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| Community News |
| Syrian Jews from U.S. Visit Kevarim in Damascus, Including Reb Chaim Vital ZT’L |
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For the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a group of Syrian Jews from the United States has traveled to Damascus, visiting the historic Jewish cemetery in the city’s Jewish Quarter, as well as the Kever of Rav Chaim Vital, the well-known 16th-century Mekubal and Talmid of the Arizal. According to reports, the delegation’s visit marks a significant milestone, as no such trip has taken place since Ahmad al-Sharaa assumed power in Syria. The group documented their journey, highlighting the preservation of these Jewish sites despite decades of turmoil in the region. Damascus once had a thriving Jewish community, but nearly all of its members fled in the late 20th century due to persecution and instability. Jewish visitors to Syria remain rare, making this trip particularly noteworthy. |
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| World News |
| Trump calls Ukraine’s Zelensky ‘a dictator’ as relations deteriorate |
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US President Donald Trump calls Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” stepping up his attacks as tensions soar between Kyiv and Washington. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump writes on his Truth Social platform of the Ukrainian leader, whose five-year term expired last year. Ukrainian law does not require elections during wartime. “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle,” Trump writes. “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…” Earlier, Zelensky said Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation” bubble, responding to scathing comments by the US president about Zelensky’s popularity rating. The Ukrainian leader also accused Washington of helping end Russian President Vladimir Putin’s international isolation, and said he wanted security guarantees from Kyiv’s allies that could enable the war to end this year. “Unfortunately, President Trump, for whom we have great respect as leader of the American people… lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv, accusing Moscow of misleading Trump. |
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| Israel News |
| Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Oded Lifshitz named as the slain hostages to return Thursday |
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Wednesday evening that Israel received the list of slain hostages who are set to be returned Thursday. The four were named as Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz. The Prime Minister’s Office said their families were notified. “In this difficult time, our hearts are with the grieving families, the premier’s office said. “We will continue to provide reliable updates as needed and ask to refrain from spreading rumors or unofficial information.” Hamas announced earlier in the week that it will be handing over the bodies of Shiri Silberman Bibas and her two young children Ariel and Kfir. Oded Lifshitz has been held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. “Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the State of Israel — a shocking day, a day of grief,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “We are bringing home four of our beloved abductees, who have fallen.” “We embrace the families, and the heart of an entire nation is torn apart. My heart is torn. Yours is too. And the heart of the whole world should be torn as well, because here we see who we are dealing with, what we are dealing with — monsters,” he continued. “We mourn, we hurt, but we are also determined to ensure that such a thing never happens again,” Netanyahu added. Earlier Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it was readying for Thursday’s transfer of four slain hostages, including preparations for a brief military ceremony upon receiving the remains. The bodies will be handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross, which will bring them to Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip. The IDF said it plans to hold a respectful ceremony in Gaza upon receiving the slain hostages, with a rabbi present. The bodies will be placed in coffins draped in Israeli flags and carried by Israeli troops into IDF vehicles. From there, the bodies will be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute for identification. The identification process could take up to 48 hours, officials said, depending on the condition of the remains. Within a few hours, officials are expected to update the families of the slain hostages on how much longer it will take to confirm the identity of their loved ones. The IDF said that it would also investigate the causes of the deaths of the hostages, and that at this stage, all claims made by Hamas are unverified. The military said it does not know for certain at what time Hamas will hand over the four bodies, though it expects it to occur at a similar time to the recent releases of the living hostages, which have taken place in the morning. The IDF also does not know how Hamas will hand over the bodies. During the release of living hostages, Hamas paraded the captives on a stage in front of crowds of Palestinians. Officials asked Israeli media to refrain from broadcasting any such events involving hostages’ remains. The Red Cross, meanwhile, called for privacy and dignity ahead of Thursday’s release. “We must be clear: any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. On Saturday, Hamas is slated to release six living hostages: Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed. Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been captive in Gaza for over a decade, after entering the Strip of their own accord. The others were abducted during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza. According to Hamas’s past statements, the six are the last of those to be returned under the first phase who are alive. The remaining hostages on the list of 33 captives in the first phase of the ceasefire deal are Shiri Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Itzik Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, and Tsahi Idan. The only name on the list whose death Israel has officially confirmed is Mantzur. Israel has said it has concerns for the other seven. |
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| Senior Hamas official: Terror group prepared to free all hostages in single swap in phase 2 of deal |
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A senior Hamas official tells AFP that the Palestinian terror group is prepared to release all remaining hostages in a single swap during the second phase of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. “We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages, as in the current first phase,” says Taher al-Nunu. Nunu does not clarify if the terror group will also release the bodies of dead hostages, currently slated to be transferred in the third phase, in that potential single release. The second phase of the agreement provides for the end of the war and the withdrawal of all IDF troops from Gaza. Fifty-nine Israelis will remain in captivity after the completion of phase one of the deal — which was set to end March 2 — of whom 35 have been confirmed dead by Israeli authorities. |
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