapping and murder of Chabad shliach Rabbi Zvi Kogan. In a statement shared on X, Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, expressed their grief over Rabbi Kogan’s murder, describing it as an attempt to undermine the bridges he was building between Jews and Muslims in the UAE. “Ivanka and I are saddened by the loss of Rabbi Kogan, who was senselessly murdered to stop the historic bridges he was building between Jews and Muslims in the UAE.

The United Arab Emirates on Monday released photos and the names of the three suspects in the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, H’yd. The photos show the suspects bound and blindfolded and identified them as Makhmudjon Abdurahim, 28; Azizi Kamlovich, 33; and Olimpi  Tohirovich, 28. The Emirati Interior Ministry said that all three suspects, who were arrested in the country on Sunday, are Uzbek nationals. Although initial Israeli reports estimated that an Iranian terror cell that commonly recruits Uzbek nationals to target Jews and Israelis was responsible for Rabbi Kogan’s murder, Israeli media outlets reported on Monday that security officials now estimate that Iran was not behind the murder.

Iran was not directly involved in the abduction and murder of Chabad shaliach Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, H’yd, Israeli media outlets reported on Monday. Although initial reports indicated that Iran was behind the heinous abduction and murder, Israeli security sources now estimate that the terror cell was directed by a different terror organization, possibly Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Israeli intelligence blog Intelli Times reported on Sunday that Tehran directs a terror affiliate [Unit 400] that is linked to its Quds Force that dispatches Uzbek nationals with Shiite-Iranian heritage on terror missions to kill Jews or Israelis. According to the report, Unit 400 was likely involved in Rabbi Kogan’s murder.