Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday urged Israel to consider launching direct strikes on Iran’s oil infrastructure and to continue hammering Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, warning Tehran of grave consequences for its role in regional escalation. The senator’s call came after Israeli warplanes pounded the port city of Hudaydah and the Saana International Airport in Yemen, retaliating for a brazen Houthi ballistic missile strike that landed dangerously close to Israel’s main international gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, injuring six. “To my friends in Israel, do what you have to do to protect your airspace and your people,” Graham posted on X. “It is long past time to consider hitting Iran hard.

Israeli airstrikes targeting the airport in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, reportedly caused immense destruction to its infrastructure, wiping out terminal facilities and leading to damages valued at roughly $500 million, according to the airport’s director, who spoke to Houthi-aligned media on Wednesday.
The Israeli bombardment followed repeated aerial assaults by the Iran-backed Houthis, including a missile strike that reached the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport this past Sunday. Israel responded with a two-day military campaign.
On Tuesday, the United States said it would stop launching airstrikes against Houthi targets, claiming the group had committed to halting attacks on commercial vessels in critical Middle Eastern waterways.

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Russia was “asking for too much” in its initial peace offer as the United States looks to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine. The vice president, speaking at a Washington meeting hosted by the Munich Security Conference, did not elaborate on Moscow’s terms, but said he was not pessimistic about the possibility of a peace deal. That is a more sanguine assessment than President Donald Trump’s recent skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war that begin in February 2022 when Russia invaded. “I wouldn’t say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution,” Vance said.

Although Israeli leaders have repeatedly declared that rescuing the hostages is the IDF’s top priority in its campaign against Hamas, an internal military document outlining the goals of an upcoming ground operation in Gaza reportedly puts that objective at the bottom of the list, according to Haaretz.
The operational blueprint, which was shared with military leadership yesterday, breaks down the army’s planned objectives for the offensive, placing the recovery of the hostages in sixth and final place.

NEW YORK (AP) – New car prices continue to rise for the latest high-performance sports cars.

A Utah man who declared himself the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and threatened to carry out a massacre at a Manhattan synagogue has been indicted on terror charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday. Luis Ramirez, 23, was arrested on February 14 after allegedly posting a series of disturbing threats on X, including a chilling message aimed at Central Synagogue in Midtown: “The Jews killed me in my past life. If you try to kill me again today in NYC when I pull up to Shabbat, I will kill you first.” Just hours after the posts, law enforcement intercepted Ramirez as he drove toward the Lincoln Tunnel in New Jersey, apparently en route to the synagogue.

NEW YORK – The Trump administration is promising to fix the nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers after rece

President Donald Trump on Monday declared new national holidays commemorating victories in World War I and World War II — setting November 11 and May 8 as the official dates of remembrance. In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticized what he called a lack of recognition for America’s wartime victories. “We won two World Wars, but we never took credit for it — Everyone else does!” he wrote. “All over the World, the Allies are celebrating the Victory we had in World War II. The only Country that doesn’t celebrate is the United States of America, and the Victory was only accomplished because of us.” Trump announced that November 11, the date of the World War I Armistice in 1918, and May 8, 1945 — recognized as V-E Day — would both be declared National Victory Days.

A recently published Pentagon report revealed that the Biden administration’s failed project to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza via a floating pier was a deeper failure than previously acknowledged. Apart from wasting $320 million in funds and failing in its mission to provide aid to Gaza, one soldier was killed in an operational accident during the mission, and 61 soldiers were injured. The pier was in place for three months but was operational for only 20 days, during which one day’s worth of humanitarian needs were offloaded. [It should also be noted that at the time, Gaza was not suffering from a lack of food.] The Inspector General said that the US military was not prepared with the proper equipment for the mission.

More from the pro-terror protests that have taken over Columbia University’s library, renaming it the “Liberated Zone.”

A new survey reveals that nearly half of Gaza residents would be willing to seek Israeli assistance to emigrate from the enclave, underscoring a deepening sense of despair and dissatisfaction amid ongoing war and political repression. According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 49% of Gazans surveyed said they would consider applying to Israel for help leaving Gaza through Israeli-controlled ports or airports. The poll comes just weeks after Israeli military operations resumed in the Strip following a collapsed ceasefire. While Israeli officials have said they’re open to facilitating emigration for Gazans who wish to leave, efforts to secure third-country destinations for them have so far stalled.

President Donald Trump addressed the ongoing speculation surrounding developments in Gaza, hinting that more concrete updates are expected soon. “There’s a lot of talk going on about Gaza right now, so you’ll be knowing probably in the next 24 hours,” he told reporters from the Oval Office.
Trump made these remarks in response to a journalist’s question that seemed only partially audible, which referenced whether he intends to propose a new plan related to the hostages ahead of his upcoming trip to the region next week.
Meanwhile, the State Department announced yesterday that an official statement is anticipated before the end of the week regarding the potential restart of humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza.

Public Safety has now chained Columbia University’s Butler Library doors to prevent protesters from storming the entrance.

[COMMUNICATED]

רצועות – STRAPS OF TEFILIN ARE תשמישי קדושה
זהירות שלא לגרור רצועות התפילין על הארץ
ובפרט בשעת הנחתן וסילוקן

THEY HAVE SANCTITY – AND MAY NOT BE LEFT TO TOUCH OR BE DRAGGED ON THE FLOOR !!
THEY ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN A CHUMASH OR SIDDUR.

הנהגות מהחזו״א זצוק״ל
ע״י הגר״ח קניבסקי זצוק״ל
״הי׳ מדקדק בשעת כריכת התפילין שלא תגרר הרצועה על הארץ״

(footnote from Rav Chaim Kanevsky zt”l)
״וע׳ משנ״ב סי׳ כ״א סקי״ח גבי ציצית דהוי ביזוי מצוה, וכ״ש כאן שהן תשמישי קדושה״
The Chazon Ish was extremely careful when donning Tefilin that the straps should not drag on the floor”

Google is partnering with Elementl Power on three project sites for advanced nuclear energy as the energy required to power burgeoning artificial intelligence projects rises sharply. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Google will provide capital for the projects, which the companies say will each produce 600 megawatts of power capacity. No dollar figure for Google’s investment was given. “Our collaboration with Elementl Power enhances our ability to move at the speed required to meet this moment of AI and American innovation,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s head of data center energy. Google and Elementl said they will collaborative with utility and regulated power companies to identify and advance new projects.

At a Tel Aviv University event, former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon issued a scathing critique of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s coalition, comparing its members to Nazis and warning that drastic action would be necessary to preserve the nation. “There will be no choice but to shut down the country in order to save it,” he declared.

Columbia University Public Safety warns that protesters who do not leave and show ID will face arrest.

Pro-terrorist protesters at Columbia University are now trying to rush past public safety to evade identification while exiting.

Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif stated that India has made a “grave mistake” and “must now pay the price.”

As Israel moves closer to launching Operation Gideon’s Chariots in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz made it clear that the Israeli military will maintain control over any territory it seizes in order to ensure that terrorist threats don’t reemerge in those areas.
During a high-level briefing with the 162nd Division, Katz met with Southern Command leader Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, Division Commander Brig. Gen. Shagiv Dahan, Military Secretary Brig. Gen. Guy Markizano, and other top-ranking officers. He used the opportunity to lay out the central goals of the mission: eliminating Hamas’s ability to function both militarily and administratively, achieving the release of hostages, and pushing civilians into the southern section of Gaza for their own safety.

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