The leader of Degel HaTorah, Rosh Yeshivah HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, instructed the Degel HaTorah MKs to act to dissolve the Knesset after the negotiations on the draft law with the chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, failed, Kikar H’Shabbat reported on Wednesday morning. A charged meeting on Tuesday night between Edelstein and the Chareidi MKs ended without any progress, with the main issue being Edelstein’s insistence on the law including severe personal sanctions if recruitment targets aren’t reached.

The IDF has announced the tragic death of Master Sergeant (Res.) Alon Farkas HY”D, a 27-year-old reservist from the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade’s 6646th Battalion, who was killed during combat operations in northern Gaza on Tuesday. Farkas, a resident of Kibbutz Kabri, fell in battle while operating in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. According to an initial investigation, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire with an assault rifle, striking Farkas and another soldier from the unit. The terrorist managed to flee the scene. The second soldier sustained serious injuries and is receiving medical treatment. יהי זכרו ברוך. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Elon Musk on Tuesday tore into the massive tax-and-spending-cut bill backed by President Donald Trump, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that will explode federal budget deficits. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote in a post on X, his social media site. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO added. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” wrote Musk, who until last week led the Trump administration’s DOGE effort to cut government spending and waste.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating a “targeted terror attack” Sunday afternoon near Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. At about 4:30 p.m., the Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack near the mall with reports of several victims. “We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote in a statement on X.

Hamas claimed on Sunday that Israeli forces killed at least 31 Palestinians and wounded 175 others near a U.S.-backed aid distribution site in Rafah, Gaza Strip, alleging the shootings occurred as civilians sought humanitarian aid. However, security footage released by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates the site, directly contradicts these claims, showing no gunfire or injuries at the time and location specified by Hamas. The incident reportedly took place approximately one kilometer from the GHF distribution hub in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, an area controlled by Israeli forces. Hamas-run Gaza health authorities and the enclave’s Government Media Office claimed that Israeli troops opened fire on crowds moving toward the aid site.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff slammed Hamas for its response to the latest ceasefire proposal, calling it “totally unacceptable” and a move that “only takes us backward.” According to an Israeli official familiar with the details, Hamas’s response to the proposal included demands for a seven-year ceasefire, a complete IDF withdrawal from all areas of Gaza captured since March, the cancellation of the new US-supported aid distribution system in Gaza, and a return to the previous system supported by the United Nations. “This isn’t a response — it’s a slammed door,” the official stated. Earlier on Shabbos, Hamas announced that it submitted a response to the proposal to Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

The IDF and Shin Bet on Motzei Shabbos officially confirmed that Mohamed Sinwar, the head of Hamas’s military wing and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre, was killed earlier this month in an airstrike on the entrance to a tunnel system located under the European hospital in Khan Younis. In the same attack, Muhammad Shabana, the commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, and Mahdi Khawara, commander of Hamas’ Southern Khan Yunis Battalion, were also eliminated. The Shin Bet and IDF also released a video showing an illustration of the tunnel network that was attacked: (YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)

YWN is please to share the news that the Rosh HaYeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlit”a, has been discharged from the hospital and is now on his way home. According to an official statement released by the yeshiva, the doctors are very pleased with the Rosh Yeshiva’s progress, noting significant improvement in his condition. This follows his recent hospitalization due to weakness, which prompted a global outpouring of tefillos from Yidden across the world. The yeshiva has requested that Klal Yisroel continue to daven for a complete refuah sheleimah for Shmuel ben Itta Ettil, b’soch sha’ar cholei Yisroel. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have announced plans to target civilian aircraft belonging to Israeli airlines, including El Al, in what could mark a dangerous new phase in the Yemeni group’s ongoing assault on Israel. The warning, issued through Lebanon’s Hezbollah-aligned Al-Akhbar newspaper, follows Israel’s airstrike on Sanaa International Airport earlier this week. The targeted strike reportedly destroyed the last operational Houthi aircraft, a move that Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said eliminatec the group’s remaining air capabilities. But the Houthis aren’t backing down—in fact, they’re upping the ante.

Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City Police Commissioner who gained national prominence for his leadership during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, passed away on Thursday at the age of 69. His death was announced by FBI Director Kash Patel, who said that Kerik succumbed to a cardiac illness after a private battle. Born on September 4, 1955, in Newark, New Jersey, Bernard Bailey Kerik rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most recognized figures in American law enforcement. Growing up in a working-class family, Kerik faced early challenges, including a troubled childhood marked by his mother’s struggles with alcoholism and his parents’ separation. He later chronicled these experiences in his 2001 memoir, The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice.

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