Medical reports from the Sde Teiman case and examinations and tests carried out by the head of the surgical department of Hadassah Hospital prove that the allegations against the reservists arrested on suspicion of abusing a Hamas terrorist are false. Kan News reported on Thursday morning that according to a medical report, the terrorist was brought for an examination at the clinic at the Sde Teiman base late at night and told the doctor who examined him that he was suffering from pain due to a fall. The doctor stated in the report that there was no evidence of a wound or a source of bleeding from which the terrorist suffered and added that he decided to hospitalize the terrorist because of suspected intra-abdominal bleeding.

Israel informed the US that if Hezbollah harms Israeli civilians in its response to the elimination of Hezbollah commander Fuard Shukr, the IDF will respond with disproportionate force, Axios reported. Israeli officials aren’t interested in an all-out war with Hezbollah and are now making it clear what would escalate the conflict into a war. On Tuesday, Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor-in-chief of the Al-Akhbar Lebanese newspaper reported that Hezbollah will likely target Tel Aviv in a retaliatory strike against Israel. Al-Amin, who is considered close to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, wrote that Hezbollah has leeway to target Israeli civilians because Lebanese civilians were killed during Shukr’s elimination.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has reportedly advised Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against launching a direct attack on Israel, citing concerns about devastating consequences for Iran. According to a report by Iran International, Pezeshkian warned Khamenei that an Israeli retaliation could severely damage Iran’s economy and infrastructure, potentially even leading to the regime’s collapse. Sources familiar with the development said that Pezeshkian expressed his concerns during a meeting with Khamenei, who remained noncommittal, neither supporting nor opposing the president’s warnings.

Ehud Yaari, the Middle East analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, estimates that Hezbollah will retaliate for the elimination of its commander Fuad Shukr on Tisha B’Av. “I have a gut feeling that Hezbollah will want to attack on Tisha B’Av,” Yaari said in an interview with Kol B’Ramah. “Hezbollah is aware of the Jewish calendar – they understand that on this day there are more people who fast and are in shuls.” “Nasrallah has a difficult dilemma – the impression is that he hasn’t yet decided on the nature of the response.” Regarding the appointment of Yahya Sinwar as the new political leader of Hamas, Yaari said: “Sinwar knows Israel and its traditions better than Nasrallah.

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who is a member of Israel’s Security Cabinet, said on Wednesday morning that the political echelon was exposed during the war to a detailed strategic plan by Iran for the destruction of Israel. Speaking at a conference in Sderot, he said: “Without elaborating, we were exposed to this plan during the war – Iran is striving to achieve a nuclear defense umbrella that will provide it immunity to carry out a conventional destruction plan of the state of Israel – a combination of massive fire with a physical ground occupation.” In other words, Iran wants to achieve nuclear power to ensure its survival before carrying out a conventional war against Israel without the risk of being attacked in kind.

Rep. Cori Bush lost her Democratic primary bid for re-election on Tuesday, becoming the second member of the progressive “Squad” to be ousted this year. Bush, a rabid critic of Israel, was defeated by St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell, who received significant support from pro-Israel groups. In her concession speech, Bush went on an unhinged tirade against AIPAC. “All you did was take some of the strings off, she said, addressing the Jewish lobby. “Let’s be clear. Let’s talk about what it really is. Because, see, now I don’t have to worry about some strings that I have attached as much as I love my job. But all they did was radicalize me, and so now they make me afraid.

Former US President Donald Trump has criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for selecting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, describing the decision as “an insult to Jewish people” during an interview with Fox News. Harris opted for Walz over Jewish Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who had been under intense pressure from far-left activists opposing his selection. Despite Shapiro’s stance on Israel being similar to that of Walz and others considered for the position, he faced a campaign branding him as “Genocide Josh,” leading to accusations that the push against him was rooted in antisemitism. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

White House officials said Tuesday that Iran might be reconsidering its plan for a major retaliation against Israel, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported. The report claims that President Biden’s “intense” diplomatic efforts to “stave off a catastrophic war in the Middle East” may have influenced Iran to abandon its public assertions to punish Israel for the elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. According to the report, Iran may have been dissuaded due to the US urging Iran to show restraint and its threats of “serious consequences” to the stability of the new government of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Decision Desk HQ projects that Rep. Cori Bush, a radical leftist member of the “Squad,” has lost her reelection bid to AIPAC-backed Wesley Bell in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. Bush, a vocal critic of Israel, had accused the country of an “ethnic cleansing campaign.” Her loss comes on the heels of another “Squad” member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, losing his seat in New York’s Westchester County to pro-Israel George Latimer. The race saw significant spending from pro-Israel groups, with at least $9 million spent by PACs aligned with AIPAC and another $500,000 from Democratic Majority for Israel. In contrast, Justice Democrats, the main outside group backing Bush, spent just over $2 million.

About a dozen F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier have flown to a military base in the Middle East, as part of the Pentagon’s effort to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard US troops, according to a US official. The F/A-18s and a E-2D Hawkeye surveillance aircraft took off from the carrier in the Gulf of Oman and arrived at the undisclosed base on Monday, the official says. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the increased military presence in the region as officials worry about escalating violence in the Middle East in the wake of the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran, in suspected Israeli strikes. Both groups are backed by Iran.