News Digest — 6/11/25
House Speaker At Vigil For DC Victims: ‘It’s Dangerous To Be A Jewish American’
Bipartisan lawmakers convened at the Capitol on Tuesday evening (10th), remembering Sarah Milgrim, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 30, two young Israeli embassy employees who were murdered in a terrorist attack in Washington, DC, last month.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declared during the vigil, “It’s a dangerous time to be a Jewish American.”
Noting that both the DC shooter and the terrorist who attacked a march for hostages in Boulder, Colorado last week, shouted “Free Palestine” during their attacks, Johnson stated, “ ‘Free Palestine’ is the chant of a violent movement that has found common cause with Hamas.”
He added, “It’s a movement that has lost hold of the difference between right and wrong, between good and evil, between light and darkness… They proclaim that violence is righteous, that rape is justice and that murder is liberation. They have created a culture of lies that puts a bounty on the heads of peace loving Jewish Americans.”
Speaker Johnson called the murders of Sarah and Yaron “targeted anti-Semitic terrorism,”
House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) added, “Anti-Semitism has been metastasizing like a malignant tumor, and we must all work together to eradicate this cancer.”
He stated that Lischinsky and Milgrim were “victims of the same deadly anti-Semitism that fueled the attacks in Boulder, the attack at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home in PA, at synagogues, yeshivas, businesses and communities across America.”
Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, stated, “The intifada has been globalized, and like Orwell’s 1984, free Palestine means, ‘Death, Death to Israel.’ “Today we are challenged to act, to honor the fallen, not just with words, but with a renewed commitment to fighting the scourge of hate, fighting the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel.”
Leiter said that Milgrim and Lischinsky “represented the unbreakable bond between our two great nations.”
IDF Identifies Missile Launch From Yemen, Setting Off Sirens In Multiple Locations
Red Alert sirens sounded in multiple localities in central and southern Israel after the IDF identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory Tuesday (10th). IAF aerial defense systems operated to intercept the threat.
Sirens were heard in Hebron, Ashkelon, Lod, Ramla, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, Ramat Gan, Kiryat Ono, Beit Shemesh and Modi’in, and more.
The IDF later confirmed that the missile was intercepted.
The latest Houthi missile attack on Israel comes hours after the IDF launched an attack on Houthi -controlled targets at Yemen’s Hudaydah port.
According to the IDF, the operation aimed to further degrade the military use of the port, which Israel has previously struck over the past year and which continues to serve as a hub for terror activities.
“The port serves as a transfer point for weapons and exemplifies the cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure by the Houthi terror regime to advance terrorist operations,” the IDF stated.
IDF Expands Buffer Zone In Gaza, Destroys Hamas Tunnel Near Border Fence
The IDF said Tuesday (10th) it had completed an operation to expand its security buffer near the Gaza border, destroying a Hamas tunnel in the process as part of its ongoing campaign to dismantle terror infrastructure.
Troops from the IDF’s 188th Armored Brigade conducted the mission in the southern Gaza area of Khirbet Ikhza’a, which the military described as a central Hamas stronghold. The army said dozens of militants were killed and over 1,200 above-and-below-ground terror infrastructure sites were destroyed during the operation, which included airstrikes and engineering activity.
Among the sites demolished, the military said, was a 1,640 foot-long tunnel located about 82 feet underground, across from Kibbutz Nir Oz. The army said the tunnel’s destruction was part of a broader effort to remove threats to Israeli communities near the border.
“The area served as a staging ground for hundreds of Hamas operatives who took part in the October 7 attack on southern Israeli towns,” the military said in a statement.
Earlier Tuesday (10th), a projectile launched from northern Gaza toward Zikim beach was intercepted, it was the first such attack from Gaza since May 31. No injuries or damages were reported.
The operation came as a United Nations commission again accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity during the ongoing war. Navi Pillay, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said Israel had launched a “concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life.”
The report, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 17, states that more than 90% of Gaza’s educational institutions and over half of its religious and cultural sites have been destroyed by Israeli forces.
Israel, which withdrew from the council in February citing bias, rejected the findings. It has repeatedly accused Hamas and other militant groups of embedding command centers, weapons stockpiles and tunnel shafts in and around civilian infrastructure, including schools, mosques, and hospitals, effectively turning them into military targets under international law.
Israeli officials have also dismissed the commission’s previous reports as politically motivated and anti-Semitic.
Separately, Hamas claimed at least 17 people were killed and dozens injured by Israeli fire near a US-supported aid and distribution site in Gaza. The group also said that three paramedics were killed in a separate incident in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood.
The IDF said its troops had fired warning shots overnight to deter individuals who approached the wadi Gaza area, which remains an active combat zone. The shots, it said, were fired hundreds of meters from the aid center before its opening hours and were directed at individuals deemed a threat. The army said an initial review suggested the number of reported casualties did not match its own data.
The aid organization involved has not commented on the incident, but previously accused Hamas of threatening staff and attempting to disrupt distribution efforts. Aid centers were shut Saturday (7th) after threats and violence allegedly were carried out by Hamas operatives.
