News Digest — 7/24/26
One Killed, Several Injured In Havat Gilad Shooting Attack
Palestinian Authority Arabs on Friday morning (24th) carried out an integrated lynch and shooting attack on hikers on the outskirts of the Arab village of Tel, near the Gilad Junction in Samaria.
Several of the hikers were injured and one of them was killed.
According to the reports, a number of Palestinian Authority Arabs gathered around a group of veteran Israeli hikers, prompting the deployment of IDF troops and additional security forces to the scene.
Several of the terrorists attacked the hikers, stealing the weapon of a local community security coordinator who had arrived at the scene and opened fire, killing one and wounding several Israelis.
Magen David Adom (MDA) and IDF medics treated the victims at the scene, with one of the victims reported to be unconscious.
The hike had been coordinated in advance with security authorities. It began in Har Bacha and was making its way toward Havat Gilad and then Kedumim.
The IDF said, “Initial report – A report was received regarding a shooting near the area of Havat Gilad, The details are under review.”
Meanwhile, security forces have encircled the village of Tel and several entrances to Shechem (Nablus) as part of security activity in the area.
Iran Will Face A Crushing Blow If It Attacks Israel, Katz Warns After Security Assessment
Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Iran on Thursday (23rd) that any attack on Israel would draw a devastating response,following a high-level security consultation attended by Israel’s senior military and defense leadership.
“We are preparing for every possibility. If Iran attacks Israel, it will suffer a crushing blow,” Katz said.
The consultation included IDF Chief of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir, Defense Ministry Director-General MG Amir Baram, the Israel Air Force Commander, senior intelligence officials, the head of the Home Front Command, and other senior defense officials.
The broad composition of the meeting brought together the officials responsible for Israel’s offensive capabilities, air defenses, military intelligence, and civilian preparedness. Katz did not disclose whether the consultation followed specific warning or intelligence alert.
Ynet reported that assessments among Western Intelligence agencies suggest Iran may seek to draw Israel into a confrontation and could even choose to act first.
According to the report, the assessment is based partly on what intelligence officials perceive as Jerusalem’s reluctance to return to war, along with strains in Israeli-American relations that Tehran may seek to exploit.
The report did not identify the Western Intelligence agencies involved or disclose the evidence underlying their assessments. The possibility of an Iranian first strike therefore remained an intelligence assessment rather than a confirmed operational warning.
Israeli officials have raised similar concerns in recent months. In May intelligence officials warned that Iran could be preparing a surprise missile and drone attack against Israel and the Gulf states. The warning was issued following a separate situational assessment involving Katz and senior military leaders.
In June, Zamir said the military was prepared for a potentially imminent Iranian attack, while Israeli officials said any Iranian strike would be met with a response. Days earlier, the IDF chief had warned that Israel was ready to strike Iran again with what he described as another hard and deep blow.
Israeli defense officials have also assessed that Tehran is attempting to take advantage of Washington’s reluctance to resume military action, using the resulting uncertainty to improve its position and test the limits of Israeli and US restraint.
Thursday’s consultation came as Israel’s defense leadership continued to emphasize preparedness for both defensive and offensive scenarios , including the interception of Iranian missiles and drones, protection of the home front, and a possible retaliatory strike.
Israeli Cities Take Precautionary Step Of Opening Bomb Shelters
Several Israeli municipalities opened public bomb shelters after the local security assessments and found an increased risk of possible Iranian missile fire while the Israel Defense Forces maintained that nationwide Home Front Command guidelines remain unchanged.
Municipal officials in Ramat Gan, Eilat, Kamiel and Kiryat Gat said the precautionary measures were taken following assessment that the possibility of missile attacks from Iran over the weekend had risen.
“We decided to open all the shelters in the city,” Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen said in a social media report.
“A situation assessment found that the risk of missile fire from Iran over the weekend has increased and is no longer negligible,” he said. Despite the cost of opening them, it is right to exercise extra caution, and hopefully this opening will prove unnecessary.”
Shama-Hacohen also called on residential building committees to ensure communal shelters were ready and accessible.
Despite the municipal decisions, the IDF said Home Front command instructions remain unchanged nationwide and advised the public to remain alert.
When air raid sirens sound, civilians are instructed to immediately enter the nearest designated shelter and remain there until the Home Front Command announces its safe to leave.
The municipal announcements came as President Donald Trump told Axios he was considering a significantly expanded operation against Iran.
“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” Trump told Axios.
Trump did not provide a timetable for a decision. Two US officials also told the same new outlet that no final decision had been made and no new military orders had been issued.
The president said Israel “would join in two minutes if I ask them to,” but added that “we don’t need anybody to launch another operation against Iran.” He also warned there would be “consequences” if Israel participated, indicating Iranian retaliation against Israel could follow.
