Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 57
(JNS) — U.S. Central Command said on Sunday that more than 20 American warships are enforcing a naval blockade against Iran, with forces having redirected 61 commercial vessels and disabled four others to ensure compliance. Washington launched the maritime operation on April 13, targeting all vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Arabian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, disrupting the regime’s oil exports. It is part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Fury” — a sweeping pressure campaign targeting Tehran’s economy throu...
(JNS) — The U.S. military has fully implemented a blockade of Iranian ports, halting maritime trade in and out of the country within 36 hours, the commander of U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday. Adm. Brad Cooper said U.S. forces “maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East” as part of the operation, which he said has stopped economic trade by sea that fuels about 90% of Iran’s economy. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that U.S. naval forces have intercepted eight oil tankers entering or leaving Iranian ports since t...
(JNS) — American military forces, ships and aircraft will remain deployed “in, and around, Iran” until a “real agreement” is fully implemented, U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 8. The U.S. military is “loading up and resting,” and its next action would be “bigger, better and stronger than anyone has ever seen before” if the deal is not complied with, Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. He added that the agreement prohibits Iranian nuclear weapons and ensures the Strait of Hormuz “will be open and safe.” A two-week c...
(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program a “big problem” and an “unsustainable threat” to the American home front ahead of Thursday’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, the third round this month between Washington and Tehran. “Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of ou...
(JNS) — Emergency medical services responded to a direct Iranian missile impact in Beersheva on Monday, as the Jewish state absorbed a third day of strikes in Tehran’s war against Israel and the United States. Magen David Adom crews treated and evacuated a 35 year old man to the city’s Soroka Medical Center who was moderately wounded and 18 others who were lightly hurt, all by flying glass. United Hatzalah said its medical teams were treating several lightly injured, conscious victims after a building was hit in the capital of the Negev. Iran...
(JNS) — Iran’s foreign minister vowed on Sunday that Tehran will never abandon uranium enrichment, even if it means facing war with the United States, sharpening a tense standoff over its nuclear program. The Islamic Republic “has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment,” Abbas Araghchi claimed during a forum in the capital, according to AFP. “Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior,...
(JNS) — The upcoming U.S.-Iran nuclear talks are now expected to be held in Oman on Friday after the Trump administration agreed to Tehran’s request to move the venue from Turkey, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing an Arab source familiar with the discussions. The source told reporter Barak Ravid that there are ongoing negotiations about whether Arab and Muslim regional countries will join the talks in the Gulf state, with the White House declining to comment. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he had instructed For...
(JNS) - The Trump administration issued an urgent warning for U.S. citizens to leave Iran immediately, as protests in the country continue to intensify. The virtual U.S. Embassy for Iran instructed Americans to "leave Iran now" and develop exit plans that do not depend on government assistance. Officials warned demonstrations are escalating and could turn violent, leading to arrests and injuries, and said that "U.S. nationals are at significant risk of questioning, arrest and detention."...
(JNS) - The wind cuts down from the Mount of Olives as three Jewish men named Cohen hunch their shoulders against the cold and start up the wooden ramp to the Temple Mount, breath clouding in the Jerusalem air. In a scene that could stand in for countless real family journeys, their grandparents' stories trace lines through Poland, Tunisia and Iran, but here the paths merge: walking the worn stone their Israelite forefathers once crossed in white linen, lips shaping the same psalms those...
(JNS) - As of Jan. 13, 2,000 protesters have been confirmed killed, according to Iranian authorities, however, other reports claim different figures. Time of Israel reported that The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher - "according to some estimates, more than 6,000." Also, Times of Israel reported that the Iran International news site, which is based in...
(JNS) - The surviving gunman in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack has been charged with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act, Australian authorities announced on Wednesday. Naveed Akram, 24, awoke from a medically induced coma on Tuesday and faced court via video conference from his hospital bed, where he remains under police guard after sustaining injuries during an exchange of gunfire with officers. Akram's father, Sajid, 50, the second gunman,...
(JNS) - One of the Bondi Beach gunmen, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, came to the attention of Australia's domestic intelligence agency six years ago for his close ties to a Sydney-based Islamic State terrorism cell, ABC News Australia reported Monday. Naveed and his father, Sajid Akram, 50, killed 15 people Sunday evening when they opened fire on the "Chanukah by the Sea" event celebrating the first day of the Jewish festival. The attack on more than 1,000 people gathered at Bondi Beach's Archer...
