A lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court alleges that United Airlines diverted a transatlantic flight mid-air not because of a safety issue — but because the plane was filled with visibly Jewish passengers. The April 22, 2023, flight from Newark to Tel Aviv was abruptly turned back to New Jersey “after hours of flight for no valid reason,” according to the suit, which names nearly 60 Jewish passengers as plaintiffs. The passengers, many of whom were traveling to Israel for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut, claim that anti-Jewish bias played a key role in the crew’s decision. According to the complaint, the incident began when one Jewish passenger briefly sat in a flight attendant’s jump seat while waiting to use the restroom.

In recent weeks, including Sunday morning’s attack on Ben-Gurion, the Houthis from Yemen have increased their launch of ballistic missiles toward Israel at the same time as the US has been carrying out waves of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. Ynet quoted Israeli officials as saying: “The Americans are the ones who are acting. The fact that the Houthis are still launching missiles doesn’t mean much— the American operation is very effective.” Ynet military commentator Ron Ben Yishai noted that Israeli security officials estimate that the recent increase in the number of Houthi launches stems from the fact that the US has improved the quality of its intelligence in Yemen and the accuracy and efficiency of its attacks, targeting Houthi launch sites and missile and UAV depots.

A baby girl was born on Friday—just before Shabbos—to the almanah of R’ Raphael Mordechai ben R’ Moshe Fishoff Hy”d, who was brutally murdered in a terror attack in Hadera this past Erev Yom Kippur. The newborn is the seventh child in the Fishoff family and will, heartbreakingly, never meet her father—an exceptional talmid chacham who gave his life al kiddush Hashem. R’ Raphael Mordechai, just 35 years old at the time of his murder, was stabbed in a horrific multi-location terror attack on October 10, 2024. He was critically wounded and later succumbed to his injuries at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, leaving behind a grieving wife and six yesomim. Now, just months later, his widow gave birth to a baby girl.

The ballistic missile launched on Sunday morning by the Houthis from Yemen towards Israel evaded two layers of advanced aerial defense systems and fell in a field near Terminal 3 near Ben Gurion Airport. The first interception was carried out using an interceptor from the Israeli Arrow 3 long-range air defense, but it failed to hit the target. Another interceptor was launched from the American THAAD system. According to senior officials in Israel, the missile that hit Ben Gurion was not a new or particularly advanced missile, but a known model that has been intercepted in the past. The IDF is conducting an investigation to examine the incident, including an assessment of whether the interception failure was due to a technical malfunction or human error.

Israeli security officials said that Israel will respond forcefully to the Houthi ballistic missile attack that hit Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday morning, Kan News reported. In recent months, Israel has refrained from attacking Yemen at the request of the United States. An Israeli source even claimed that “every day since the start of the US operation, the American attacks are about 10 times what we can do in Yemen in a year.” But in light of the escalation in attacks from Yemen over the weekend, including four ballistic missiles and two UAVs, including the hit on Ben Gurion Airport, Israel is no longer willing to ignore the attacks.

The ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in Yemen that hit the Ben-Gurion Airport compound on Sunday morning, injuring six people, halted incoming and outgoing flights for about an hour. In the wake of the incident, a number of airlines canceled their flights to Israel on Sunday for the next 48 hours, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss Air, and Wizz Air. American carriers United and Delta—both of which had only recently resumed flights to Israel—have also canceled their flights, along with France’s Transavia and its Air France, Air Canada, Japan’s Nippon Airways, Spain’s Air Europa, and British Airways. Delta Air Lines cancelled its flight on Sunday from New York to Tel Aviv, as well as its returning Monday flight.

The Beersheba District Court sentenced three defendants to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 5 years for plotting several terror attacks in Israel, including a plan to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). The three men, two Arab-Israelis and one Palestinian, received light prison sentences  as part of a plea agreement in which the original charge was changed from “conspiracy to assist the enemy,” which carries a sentence of life imprisonment or death, to “disclosure of a decision to betray.” The trial of the other seven defendants, including the main defendants, is ongoing.

The Houthis in Yemen fired a missile at central Israel on Sunday morning, triggering sirens across central Israel, the Shefela, Shomron and the Jerusalem area. In a first, shrapnel from the missile fell in the Ben-Gurion airport area, which was packed with passengers returning from the March of the Living ceremonies held in Europe for Yom HaShoah. According to the MDA spokesperson, several people were lightly injured from the blast near Terminal 3, and there was extensive property damage in the area. It was the first time in two weeks that a missile was launched at central Israel. Following the incident, the IDF confirmed that it failed to intercept the missile although air missile defense forces made several attempts to do so. The incident is under investigation.

RAFAH, Gaza — The Israeli military announced that two IDF soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a devastating explosion caused by a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Saturday. The fallen soldiers were identified as Captain Noam David, 23, from Sha’arei Tikva, and Staff Sergeant Yaly Seror, 20, from Omer. Both served in the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, known for its specialized operations. According to an initial IDF investigation, the Yahalom soldiers, operating under the Golani Brigade, were scanning the entrance to a tunnel inside a building when the explosion occurred. One of the wounded soldiers is reported to be in moderate condition, while the other’s condition was not specified.

The IDF overnight Friday carried out airstrikes on dozens of military targets in Syria, including anti-aircraft guns and a surface-to-air missile launcher. IDF Chief Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar and Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin commanded the operation from the Air Force headquarters. In addition, five Syrian-Druze citizens were evacuated to receive medical treatment in Israel after being injured in clashes in Syria. “IDF forces are deployed in the southern Syria area and are prepared to prevent the entry of hostile forces into Druze villages,” the IDF spokesperson stated. (YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)