Despite those concerns, some international outlets and organizations blamed Israel for the casualties, citing Hamas’ claims. The IDF denied targeting the aid site and said it had no knowledge of any injuries resulting from Israeli fire in the area.
London-based Hamas Operative Linked With Organization Behind Greta Thunberg’s Madleen Vessel – Telegraph
Zahar Birawi, who has been designated by Israel as a Hamas operative, has emerged as a key member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, British newspaper, The Telegraph reported on Monday (9th).
Birawi, a Palestinian British journalist, describes himself as a founding member of the coalition, which was behind the journey of the Gaza aid vessel, the Madleen. The boat was headed to the Gaza Strip to, supposedly ‘deliver aid, when it was seized in international waters on Monday morning (9th) by the IDF, who detained the 12 activists onboard. Birawi attended the launch of the Madleen from Sicily livestreaming the event.
Israel has begun deporting the activists onboard the Madleen, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
Both the Israeli Knesset and UK Parliament have previously named Birawi for alleged Hamas ties, says the Telegraph.
“He is listed as a trustee of a UK-registered charity, Education Aid for Palestinians, and in a publicly available video, it shows him hosting a 2019 event in London titled Understanding Hamas,” British Labour MP Christian Wakeford told the House of Commons in October 2023.
In 2013, Israel designated Birawi as a Hamas operative in Europe, and he is also the chairman of the EuroPal Forum, which was designated as a terrorist organization by Israel in 2021.
Birawi has also been photographed with former Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in July 2024.
After Massive Amounts Of Food Flow Into Gaza, Why Is The World Still Against Israel? – Ariel Kahana
Three weeks after Israel announced the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza and after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been successfully distributing generous amounts of food to local residents, the international pressure on Israel should have eased. Yet, attacks by Western leaders on Israel have intensified significantly.
Why, despite a clear improvement in Gaza’s humanitarian situation, are Western nations escalating their criticism? Is it all just anti-Semitism? Fear of Muslim public opinion? Ignorance fueled by biased media? All of these explanations are valid. But beyond this lies the United Nations, led by its hostile secretary-general, its many arms, agencies, affiliated NGOs, and the data it disseminates. The UN is terrified of losing its “humanitarian” grip on Gaza.
A senior minister from a Western country told an Israeli ambassador in a private meeting that the UN is exerting heavy pressure on his government to publicly decry the so-called “famine in Gaza,” regardless of the facts on the ground. The UN has systematically worked to thwart every alternative to Hamas that Israel has tried to promote and refuses to cooperate with the GHF.
UNRWA, the UN’s food agency, and countless NGOs have created a multi-billion-dollar aid industry in Gaza that employs tens of thousands. Its leaders understand that if the GHF takes over, they will become obsolete.
The UN plays a crucial role in perpetuating and inflaming the “Palestinian struggle” against Israel. UNRWA, OCHA, and various other UN bodies are responsible for maintaining the Palestinians’ “refugee status,” funding the camps where they live, spreading distorted information about Israel, and working hand-in-glove with Hamas for years. Hamas’ main computer server farm was housed beneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City.
The IDF Reservists Who Just Won’t Quit – Daniel Polisar
• With the Gaza war having passed the 600-day mark, large numbers of reservists have been in uniform for more than half of them – a magnitude unprecedented in Israel’s history. The army does not provide detailed information on the number of reservists still reporting for duty. But many reservists I spoke with reported enlistment rates between 80 and 85% in their units. A senior officer I trust in the Yahalom combat engineering unit – responsible for most of the work of destroying Hamas tunnels – said that they have a 90% turnout of reservists in their current tour of duty.
• While those who no longer report for duty (many for important personal reasons) generate headlines, the real story is of a reserve army whose combat soldiers have put in more days of service than at any time in Israeli history and have continued to report for duty in unexpectedly high numbers. Every reservist with whom I have spoken reported for duty on Oct. 7 without a moment’s hesitation, and many continued to show up for rounds two, three, four, and beyond.
• C., deputy commander of a tank company, said, “I feel that I have to be part of this great story of Israel, which is connected to the core of my identity.” S., a commander in a reserve infantry unit, said, ”I’m part of the Jewish people and I believe in the Jewish people. I couldn’t stay home in these circumstances.”
• U., a fighter in a mobility unit, said,” There’s a sense that we’re doing something of historical significance. Hamas is not yet destroyed and my fellow soldiers and I want to help destroy it.” V., explained that she sees herself taking part in a conflict that is still existential: “This is our country and if we don’t defend it, no one will do so in our place.”
• U., has been with the same 20 teammates for the better part of 18 months. After what they have been through together, he cannot see himself leaving them now. When he was visiting the U.S., he asked himself, “The team is there, and I’m going to sit here?” V., said, “The company became my family and the moment it’s your family, you have to be there for your family.”
• All Israelis, and everyone around the world who supports the Jewish state, owe the reservists very, very much. All Israel ought to feel pride in belonging to a nation that has produced such fine citizens.
The writer is co-founder and executive vice-president of Shalem College in Jerusalem.