(JNS) — The U.S. military’s recent airstrike under Operation Midnight Hammer has delayed Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, according to a new Pentagon assessment. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Wednesday that intelligence assessments continue to confirm the significant damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. “We have degraded their program by at least one to two years—intel assessments inside the [Defense] Department assess that…. I think we’re probably closer to two years,” Parnell stated. T...
(JNS) - Eight people were killed and nearly 300 wounded in the early hours of Monday by an Iranian ballistic missile barrage on Israeli civilian population centers in the central and northern regions of the country. The impacts were spread across four locations. Four of the deaths took place in the greater Tel Aviv area - four in Petach Tikvah and one in Bnei Brak. Three people who were initially reported as being trapped in Haifa were later declared dead, while a 30-year-old woman is...
(JNS) — U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s latest ceasefire proposal for the Israel-Hamas war includes the two-stage release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire aimed at facilitating negotiations to end the war, according to a report on Thursday. On the first day, five living hostages and nine deceased hostages would be released, followed by five more living hostages and nine deceased on the seventh day, according to an Israeli source cited by Israel’s Channel 12 News. The proposal, which...
(JNS) — Five United Nations trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including baby food, entered the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Monday, the Israeli military confirmed. The transfer followed the recommendation of Israel Defense Forces officials and was carried out under the directive of the political echelon. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (emphasized that all aid was subjected to “a thorough security inspection” by the Defense Ministry’s Crossing Points Authority. The IDF reiterated that it “will continue...
(JNS) - Massive wildfires erupted on Wednesday morning in the Judean Hills region of central Israel, prompting evacuations and widespread emergency responses amid soaring temperatures and high winds. The most serious blaze began in the Eshtaol Forest near the communities of Mesilat Zion and Neve Shalom, both of which were evacuated as flames rapidly spread through the area. Fire and Rescue Services mobilized dozens of firefighting teams, aircraft and helicopters to contain the inferno, which...
(JNS) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday described Hamas as an “evil” and “monstrous” organization that must be wiped out. During an interview on conservative talk radio channel SiriusXM Patriot, the top American diplomat condemned the terrorist group for its treatment of hostages. “This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It’s pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That’s a group that needs to be eradicated,” he said. He warned that its continued dominance in Gaza would prevent regional stability in the Middle Eas...
(JNS) - Doha is no longer sitting on the sidelines of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, after suspending its involvement on Nov. 9, citing a lack of "good faith" on the interested parties' part. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel in a bid to restart ceasefire talks, with Trump seeking a deal before he is sworn in on Jan. 20, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source briefed on the talks. Witkoff met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...
(JNS) — Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah financial sites across Lebanon overnight Sunday, including in Beirut. According to the Israel Defense Forces, dozens of facilities and sites used by the Iranian proxy to fund its terrorist activities against the Jewish state were attacked. “These funds, which Hezbollah used for terror activities, were stored by the Al-Qard al-Hassan Association, which directly funds Hezbollah’s terror activities, including the purchase of weapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah’s military wing,” the IDF s...
(JNS) — The current circumstances in the Galilee and the Golan “will not continue,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. He called for a “change in the balance of forces on our northern border,” amid daily attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon, while pledging to do “whatever is necessary” to return evacuated residents safely to their homes. Netanyahu spoke days after he ordered the military to prepare for a broad campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed terrorist army. His instru...
(JNS) — Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday in a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that anti-Israel protesters “have a point.” “Those protesters out on the street. They have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides,” the 81-year-old president told the United Center crowd on the first night of the convention after being introduced by First Lady Jill Biden and their daughter, Ashley Biden. Four demonstrators were arrested after anti-Israel protesters breached an outer fence lin...
The information in the article is as of Aug. 5. (JNS) — Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel following the assassination of Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for the missile strike that killed the Palestinian terror group’s “political” leader and his bodyguard early on Wednesday morning. Hours after the attack, the Islamic Republic held an emergency meeting of its Supreme National Security Council at the supreme...
(JNS) — Intensive American diplomacy and an increased military posture in the Middle East may have prompted Tehran to reconsider a major retaliatory strike against Israel, according to The Washington Post. White House officials told the newspaper’s David Ignatius on Tuesday that they believe that President Joe Biden’s efforts to stave off a wider war are paying off, at least with regard to Tehran. However, Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah “is still a wild card,” the officials said. Iran blames Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader...
(JNS) — The Knesset plenum voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. The resolution, put forward by MK Ze’ev Elkin of the New Hope-National Right party with support from the Yisrael Beiteinu Party and the Land of Israel Caucus, passed by 68 to 9. The Land of Israel Caucus, the mission of which is to strengthen Israeli control of Judea and Samaria, includes members from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition as well as Benny Gantz‘s centrist National Unity P...
