Weekly roundup of world briefs

IDF strikes 100-plus Hezbollah sites in Southern Lebanon

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces overnight on Monday struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites and terrorist operatives in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley and across the country’s south.

In several strikes in the Beqaa Valley, the IDF targeted Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites, including a weapons storage facility, the military stated on Tuesday.

One operation in the Beqaa Valley town of Machghara consisted of several strikes carried out within seconds. The aerial assault was said to have eliminated several terrorists.

Across Southern Lebanon, the IDF attacked more than 90 arms caches, command centers, observation posts and other sites used by Hezbollah “to advance attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians,” it stated.

A senior U.S. official on Monday blamed Hezbollah for the necessity of Israeli action in Southern Lebanon, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’d given the military authorization to deal the Iranian-backed terror group “a crushing blow.”

Hezbollah “has ignored repeated requests to stop firing at Israel,” the official said, adding that the Jewish state “will never be expected to passively absorb attacks on its forces and civilians.”

Iranian-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel on March 2, following the targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the opening stages of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28.

In response to repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement, Israel launched a broad aerial campaign against Hezbollah targets and expanded military operations in Southern Lebanon aimed at preventing cross-border attacks on northern Israeli communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 26 accused Hezbollah of “essentially disintegrating” the April 16 ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States, which was extended for another 45 days earlier this month.

“Therefore, as far as we are concerned, what obligates us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, and the security of our communities,” the premier said. “We are acting vigorously according to the rules we agreed upon with the United States, and incidentally, with Lebanon as well.”

Hanging effigies of Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir paraded in Montreal

By Canaan Lidor

Dozens of anti-Israel activists demonstrated on Sunday in Montreal, Canada, where they displayed hanging effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy group of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, protested the display, organized by the Montreal4Palestine group on Phillips Square on Sunday afternoon.

“Let us be clear: this is not a debate about the Middle East. Hanging effigies of Jews in the streets of Montreal evokes some of the darkest antisemitic imagery in history and is completely unacceptable. This is not ‘peaceful activism.’ It is the promotion of hatred and the incitement of violence that fuels the radicalization of our social climate. What will it take for authorities to treat these acts as the serious threat they are?” said CIJA.

In 2024, protesters burned an effigy of Netanyahu in Montreal, prompting then-prime minister Justin Trudeau to condemn their actions. “Canada’s government will not tolerate antisemitism,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has not commented publicly on the latest display. On Tuesday, Carney’s office published a statement about his conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in which Carney complained about the treatment of anti-Israel activists who had been detained briefly in Israel last week after trying to breach Israel’s naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Carney “reiterated that the appalling treatment of civilians, including Canadian citizens, aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla was unacceptable,” the statement said. It also read: “The leaders discussed the devastating resurgence of antisemitism around the world. The Prime Minister outlined Canada’s work through legislation and community safety funding to counter hate, to confront antisemitism with the full force of the law, and to protect Jewish communities.”

The group’s annual audit of incidents of Jew-hatred in Canada found in 2025 that the 6,800 incidents that year were up 9.4 percent from the 6,219 in 2024. The 2025 statistic was the highest figure since B’nai Brith began issuing the annual report in 1982.

Israeli FM extends Eid al-Adha greetings to Muslims worldwide

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday extended his “highest congratulations and sincerest wishes” to Muslims worldwide on the occasion of Eid al-Adha (“Feast of the Sacrifice”).

“On the occasion of the blessed Eid al-Adha, I extend my highest congratulations and sincerest wishes to my Druze and Muslim friends in Israel and around the world,” Sa’ar wrote on X.

“May Allah bring it back to us all with stability, peace and respect. Happy holiday, and may you be well every year,” Jerusalem’s top diplomat tweeted, using a traditional Arabic greeting.

Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s two main festivals, coincides with the Hajj pilgrimage and is marked by the ritual slaughter of sheep or cattle. The holiday begins Tuesday and is generally observed over the following three days.

According to Islamic tradition, Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience to Allah before being stopped by divine intervention.

New footage shows Hezbollah using civilians as human shields

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces on Monday published extensive visual evidence that it says further proves Hezbollah’s systematic use of Lebanese civilians as human shields.

