IDF combat helicopters carried out airstrikes on military targets on Syria on Friday evening, the IDF stated. The IDF attack was in response to fire from Syria toward the Golan Heights on Friday afternoon. The fire caused explosions along the border and shrapnel caused damage to a house and car on the Israeli side of the border in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. “Earlier today, munitions were fired from Syria toward Israel,” the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit stated. “In response, our aircraft struck military targets in southern Syria belonging to the Syrian Armed Forces (SAF). We hold the Syrian regime responsible and will respond to any violation of Israeli sovereignty.” Reported incident of an IDF airstrikes occurred near Majdal Farms.

Five months after it kicked New Yorkers out of trusted traveler security programs in a spat over immigration policy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reversed itself Thursday and told a court it had misrepresented the facts in a lawsuit over the matter. The department announced that New Yorkers would once again be allowed to enroll and re-enroll in Global Entry and other federal travel programs that allow vetted travelers to avoid long security lines at airports and the U.S. border. President Donald Trump’s administration in February booted New Yorkers from the programs, saying it was taking the action because a newly enacted state law allowing unauthorized immigrants to get driver’s licenses had cut off some federal access to state motor vehicle records.

Israel’s IDF stated on Thursday that it is sending reinforcements to the northern border due to threats by Hezbollah to retaliate the death of its operative in airstrikes on Monday attributed to Israel. “In light of a situational assessment of the IDF, a decision was made to send pinpoint reinforcement of forces to the Northern Command,” the IDF stated. Airstrikes on military posts on the outskirts of Damascus on Monday targeting pro-Iranian militias killed at least five Quds Force members and wounded at least eleven, including seven soldiers of the Syrian Air Force’s Air Defense Force. Hezbollah claimed that Israel also killed one of its members in the strike – Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad – and has threatened to retaliate against Israel for his death.

Due to the alarming rise of daily coronavirus cases in Israel, which reached a red line number of over 2,000 cases on Thursday, the Gedolei Yisrael have joined the call of Chief Rabbi Rav Dovid Lau to begin saying Avinu Malkeinu every day after Shacharis and Mincha, Kikar H’Shabbos reported. Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, Rosh Yeshivah HaRav Gershon Edelstein and Rosh Yeshivah HaRav Chacham Shalom Cohen wrote in response to the shaila of Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau if it’s appropriate to begin to recite Avinu Malkeinu after davening. In the letter he sent to the Gedolei Hador, Harav Lau wrote: “Difficult times are upon us and the doctors have not found a remedy. We understand that we have no one to rely on except Avinu She’beShamayim.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has scrubbed his planned Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus. Trump’s formal renomination will still go forward in North Carolina, where a small subset of GOP delegates will still gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, for just four hours on Aug. 24. Florida was to have hosted four nights of programming and parties that Trump had hoped would be a “four-night infomercial” for his reelection. “It’s a different world, and it will be for a little while,” Trump said, explaining his decision. “To have a big convention is not the right time,” Trump added.

Two babies in Israel contracted a rare strain of bacterial meningitis in the past two weeks after the parents neglected to have them vaccinated. The babies were infected with the Haemophilus influenza b bacteria, which once was one of the most common causes of meningitis in Israel but has become extremely rare since babies began to be routinely vaccinated for it in the 1990s. The father of one of the sick babies told Channel 12 News: “We didn’t vaccinate our 8-month old twins because I was exposed to information that opposed vaccines. Now I’m sorry I didn’t vaccinate her. It wouldn’t have happened if she had been vaccinated.” The father said that his baby developed a fever and they were given antibiotics by the doctor for an ear infection but the fever didn’t abate.

According to reports in Iranian media, an Israeli aircraft made an “aggressive” close pass near an Iranian airliner that was flying through Syrian airspace on Thursday. According to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Mahan Air Flight 1152 on its way to Beirut, Lebanon, from Tehran, Iran, was approached closely on Thursday by an aircraft purported to be Israeli. However, PressTV has reported it may have been American. “After this dangerous action by the Israeli fighter, the pilot of the passenger plane quickly reduced the altitude of the flight to avoid colliding with the Israeli fighter, which caused a number of passengers on the flight to be injured,” IRIB reported.

A judge ordered the release from prison of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer on Thursday, saying he believes the government retaliated against him for writing a book about Trump. Michael Cohen’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered back to prison on July 9 after probation authorities said he refused to sign a form banning him from publishing the book or communicating publicly in other manners, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said. Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison by 2 p.m. on Friday. Cohen, 53, sued federal prison officials and Attorney General William Barr on Monday, saying he was ordered back to prison because he was writing a book to be released before the November presidential election.

A massive fire broke out in Camp Agudah in Ferndale on Thursday morning, leaving at least one building destroyed. The fire department was called to the camp at around 7:00AM, reporting fire in a building known as “The Ranch”, which houses a game room, two class rooms, among other uses. The fast-moving fire left the structure totally destroyed, before spreading to a second building, which houses arts and crafts, and the canteen. At 8:45AM, firefighters were still trying to get the blaze under control, and the second structure had already suffered significant damage. A fire investigator was on the scene trying to determine the cause of the blaze. Due to COVID-19, the camp had relocated to New Hampshire for this summer. Unfortunately, this is the second fire this year to hit the camp.

In recent weeks, the prospect of traveling to Israel has seemed to grow more and more gloomy. Coronavirus cases are soaring, health experts are predicting a collapse of the health care system and the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) just announced on Monday that the ban on non-Israeli citizens has been extended to September. A later report said that the ban may even be extended until after the Yamim Tovim. On the other hand, there are reports that yeshivos and seminaries will be allowed to open and some senior government officials have been saying that opening Israel’s skies is essential for revitalizing Israel’s economy. A Kan News report on Tuesday said that a new policy may be implemented in the next couple of weeks that will dramatically change the situation.