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Civilian Hero Fatally Shot in Tragic Mistake by IDF Soldiers During Jerusalem Terror Attack
A civilian who intervened to stop a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem on Thursday has tragically died after Israeli soldiers mistakenly took the man for a terrorist and shot him.
Yuval Doron Castleman, 37, was on his way to work at a nearby government complex, according to his family, when he saw the attack and headed to the scene. Having served in the Israeli security forces, Castleman shot and killed a terrorist, after which, according to video released from the scene, he seemed to momentarily enter the terrorists’ car and upon exiting it was shot at.
Castleman threw his gun down and put up his hands, yelling “don’t shoot.” However, he was shot again and taken to the hospital, where he died later in the day. Friday would have been his 38th birthday.
“Yuval noticed a terrorist attack from the other side of the road while driving to his job at the government complex, and stopped his car to stop the terrorists,” Israel’s Channel 13 quoted his family as saying on Friday. “He had previously served in the security forces and was always a hero and the first to jump in and save lives, which he did this time as well.”
The Hamas terror group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack at a a bus station in Jerusalem, where Palestinian terrorists opened fire, murdering three people and injuring several others.
Hamas said in a statement that the two perpetrators were “jihad-waging martyrs,” adding that the terrorist attack was in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
As for Castleman’s death, the Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are investigating his shooting.
“The findings of the investigation so far indicate that during the attack, one of the IDF soldiers identified and mistakenly suspected the late Yuval — who acted bravely and courageously to neutralize the terrorists — as a third terrorist,” police said. “The same soldier also fired at him which led to his serious injury and tragic death.”
Police added that “Military Police investigators joined the investigation.”
The army also said that “the IDF expresses sorrow at the death of the civilian.”
Civilians are often armed in Israel, and more have armed themselves since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. However, tragic accidents such as Castleman’s death are rare. This is largely because those with gun licenses undergo extensive gun training and situational awareness tests, according to a senior IDF officer.
The post Civilian Hero Fatally Shot in Tragic Mistake by IDF Soldiers During Jerusalem Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut
JNS.org – A massive explosion in a building in Beirut on Saturday killed 11 people and wounded dozens in what Arab media said was a failed Israeli attempt to kill Hezbollah’s head of operations, Muhammad Haydar.
Israel did not immediately claim responsibility specifically for the explosion early on Saturday in the eight-story building in the Lebanese capital’s Basta neighborhood. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said only that Israel struck an unspecified target in Beirut, the fourth strike in the city in a week.
Basta is situated in the city’s center. The bulk of Israel’s strikes in Beirut have been in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold in the city’s south.
Lebanese media reported that at least 63 people were wounded in the strike.
Avihai Edraei, the head of the Arabic-language department of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, posted a tweet on X on Saturday calling on residents of Dahiyeh to evacuate their homes. They are living near Hezbollah installations, he said, against which “the IDF will act in the near future.”
The targets of Saturday’s strikes “were located by Hezbollah in the heart of the civilian population. Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians,” the IDF wrote in a statement. A headquarters, a weapons depot, “and additional Hezbollah terror infrastructures” were attacked, the statement said.
According to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, Israel has killed 2,450 terrorists in Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese health authorities said that 3,365 people have died in strikes by Israel. Those data do not distinguish between terrorists and civilians. On the Israeli side, terrorists have killed 121 people, with 76 of them being soldiers.
The post Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Troubling Details Emerge About Disappearance of Chabad Rabbi, Inaction of UAE Authorities
i24 News – i24NEWS learned chilling details about the disappearance of Chabad emissary Zvi Kogan, who went missing last week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Kogan did not show up for scheduled meetings he had during the day. After he failed to make contact, his wife contacted the security officer of the Chabad house, who alerted the local authorities. Information about the incident was also shared with the Israeli authorities.
Kogan disappeared from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai. i24NEWS can report that complaints were made to both the Dubai Police and the Abu Dhabi Police on Thursday, yet no actions were taken by either.
i24NEWS also became privy to the information that although Kogan’s car got a speeding ticket on its way to Oman, in this case too the authorities in the Emirates and Oman did nothing.
i24NEWS can also confirm that there is tremendous anger in Israel at the Emiratis, who did not respond to the suspicious signs and did not act in time. In fact, actions were only taken after the intervention of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The story has troubling echoes of the abduction by Iranians of German-Iranian dissident Jamshid Sharmahd; he was kidnapped from Dubai to Iran via Oman and was eventually executed.
The post Troubling Details Emerge About Disappearance of Chabad Rabbi, Inaction of UAE Authorities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Israel Stalwart Ritchie Torres Hints at Run for New York Governor
JNS.org – Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in Congress, hinted at a run for higher office on Friday by taking aim at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The Bronx Democrat said that like U.S. President Joe Biden, Hochul could be on the path to electoral defeat.
“Kathy Hochul is the new Joe Biden,” Torres wrote. “She may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee. A Democratic incumbent who is less popular in New York than Donald Trump is in grave danger of losing to a Republican in 2026–an outcome not seen in 30 years.”
“Waiting until it’s too late gave us a Republican President in 2024 and could give us a Republican governor in 2026,” he added. “Let’s avoid repeating history and avoid sleepwalking toward impending disaster and defeat.”
Torres in recent days has said that there is a “crisis of governance” in New York State and New York City.
“I think part of the story of the election is an indictment of misgovernance in New York state and New York City,” Torres said in an interview on Monday with Spectrum News NY1. “With few exceptions, nowhere was there a greater swing toward Donald Trump than in New York, which was a vote of no confidence in the leadership of New York state.”
U.S. President Joe Biden carried more than 60% of the vote in New York state in 2020, but in November, Trump narrowed that lead, with Harris winning just 56% of the vote to Trump’s 44%.
The largest swing of any county in New York towards Trump occurred in Torres’s Bronx county, driven by the massive shift towards Republicans among Latino voters.
A poll in September showed that Hochul had just a 34% job approval rating, and in 2022 she defeated then-congressman Lee Zeldin by just 6 percentage points, the worst performance by a Democrat in a statewide race in two decades.
Since taking his seat in Congress in 2021, Torres, 36, has been widely lauded by the Jewish community for his vocal efforts to combat Jew-hatred and his support for Israel in the House.
“I see my freedom as a Black Latino from the Bronx as inextricably bound to the freedom of the Jewish people,” Torres told pro-Israel rally-goers after he was awarded the Jewish Federations of North America’s Courageous Leadership Award earlier this month.
Though Torres has not directly criticized New York City Mayor Eric Adams by name in the way that he has called out Hochul, Torres could also make a run for Gracie Mansion in the 2025 election as Adams fights federal bribery charges.
A spokesman for Torres told JNS that “the congressman has yet to make a final decision regarding his future” as to whether he planned to announce a run for mayor or governor.
The post Pro-Israel Stalwart Ritchie Torres Hints at Run for New York Governor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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