Hamas has declined to answer Israel’s updated proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza and is instead standing by the conditions outlined by international negotiators, according to a statement a Hamas representative gave to Reuters on Wednesday.
On March 29, Israeli officials confirmed they had submitted a modified offer to mediators. This new version was developed in close coordination with the United States and came after Hamas indicated acceptance of a ceasefire framework crafted by Egypt and Qatar.
Reuters examined a document that shows the mediators’ plan is consistent with the terms originally laid out on January 17. If accepted, it would result in a 50-day extension of the ceasefire period.

At a special event that took place in Kiryas Yoel, the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum, distributed a total of one million dollars in cash to kollel yungeleit who had successfully completed rigorous exams on the entirety of Shulchan Aruch.
The initiative was generously funded by philanthropist Reb Yossi Brach, who personally took part in the distribution alongside the Rebbe.
The event, held in the main beis medrash of the kollelim in Kiryas Yoel, was attended by hundreds of yungeleit who had participated in the learning program and undergone the comprehensive tests. Each one was handed $6,000 in cash as a token of recognition and chizuk.

As construction crews churned up dirt to renovate a Vienna soccer field last October, they happened upon an unprecedented find: A heap of intertwined skeletal remains in a mass grave dating to the 1st-century Roman Empire, likely the bodies of warriors in a battle involving Germanic tribes. On Wednesday, after archaeological analysis, experts at the Vienna Museum gave a first public presentation of the grave — linked to “a catastrophic event in a military context” and evidence of the first known fighting ever in that region. The bodies of 129 people have been confirmed at the site in the Vienna neighborhood of Simmering. The excavation teams also found many dislocated bones and believe the total number of victims tops 150 — a discovery never seen before in Central Europe.

With the sweet sounds of soaring niggunim, renowned baal menagen and beloved marbitz Torah Rabbi Baruch Levine recently concluded a spiritually uplifting musical journey through Europe that touched the hearts of hundreds of bnei aliyah. Aptly named “Kumzitz Alive,” the tour was a moving tapestry of achdus, chizuk, and the enduring power of heartfelt Yiddishe song. The tour visited three prominent Torah hubs—Zurich, Switzerland; Manchester, UK; and Gateshead, UK—each city home to vibrant kehillos and bnei Torah from around the globe. With bochurim returning from Eretz Yisroel for their well-earned bein hazmanim break, the timing could not have been more perfect.

In a fiery speech delivered Wednesday, MK Moshe Gafni of Yahadut HaTorah sharply criticized the Religious Zionist Party and Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer for taking part in a demonstration calling for the drafting of bnei yeshiva into the IDF.
Speaking at the annual gathering of the Yeshiva Student Union in Ashkelon, Gafni painted a grim picture of the current government’s makeup: “We face a nearly impossible reality.
“Our partners are secular, Torah study isn’t at the forefront of their minds, and that’s at best. At worst, they oppose it.”

Heichal HaTorah, in partnership with IDT, is proud to be launching the Bergen County Community Kollel – a premier 2 Seder Kollel for serious Bnei Aliyah.  Led by the esteemed Roshei KolleI Rav Eli Belizon and Rav Menachem Genack, this new Kollel will provide a premier learning environment for future Mechanchim, while offering a 50k stipend.   Opening Elul 2025.   APPLY NOW Email: REB@HEICHALHATORAH.ORG  Call: 516-382-7596

As part of the annual tradition before Pesach, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted its routine clearing of the kvitlach placed between the stones of the Kosel on Wednesday morning.
Tens of thousands of notes, which had been tucked into the crevices over the past six months, were carefully removed and taken for proper genizah.
Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, rov of the Kosel and mekomos hakedoshim, personally oversaw the operation, as he does each year.

(AP) – Air traffic contro