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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refers to Britain as an “Islamic republic” during an interview with Army Radio.

Discussing Winston Churchill’s son Randolph Churchill and grandson Winston Spencer Churchill, who like the World War II-era UK prime minister were journalists, Netanyahu says the pair “came here and covered the Six Day War in a very positive way for us.”

“Try to find that now in Britain, which you could call the Islamic republic of Britain,” Netanyahu chuckles.

The United States military has lost some 25 percent of its fleet of Reaper drones amid the war with Iran, the Washington Post reports.

A US official cited by the newspaper says not all of the 45 drones that were lost were shot down, with an unspecified number of the unmanned aircraft crashing after losing communication with their operators.

The report doesn’t specify how many drones were downed by Iran itself, as it notes that Iranian proxy groups in Iraq and Yemen also possess capabilities to shoot down Reapers.

The IDF on Thursday ordered the evacuation of 15 homes in the northern West Bank village of Qusra, as part of an operation that is purportedly aimed at clearing several Israeli illegal outposts surrounding the town.

But while Palestinians were ordered to leave the area, settlers from the outposts — who have been laying siege to a pair of homes on the outskirts of Qusra since Sunday, cutting their water and electricity lines, remained on site.

It was unclear why the IDF needed to remove Palestinians from their homes in order to clear settlers from the area, but the IDF rescinded the evacuation order shortly after it began making headlines.

Those forced to evacuate by the army included two families whose homes have been under siege by settlers. They were moved to a third building that is also surrounded by settlers, before one of the families was allowed to return to their home.

The IDF confirms carrying out a strike in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis a short while ago, saying it targeted and killed a Hamas company commander who was advancing attacks.

The Hamas commander was planning attacks on Israeli forces in the Strip and was targeted “to remove the threat to the forces,” the military says.

The strike is the second one to hit Gaza this week, following a weeklong pause in airstrikes amid discussions over a US-backed roadmap for Hamas’s disarmament and the gradual withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza.

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner is slated to travel to Israel next week to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aiming to lean on him to allow the advancement of the Board of Peace’s plan to disarm Hamas in Gaza, a source familiar with the matter said.

Kushner will be joined by Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nikolay Mladenov, the source says, adding that the exact date of the visit has not yet been finalized.

Hamas accepted the US-backed Board of Peace’s disarmament plan two weeks ago, but its advancement has been clouded after Netanyahu came out against it. In his statement rejecting the plan, the premier said, “The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say Hamas must be disarmed, I mean the heavy weapons, the less-heavy weapons, all weapons.”

Despite the rhetorical opposition to the proposal, though, Israel quietly held off on carrying out strikes in Gaza for over a week. That halt ended earlier this week, and Israel killed a Hamas military commander and, reportedly, a police chief on Thursday.

Kushner and Mladenov are planning to lean on Israel to restore its halt on Gaza strikes in addition to adhering to a series of humanitarian-related commitments that it made as part of its October 2025 ceasefire deal with Hamas, the source says.

Once those commitments are upheld, the Board of Peace believes that it will be able to approach Hamas and ask the terror group to begin handing over its weapons, the source says.

However, an Arab diplomat speculates that such progress won’t be possible until Netanyahu publicly walks back his opposition to the agreement — something that is unlikely to occur as Israel’s October 27 election approaches.

Both Kushner and Mladenov are frustrated with Netanyahu’s public posturing against the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan, the diplomat says.

Kushner hasn’t visited Israel since last year, when he brokered the October ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

For the UK Jewish Orthodox Community
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Erev Shabbos

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