A yeshivah student in Yitzhar fended off an Arab terrorist armed with a knife who attempted to stab him in the Shomron on Wednesday morning. Binyamin Cohen was waiting at a hitchhiking post at the Yitzhar junction near the town of Yitzhar when the terrorist approached him wielding a knife. Cohen successfully fought him off by kicking and punching him [while holding his kippah in one hand], and then escaped around a car that had approached the area. The terrorist fled the scene toward a nearby Arab village. IDF forces launched a manhunt for the terrorist, closing off all the entrances to Palestinian villages in the area. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Tragedy struck the Williamsburg community on Wednesday morning, when word spread of a fatal accident involving a young child. The incident occurred at around 8:00AM on Hooper Street and South 5th Street, when an approximately 6/7 year-old child was fatally struck by a vehicle. Williamsburg Hatzolah responded and Paramedics attempted to save the child life, but were unfortunately unsuccessful due to the massive injuries sustained. Sources tell YWN that initially it was believed that the child was struck by an MTA bus, but it appears that the bus only stopped to help the child – who was struck by a hit and run vehicle. Chesed Shel Emes is on the scene, and the NYPD was investigating the incident. Additional information will be published when it becomes available to us.

Yael Attias, 10, lost her father to the coronavirus last week and in an effort to spare others the heartbreak and sorrow she’s experiencing, implored Am Yisrael to be vaccinated, Kikar H’Shabbos reported. Rav Yaakov Uriel Attias, z’l, a 42-year-old avreich, a resident of Beit Shemesh, passed away of the coronavirus over Shabbos. He had no preexisting health issues but nevertheless, after contracting the virus, his condition quickly deteriorated and he was hospitalized and sedated and ventilated. The doctors fought for his life for three weeks but sadly the battle ended tragically and he passed away, leaving his wife, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, and three children.

When Dr. Mohamed Salah Siala began working on the COVID-19 front line in January in a Tunisian hospital he never imagined harnessing his music skills in the fight against the virus. Yet when the 25-year-old decided to get out his violin one day at Hedi Chaker Hospital in the city of Sfax and play, it won praise for boosting the morale of virus sufferers who remained isolated and needed a smile. The reaction of the patients was immediate — smiling, clapping and some with their fists up — celebrating the impromptu “concert.” Some were surprised to discover that it was the doctor on the fiddle. “Playing the music here contributes to the patient’s feeling of joy and to forget the pain,” said patient Rachid Arous, who is recovering from COVID-19.

The FDNY was battling a fast-moving blaze in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Monday morning. The fire started at around 10:40AM at 183 Empire Boulevard near Bedford Avenue. FDNY quickly transmitted a third alarm due to heavy fire conditions. Sources confirm to YWN that the business is a Jewish-owned mechanic shop. There are no reports of injuries or widespread evacuations. JOIN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO ALREADY ARE ALERTED OF BREAKING NEWS LIKE THIS IN LIVE TIME: YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be added to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

An Israeli man suspended his anti-vaxxer Facebook group after his pregnant sister-in-law, Osnat Ben Shitrit, 32, died of COVID-19 on Sunday morning. Osnat, who was 30 weeks pregnant, died due to complications in her health related to the coronavirus. Making the situation all the more tragic, doctors were unable to save her fetus even after an emergency C-section. Osnat had four children, the youngest of which is just a year-old, all of whom are now orphaned of their mother. Osnat had no underlying health conditions. She also left behind her husband, Rabbi Yehuda Ben Shitrit. Her brother-in-law spoke to the Israeli media outlet, Kan, and explained that he was an avid anti-vaxxer. “I formed one of the most successful groups on Facebook against the vaccines.

A quick-fire joke about Israel’s vaccination rollout on US comedy show Saturday Night Live has caused uproar and demands for an apology. In a parody of a news report, one of its actors joked that Israel – which has had the quickest rollout of any nation – has only been vaccinating its Jewish citizens. “Israel is reporting that they’ve vaccinated half of their population, and I’m gonna guess it’s the Jewish half,” cracked “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che to a chuckling audience. The single-line joke has been met with condemnation from Jewish groups that say it is anti-Semitic and referred to an ancient trope that Jews are responsible for plagues.

Lakewood Police are investigating a shooting at Coventry Square, Sunday night. The shooting happened just before 8:00PM on a residential street. Residents tell YWN that they heard gunshots, and quickly called 911. Emergency personnel found one victim with multiple gunshot wounds, including a shot to the chest. The victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Police were investigating the circumstances, and suspect information was not immediately available. VIDEO AND PHOTOS VIA TLS (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei won a silver medal Friday at the Grand Slam international judo competition in Tel Aviv. Mollaei, who competed as a citizen of Mongolia, the country that offered him refuge after he fled Iran after he was ordered to deliberately lose the semi-final at the 2019 World Championships, took second place in the under-81kg category. “Israel has been very good to me since I arrived,” Mollaei said, as reported by CNN, citing comments by the International Judo Federation. “The Israeli judo team has been very kind.

Debris from a United Airlines plane fell onto Denver suburbs during an emergency landing Saturday after one of its engines suffered a catastrophic failure and rained pieces of the engine casing on a neighborhood where it narrowly missed a home. The plane landed safely, and nobody aboard or on the ground was reported hurt, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Boeing 777-200 returned to the Denver International Airport after experiencing a right-engine failure shortly after takeoff. Flight 328 was flying from Denver to Honolulu when the incident occurred, the agency said. United said in a separate statement that there were 231 passengers and 10 crew on board. The airline released no further details.