A sizable group of yeshiva students were detained in Paris and prevented from boarding their Air France flight to Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Airline officials informed these students that they must present proof of medical insurance in Israel. Chaim V’Chessed was notified of the incident and was baffled of the report, since although it is always recommended to have medical insurance, there is no such requirement forcing passengers to show proof of insurance. Chaim V’Chessed reached out to the Foreign Ministry who then confirmed that this is not an Israeli policy, but rather an Air France requirement. Israeli Embassy officials in Paris intervened to have this rule revoked.

A day after Iran vowed to retaliate against Israel’s attack on its Natanz nuclear facility on Sunday, an Israeli-owned ship near the United Arab Emirates was struck by an Iranian missile on Tuesday. The ship was later identified as the Hyperion Ray cargo ship. The ship, sailing under the Bahamas flag but Israeli-owned, was struck near the coast of the Fujairah emirate in the UAE. According to a Channel 12 News report, the ship sustained only minor damage. A week ago, the Iranian Saviz ship was damaged in an alleged Israeli attack in the Red Sea. The Israeli attack was in retaliation for earlier Iranian strikes on Israeli vessels. The Saviz is linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is involved in intelligence gathering.

The blast at the Natanz nuclear site in Iran was caused by a remote-controlled explosive device which was detonated at about 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing two anonymous intelligence officials. The bomb, which had been placed near the main electric line, destroyed the main electrical system as well as the backup system. Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, told Iran’s state TV on Monday that the blast destroyed an electrical station that was situated 40 to 50 meters underground and that the explosives were embedded into a heavy table at the site. About 1,000 workers were at the site when the explosion occurred.

Vaccinated tourists will be allowed to enter Israel in groups starting on May 23, the Health and Tourism ministries announced in a joint statement on Tuesday. Tourists will need to present a negative PCR coronavirus test before boarding the flight to Israel and will be required to undergo another coronavirus test upon landing at Ben-Gurion Airport as well as a serological test to confirm vaccination or recovery from the virus. At the same time, Israel will continue negotiations with countries regarding mutual recognition of vaccination certificates in order to eliminate the need for serological examinations. Only a limited number of tourist groups will initially be allowed to enter as the ministry will be able to more easily track the members of a group than individual tourists.

Former Mossad head Ephraim Halevi told Ynet on Monday that senior Israeli officials want the sabotage that damaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear site on Sunday to be attributed to the Jewish state. Both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi on Sunday hinted at Israel’s role in the attack in Iran, a stark change from Israel’s policy of ambiguity in the past regarding attacks on enemy countries that may or may not have been perpetrated by Israeli forces. Halevi told Ynet that Israel seems to have changed its policy of refusing to comment on attacks against enemy states. “Apparently, those in Israel in the political leadership want [the attack] to be attributed to Israel,” Halevi said.

The police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb apparently intended to fire a Taser, not a handgun, as the man struggled with police, the city’s police chief said Monday. Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting death Sunday of 20-year-old Daunte Wright as “an accidental discharge.” It happened as police were trying to arrest Wright on an outstanding warrant. The shooting sparked violent protests in a metropolitan area already on edge because of the trial of the first of four police officers charged in George Floyd’s death. “I’ll Tase you! I’ll Tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” the officer is heard shouting on her body cam footage released at a news conference.

A 34-year-old man allegedly beat his roommate to death and then hid the body for weeks inside a West Rogers Park apartment, the Chicago Sun-Times teports. Anton Urbinkas was charged with first-degree murder after admitting to beating Mark Criddell – a Ger-Tzedek named Akiva ben Avraham Z”L – with the leg of a bed frame that had a screw or a nail poking out of it, Cook County prosecutors said in court Friday. Urbinkas didn’t call for help and later covered the body with coffee grounds, a powder to neutralize pet odors and other chemicals to hide the smell of the decomposing corpse, the Sun-Times reported. Police found the 34-year-old’s body on March 28 when they were called for a well-being check at the apartment in the 6400 block of North Sacramento Avenue.

Crowds of protesters gathered Sunday in a Minnesota city where the family of a 20-year-old man says he was shot by police before getting back into his car and driving off, then crashing several blocks away. The family of Daunte Wright said he was later pronounced dead. The death sparked protests in Brooklyn Center late into Sunday night as Minneapolis was already on edge midway through the trial of the first of four police officers in George Floyd’s death. Brooklyn Center, a city with a population of about 30,000, is located on the northwest border of Minneapolis. Minnesota Gov.

Two intelligence officials told The New York Times that the damage at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site was caused by a large explosion that “completely destroyed the independent — and heavily protected — internal power system that supplies the underground centrifuges that enrich uranium.” The officials, who were unnamed due to the classified nature of the Israeli operation, said that the explosion severely affected Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, setting its nuclear program back at least nine months. An anonymous intelligence official told Israel’s Kan News that the attack caused extensive damage that seriously set back Iran’s capabilities and that the timing, a day after Iran announced it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at the plant, was not coincidental.

Israel will fully reopen in a month if there is no rise in the infection rate as a result of the full reopening of the educational system, coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said on Thursday. The government voted on Thursday to lift a number of remaining coronavirus restrictions at schools, including nixing the requirement for students to bring a signed declaration of health to school each morning. Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed only 86 new coronavirus cases on Sunday morning, with tests showing a 0.8% positivity rate. There are currently 263 seriously ill virus patients, of whom 139 are ventilated. The death toll stands at 6,294. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)