U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has confirmed that American military action against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels will hinge not on attacks against Israel, but on whether American citizens are harmed. Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 News, Huckabee defended the recent surprise ceasefire agreement between the United States and the Houthis—brokered without Israeli input—just days after a Houthi ballistic missile struck the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport, injuring six and prompting international flight suspensions. “The United States isn’t required to get permission from Israel to make arrangements to stop Houthi fire on our ships,” he said, brushing aside concerns of coordination with America’s key Middle East ally. Ambassador Huckabee emphasized that U.S.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party announced Thursday that its recent airstrikes under the banner of “Operation Sindhoor” successfully targeted and killed Abdul Rauf Azhar, a top commander in the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror network. Rauf was known for orchestrating several deadly plots, including the 2002 abduction and execution of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.
Rauf Azhar, who played a central role in JeM’s terror activities, was the younger sibling of the group’s founder, Masood Azhar. Indian forces also targeted Masood in Tuesday night’s operation, which reportedly claimed the lives of ten of his relatives, though Rauf was not among those initially named as dead.

Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country’s most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year.

Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged heavy volleys of shells and gunfire across their frontier in Kashmir overnight, killing at least five civilians in a growing military standoff that erupted following an attack on tourists in the India-controlled portion of the disputed region. In Pakistan, an unusually intense night of artillery exchanges left at least four civilians dead and wounded 12 others in areas near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir, local police official Adeel Ahmad said. People in border towns said the firing continued well into Friday morning. “We’re used to hearing exchange of fire between Pakistan and India at the Line of Control, but last night was different,” said Mohammad Shakil, who lives near the frontier in Chakothi sector.

Half of Gaza’s residents, or some 1.1 million Palestinians, believe that Hamas’s decision to carry out the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre in Israel was “correct,” according to an opinion poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) this week.
The center, based in the Palestinian Authority city of Ramallah in Samaria, surveyed a representative sample of 1,270 people across Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip on May 1-4. (The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, the organization said.)
The poll came as the Israeli government approved “Operation Gideon’s Chariot” to defeat Hamas and bring about the release of the remaining 59 hostages, held by the terrorist organization for more than 570 days.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman How Adherence to the Raavad’s View on Mikvaos Saved 75,000 Hungarian Jews Before we delve into the complex laws of mikvaos, let’s begin with an extra

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Early Friday morning, the IDF released the names of two soldiers who were tragically killed in combat operations in Gaza.
Sergeant Yishai Elyakim Urbach, 20, from Zikhron Ya’akov, was serving with the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion under the 188th Brigade when he lost his life during fighting in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Staff Sergeant Yam Frid, 21, of Sal’it, a member of the Golani Reconnaissance Unit within the Golani Brigade, was also killed in action in the same region.
These two latest casualties bring the number of IDF soldiers who have fallen since the war’s outbreak to 856.

  The names of two IDF fallen soldiers, whose families have been notified, have been cleared for publication. Sergeant Yishai Elyakim Urbach, 20, from Zikhron Ya’akov, a soldier in the 605th Engineering Battalion, ‘Barak’ Brigade (188), fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip. Staff Sergeant Yam Frid, 21, from Sla’it, a soldier in the Golani Reconnaissance Unit, Golani Brigade, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip.