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Israel’s Leading Non-Profit Circumvents Houthi Attacks With Airlift of Emergency Equipment for Wounded Soldiers
A Yad Sarah volunteer with the first airlift of medical equipment at Ben Gurion Airport (courtesy Yad Sarah)
Yad Sarah, Israel’s largest volunteer-run non-profit organization, this week began circumventing shipping delays of critical equipment caused by attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis with the arrival of the first airlift to Ben Gurion Airport.
The hostilities in the Red Sea have so far diverted 64 containers of urgent medical supplies and are likely to cause a further delay of up to five months on any new maritime order, the organization said, warning that such setbacks were life-threatening.
Yad Sarah Founder Rabbi Uri Lupolianski told The Algemeiner that his organization sought to “support the gap in the healthcare system in Israel” by importing an “unprecedented quantity of medical and rehabilitation equipment” for soldiers, evacuees and hospitalized patients.
“As the leading social organization in the field of home rehabilitation and recovery in Israel, we are in the midst of a marathon to provide much-needed assistance, as we do always, but even more now in times of emergency,” he said.
Tuesday’s airlift was the first of a series that were facilitated through a targeted global fundraising campaign that included a significant donation from the Jewish Federations of North America. Airlifts can incur costs up to four times those of maritime shipments.
“As our brave soldiers fight to defend Israel on all fronts, we are stepping in to do our part to circumvent life-endangering delays in humanitarian supplies due to regional hostilities,” Yad Sarah CEO Moshe Cohen said.
“These critical steps also support precautionary measures for a severe worsening of the situation in the north of the country,” he added.
Among the critical items that were delivered were Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) devices used in physiotherapy and portable oxygen generators, which will be used for the home rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, the general population, and those under threat from power outages in Israel’s north.
Since the outbreak of the war against Hamas nearly four months ago, the organization has issued more than a full year’s worth of inventory. It has expanded its mandate to include the long-term rehabilitation of more than 2,500 soldiers and has extended support to more than 13,000 Israelis directly impacted by the war. In addition to providing essential medical services and equipment loans, Yad Sarah has also provided housing, including in its convalescence hotel in Jerusalem, to evacuees from Israel’s embattled north.
The organization, which has 120 branches around the country, also supports many elderly or disabled people from the north and south who are not able to be evacuated by providing them with equipment in their homes, including shower chairs, hospital beds, and oxygen generators, for free.
Lupolianski also said that Yad Sarah was prepared for any “escalation in the war.”
For over two months, Yemen’s Houthi forces have been targeting maritime trade in the Red Sea, launching attacks on ships owned by Israelis or those identified as heading towards Israel – and even some with no links to Israel – with cruise and anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones.
The post Israel’s Leading Non-Profit Circumvents Houthi Attacks With Airlift of Emergency Equipment for Wounded Soldiers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.