Israel’s Solid Security Consensus Replaces Passive “Stability” – David M. Weinberg
Today there is a broad Israeli Consensus on foreign and domestic policy issues. The past three years of devastating enemy attacks on Israel have taught Israelis the need to maintain a proactive defense posture, including strategic ascendancy against enemies near and far. Consequently, Israel will not return to the containment policies of recent decades that prioritized restraint and diplomacy over enemy degradation and military triumph.
Israel understands today that it must continue to make fierce and overwhelming moves against enemy strongholds from Sidon to Khan Yunis and from Nablus to Isfahan. Israel will attack, not defend, It will initiate, not respond. It will hunt down its enemies, not be hounded by them.
Israel also has adopted a buffer-zone military strategy, with areas of long-term IDF control over borders where territory is dominated by Islamist-jihadist organizations. Israelis realize that their neighbors will seek true reconciliation only when Jerusalem is strong.
Opposition figures now challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership have nothing to say differently from him in this regard. In Feb. 2024, 99 out of 120 members of Knesset – essentially representing the entire country aside from Israeli Arabs – voted to reject unilateral recognition by European and other countries of Palestinian statehood. Indeed, recent polls indicate that 80% of Israelis, again almost the entire Jewish public, oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In July 2025, a majority of 71 Knesset members passed a non-binding resolution in favor of applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley. In March, 2026, the Knesset approved a law by 93-0 enabling the prosecution of more than 400 of Hamas’ Nukhba terrorists detained in Israel. Protest from the world against these trials will fall on defiant and deaf Israeli ears. World leaders should get used to a revamped Middle East strategic situation anchored by a hard- hitting, confident, and undivided Israel.
The writer is managing senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy.
The Threat To Israel From Palestinian Authority Security Forces
The roots of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) are deeply embedded in terrorism. It trains and prepares its officers to occupy communities while glorifying messages of “return” to Haifa, Be’er Sheva and Jaffa. Foundational events such as the Western Wall Tunnel riots in 1996 and the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000 revealed that the weapons given to the PASF for policing purposes quickly became tools of organized murder, directed and supported by the highest levels of the Palestinian Authority leadership.
In complete contradiction to the limitations stipulated in the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority has established a seni-regular army numbering tens of thousands of armed personnel, including elite offensive units equipped with heavy military weaponry.
The events of Oct. 7 were the result of a long-standing conceptual paradigm that assumed quiet would be met with quiet. We convinced ourselves that the other side sought normalization and co-existence. Oct. 7 taught us to take a sober, broad, and serious look at the security reality around us. In Judea and Samaria we are ignoring the largest terrorist force in the area.
Even if we rely on the most conservative estimates regarding the PASF’s active force size, the violation of international law is significant, with weapons and ammunition far exceeding agreed-upon limits. We may find ourselves facing even more murderous incursions into Israeli cities and communities, close-range combat, massacres and atrocities in the heart of Israel. The security of the State of Israel must rest on its own sovereignty and strength, not on terrorist forces dedicated to the establishment of another Islamist state and the inevitable destruction of the State of Israel. (Regavim)
(jns.org)
Attacker Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ Stabs Jewish Man With Screwdriver in NYC
New York —An attacker stabbed a Jewish man while shouting “allahu akbar” in New York City on Thursday afternoon (23rd), the NYPD said, citing victim and witness statements.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said two victims were stabbed in separate attacks on the Upper West Side.
One of the victims was Jewish and one was Asaian, Tisch said.
Tisch identified the suspect as 51-year-old Raul Morales who was taken into custody at the scene. She said the NYPD was evaluating whether the attack was a hate crime or not.
New York Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a Jewish representative of the area, was at the scene and told the Times of Israel that one of the victims was wearing a kippah.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the incident appeared to be antisemitic in nature.
“The fear in the Jewish community is real. Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, regardless of their faith or identity,” Menin said in a statement.
The incident took place on Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar which is marked with prayer and fasting.
The Manhattan Shomrim neighborhood watch group said the assailant stabbed the victim with a screwdriver.
The first victim was stabbed at 84th street and Central Park and the second took place at 86th street and Amsterdam Ave half a block away from a Jewish community center in an area home to a large Jewish population.
Stickers on flagpoles next to the site of the stabbings included those reading “The people of Israel live in Hebrew, an image of the late hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and one with the text “Our love is stronger than your hate” over a Star of David.”
The NYPD spokesperson said the two victims, aged 57 and 50, were stabbed in the torso and transferred to Mount Sinai Medical Center in stable condition.
A Manhattan Shomrim operations coordinator said the NYPD was extremely fast and determined to get the perpetrator. He also said that the Asian victim was not Jewish as initial reports had stated.
There were 178 confirmed antiSemitic hate crimes in the city between the start of the year and the end of last month, according to NYPD reports.