The materials, released by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, show rockets fired from a school, weapons stockpiled in a government hospital in Bint Jbeil and terror tunnels dug beneath civilian areas, including a clothing store in Al-Khiyam.

According to the IDF, the footage documents launchers moved into homes, schools and other civilian structures immediately after rocket-fire, as well as a weapons-production site embedded in a clinic that triggered powerful secondary explosions when struck.

Additional videos and still photographs show rifles, rockets and other munitions discovered in ambulances, inside a children’s bedroom and along a tunnel network in the Qantara area, including images captured on the body cameras of soldiers and a military dog, underscoring Israel’s charge that the Iranian terror proxy has turned civilian infrastructure in Southern Lebanon into a military zone.

Sa’ar mocks Iranian supreme leader’s post about ‘cancerous tumor of Israel’

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday mocked comments by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who wrote this week that the “shaken Zionist regime and the cancerous tumor of Israel are approaching the final stages of their wretched existence.”

Sa’ar responded on X: “Sounds familiar. I remember someone with a similar surname who used to say it. BTW, where are you?”

Israel and the United States killed Mojtaba’s father, then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on Feb. 28 in a surprise joint strike in Tehran. Mojtaba reportedly sustained serious injuries in the attack and has not appeared publicly since. He is currently believed to be operating from a heavily secured, secret location.

Before his assassination, Ali Khamenei wrote on his X account on June 4, 2025, that, “based on a definite divine decree, the Zionist regime is collapsing.”

First ‘mikveh’ inaugurated on an Israeli military base

By Etgar Lefkovits

(JNS) — The first-ever Jewish ritual bath (mikveh) on an Israeli military base was inaugurated in central Israel on Wednesday.

The unusual addition to the Border Police base comes at a time when Israelis have drawn closer to faith and tradition following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, a shift which, surveys show, is particularly notable among younger citizens.

The ritual bath, which was donated by the American filmmaker and philanthropist Cheryl Halpern in memory of her husband, Fred, was inaugurated at a small ceremony in the presence of Jewish and non-Jewish Border Police officers and a diverse array of rabbinical leaders just before the Shavout holiday, which marks the giving of the Bible at Mount Sinai.

Halpern cited the importance of “self-purification and self-meditation” for the paramilitary police officers, irrespective of their faith, before going on a mission.

“I pray that when you go out on a mission with such danger, and you do not know if you will return alive, that when you immerse yourself, God will protect you,” she said. “What you are doing is giving life to the Nation of Israel both inside the country and outside of it.”

Halpern told JNS that she had been looking for an appropriate way to memorialize her late husband. While visiting Israel in March, she learned from a Border Police commander that some of his troops were immersing themselves in a ritual bath in nearby communities before going out on missions.

Her contact person for the project was a Druze Israel Border Police officer in the reserves.

The spanking-new, ultra-modern mikveh, located adjacent to a small newly renovated caravan that serves as a synagogue at the base, was filled with late-spring rainwater within two months. A Hebrew sign at its entrance reads “Mikveh of the Friends” alongside a quote from the Book of Leviticus, “Before the Lord you shall be purified.”

“Precisely at this place, there is a special significance in having a mikveh as it serves as a spiritual anchor for us all,” said the commander of the Israel Border Police, Maj. Gen. Brik Yitzhak.

‘Never been harder time in my lifetime to be a Jew in America,’ Michigan senator says at Capitol Hill Jewish heritage event

By JNS Staff

(JNS) — A dozen members of Congress participated in an annual Jewish American Heritage Month lunch in the Russell Senate Office Building, held this year on May 19.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), and Reps. Randi Fine (R-Fla.) and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) took part.

“I am proud to be here as a Jewish American woman,” Slotkin said. “It’s just never been a harder time in my lifetime to be a Jew in America.”

“As a Democrat, it’s my responsibility to call out antisemitism in my own party, just as I hope that Sen. Lankford calls out antisemitism in his party,” the senator said.

Elliott Broidy, a businessman and philanthropist who was presented with a visionary award, told the audience that he is motivated to give back to his country because his parents taught him that success comes with responsibility.

Dr. Harvey Alter, a Nobel-winning physician, and Rabbi David Baron, of Temple of the Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., also received awards.

“After years of intensive research, I’ve understood now why there’s such a preponderance of Jewish scientists. It’s because they all had Jewish mothers,” Alter said.

Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO Emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and Eric Gertler, executive chairman of U.S. News and World Report, co-chaired the event. “Jewish Heritage Week gives us an opportunity to celebrate the 250th anniversary of this great country,” Hoenlein told attendees.

“This year’s honorees reflect a deep commitment to public service, innovation, philanthropy and the fight against hatred and intolerance,” stated Ezra Friedlander, who organized the event.

US military aircraft to be vacated from Ben-Gurion Airport if Iran deal reached

By Etgar Lefkovits

(JNS) — U.S. refueling and cargo aircraft stationed at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport since the start of the war with Iran will return to bases in Europe within 72 hours of a ceasefire agreement, a spokesman for the Israeli Transportation Ministry said on Wednesday.

The unprecedented deployment of U.S. military aircraft at Israel’s main civilian airport, which began in February, will be withdrawn only in the event of a full truce with the Islamic Republic. The aircraft would then be repositioned nearby and remain on standby to return should hostilities resume.

The aircraft created a bottleneck at the main international airport outside of Tel Aviv after the April 8 truce took effect, as international carriers resumed flights amid a shortage of parking space.

Earlier this month, the director of Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority warned that the airport was effectively being turned into a military base, undermining its normal operations.

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev subsequently called for the American aircraft to be relocated to IDF military bases.

Israir to launch New York flights this summer

By Etgar Lefkovits

(JNS) — The Israeli airline Israir announced Wednesday that it will launch direct flights from Tel Aviv to New York this summer.

The much-anticipated move comes as service on the highly lucrative transatlantic route remains limited, with only Israeli carriers currently flying nonstop to and from the United States after all three U.S. legacy carriers froze their flights due to the war with Iran.

Israel’s second-largest carrier said it would begin service to New York in the third quarter of the year, which begins in July, but did not set a specific date.

Israir said it is completing the purchase of two Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft today for about $85 million in order to operate the route.

Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, and Israeli airline Arkia are the only two carriers currently offering nonstop service to New York, sending airfares soaring anew in the busy summer season due to high demand and limited availability.

“Israir’s entry into the New York route is a very significant move for the Israeli aviation market, especially after a long period in which the route to the US suffered from limited supply and high demand,” Yoni Waksman, Deputy Chairman of Israel’s Ophir Tours, told JNS. “Every additional company that enters the routes increases the choices for the consumer and helps bring real competition back to the market.”

Founded in 1989 as a small domestic carrier, the airline is owned by the Rami Levy Group, best known for its discount supermarket chain in Israel. The airline, which will operate 18 planes this summer, currently services various European destinations as well as domestic flights to the Israeli Red Sea resort city of Eilat.

Israir operated transatlantic flights to New York from 2004 until 2008, when rising fuel prices forced the airline to suspend the route.

“With El Al flying 5-6 times a day to both JFK and Newark, the only chance of Israir succeeding will be on their price,” Mark Feldman, CEO of Jerusalem’s Ziontours, told JNS. “If they have the resources to stay in the battle for the long run, it may prove successful.”

American carriers have suspended flights to Israel until the fall due to regional turmoil caused by the war with Iran.

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are only due to resume service to Tel Aviv in September, while American Airlines has pushed back its flights to Israel until next year.

Iran-linked group reportedly hacked Los Angeles metro transit system in March

(JNS) — The Israeli firm Gambit Security said on Tuesday that a group tied to the Iranian regime carried out a cyber attack against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in March.

The Los Angeles Times reported in early April that a spokesman for the authority had confirmed the hack and said that it had “proactively limited employee access to many internal administrative computer systems after the agency’s security team discovered unauthorized activity.”

“Throughout this time, metro’s essential rail and bus service has continued to run uninterrupted, as have our vital transit safety and security systems,” the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman told the paper. (JNS sought comment from the authority.)

Gambit Security released a report, in which it stated that Ababil of Minab claimed responsibility and claimed to have data hacked from the authority’s systems.

The group’s attack was part of a broader operation targeting organizations in the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, per the Israeli firm.

“Our investigation found that Ababil of Minab is unlikely to be a new, standalone hacktivist crew as they claim,” Gambit Security stated.

“Forensic evidence ties the current operation to infrastructure and activity associated with a previous Iran-linked campaign, including activity publicly attributed by the Israel National Cyber Directorate to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security,” it said.