A mother with a nine-month-old baby in a carrier was among six people killed in a terror attack in Jaffa, central Israel, on Tuesday evening. Her baby was rescued by another passenger and rushed to the hospital.

The woman, a resident of the nearby city of Bat Yam, was returning home from work on the light rail with her son when Palestinian terrorists opened fire on the train she was riding. They also gunned down several people along Jerusalem Boulevard and carried out a stabbing attack in the nearby Aza Street.

In addition to the six killed, 19 people were injured, several critically.

The terrorists were identified as Muhammad Rajoub and Hassan Muhammed Tamimi, from the West Bank city of Hebron. They were neutralized by a local security guard.

Minutes after the attack, all cell phones across Israel received an unprecedented message reading: “Emergency alert: Extreme,” instructing people to head into safe rooms and bomb shelters ahead of a massive missile strike from Iran.

Over 180 ballistic missiles were launched in the attack, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it intercepted many with Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling air defense systems.

Iranian officials said that 90 percent of the missiles reached their targets, a claim that does not seem to be corroborated by facts on the ground.

One person was killed in the missile strike, a Palestinian from Jericho. One Israeli was injured by falling shrapnel.

Dozens of local residents gathered on Jerusalem Boulevard, Jaffa’s main artery, in the wake of both attacks.

“The Iran attack was scary, but the terrorist attack was way scarier,” said Hussein Dakar, the owner of a nearby kiosk.

The post Mother of Infant Among Six People Killed in Terror Attack in Central Israel, Many More Wounded first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A gunman who shot two Jewish men as they exited a synagogue in Los Angeles was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

In February 2023, Jaime Tran, 30 — an affiliate of the “Goyim Defense League” hate group — went on an antisemitic shooting spree, attempting to murder two Jewish men in the Pico-Robertson section of Los Angeles. Prior to the crimes, Tran called Jews “primitive” and told a former classmate, “Someone is going to kill you, Jew” and “I want you dead, Jew.” According to the Justice Department, he even described himself as a “ticking time bomb,” broadcasting his  murderous ideations to all who knew him.

Opting against fighting the federal government’s case against him, Tran pled guilty in June to four charges the DOJ described as “hate crimes with intent to kill” and “using, carrying, and discharging a firearm” in the commission of an act of violence. His sentencing on Monday ensures that he will not again be free until the year 2059.

“After two years of spewing antisemitic vitriol, the defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack attempting to murder Jews leaving synagogue in Los Angeles,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday. “Vile acts of antisemitic hatred endanger the safety of individuals and entire communities, and allowing such crimes to go unchecked endangers the foundation of our democracy itself.”

He continued, “As millions of Jewish Americans to prepare to observe the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Justice Department reaffirms its commitment to aggressively confronting, disrupting, and prosecuting criminal acts motivated by antisemitism, or by hatred of any kind. No Jewish person in America should have to fear that any sign of their identity will make them the victim of a hate crime.”

Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi added, “While this sentencing cannot fully restore the sense of safety stolen from the two victims and the Jewish community, it is a decisive step towards justice and a clear message that such acts of hate and violence will not be tolerated.”

The Tran case is not the first involving an antisemitic hate crime that the Justice Department has resolved this year.

In August, it announced that former Cornell University student Patrick Dai, who threatened to perpetrate heinous crimes against members of the school’s Jewish community after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

Last October, Dai raised the possibility of antisemitic violence at Cornell when he posted several statements calling for murdering Jews and raping Jewish women on a popular social media forum. In addition to threatening the lives of Cornell’s 3,500 Jewish students, who are 22 percent of the school’s student population, the posts threatened an attack on a campus kosher dining hall — named 104West  — affiliated with the Steven K. And Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center.

“Gonna shoot up 104 west… Allahu akbar! from the river to the sea, palestine will be free! glory to hamas! liberation by any means necessary!” one of his posts said. Another read, “If I see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat. if i see another pig female jew i will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff. if i see another pig baby jew i will behead you in front of your parents [sic].”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Shooter Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Attempted Murder of Jewish Men Leaving LA Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Former US President Donald Trump issued a statement on Tuesday addressing Iran’s decision to launch a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel, accusing the Biden administration of exhibiting a lack of leadership. 

Trump, the Republican nominee for US president, lamented that Iran’s attack on Israel indicated that “the [w]orld is on fire and spiraling out of control.” He argued that neither US President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent in the 2024 presidential race, were sufficiently defending Israel from Iran or its proxy groups. 

“We have a non-existent President in Joe Biden, and a completely absent Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is too busy fundraising in San Francisco,” Trump wrote on social media.

“When I was president, Iran was in total check. They were starved for cash, fully contained, and desperate to make a deal,” Trump continued. “Kamala flooded them with American cash and, ever since, they’ve been exporting terror all over, and unraveling the Middle East.”

Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under the Trump administration crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.

US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Trump warned that under the stewardship of Biden and Harris, “war,or the threat of war, is raging everywhere” and that America stands on “the brink of World War III.”

“You wouldn’t trust Joe or Kamala to run a lemonade stand, let alone lead the Free World,” Trump wrote. “It is no surprise that Iran desperately wants Kamala Harris to be president, because they know as long as she is in power, they can take advantage of America. That is why they have tried to target me.”

Last week, Trump was briefed by US intelligence officials “regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” his campaign said in a statement.

Trump has touted his former administration’s support for Israel as a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign. During his single term in office, Trump recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria. He also moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as the Jewish state’s capital, and the Trump administration helped to broker the Abraham Accords, which normalized Israel’s relations with four Arab countries in 2020.

Trump has made numerous overtures to the Jewish community in recent months, attempting to win over a significant share of the traditionally-liberal voting bloc. He has delivered speeches at various events catered toward the Jewish community, including the Republican Jewish Coalition. The former president also co-hosted an event focusing on antisemitism at his Trump National Golf Club Bedminster alongside prominent Jewish donor Miriam Adelson.

On Tuesday, Iran launched over 180 missiles at Israel in a direct attack as retaliation for Israeli strikes on Iran’s terrorist proxies across the Middle East. Most of the missiles were shot down, and according to reports there was only one casualty from the barrage.

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